Iriana Suraya Abdul Wahab

iriana.abdulwahab@newinti.edu.my

Have you been in a situation whereby you

were unhappy with a product or service?
However, instead of stop buying or using
that product or service, you went back to
buying and using that product or service.
Why did you go back to buying or using that
product or service?

After this lesson, students should be

able to:
Maintain

healthy attitudes about customer

recovery
Apply techniques that develop customer recovery
skills
Handle a nasty complaint letter or email
Develop skills to convey the appropriate tone when
dealing with customers

Some basic facts:

1 out of 4 customers is dissatisfied with some aspect
of typical transaction.
A dissatisfied customer on average will complain to 12
other people.
Only 5% of dissatisfied customers complain to the
company.
Customer complains may lead to repeat business:
Customers who have their complains handled well are
very likely to do business with the company again.
Approximately 50-80% of full resolved complains will
consider doing repeat business.
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Companies should maintain a healthy

customer retention attitude
There

should be a problem solving attitude rather

than blame setting attitude.
Service

recovery is best handled when seen as an

attitude of opportunity rather than a painful chore.
Complaints

are opportunities to cement

relationships and create customer loyalty.

1.

Feel their pain

Recognize that the upset customer
is likely to be disappointed, angry
and frustrated. Customers would
like someone to:

Listen to their concerns

Understand them and reasons they are upset
Compensate them for the unsatisfactory product/service
Share their sense of urgency
Eliminate further inconvenience
Treat them with respect and empathy
See that someone is punished for the problem
Assurance that the problem will not repeat
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2.

Do all you can to resolve the problem

In order to recover an unhappy customer, its best to
provide something extra. Its a way of making up
for the problem. (i.e. Airlines provide free food and
sometimes free hotel stay for rescheduled flight)

3.

Go beyond, offer symbolic

atonement
What are the things we can do to make up
for the problem? Some suggestions are:
Offer to pick up or deliver the goods to be
replaced or repaired. (i.e. Lexus service center)
Give a gift of merchandise to repay for the
inconvenience. According to Ron Zemke its
called symbolic atonement.
The thought to provide something
extra is to value them.

 Reimburse the cost of returning merchandise

(i.e. pay for the parking fee or postage)
Acknowledge the customer inconvenience and
thank them for giving you the opportunity to try
to make it right by apologising
Follow up to see that the problem was handled
be the customers advocate, go to bat for the
customer with the boss.

People are not always satisfied or rational, so we

should avoid letting our anger or frustration show to
that customer or other customers.
Key things to remember are:
If you have tried to satisfy the customer, you have done
all you can do.
Dont take it personally, learn from experience
Dont rehash the experience with your co-workers or in
your own mind. Ask another person on how they could
have handled the situation.
Use every customer contact experience as an
opportunity to improve your professionalism.
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Need to differentiate between

the upset customers with
legitimate problems and the
chronic complainers.

The telltale signs are:

They will look for someone to blame

They will never admit any degree of fault or
responsibility (see themselves as victims of
incompetence)
Have strong ideas of what others should do
Complain at length

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1.

2.

3.

4.

Actively listen to identify the legitimate

grievance- (know what is the actual
problem).
Establish the facts to reduce the
complainers tendency to over
generalise (establish the actual number
of calls made and when).
Resist the temptation to apologise
because it can be an open invitation to
further blaming instead, could extend
warranty to solve the problem.
Force the complainer to pose solutions
to the problem this is to get the
complainer from whining and into a
problem solving mode

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Complain letters provides a

tangible reminder of a customer
dissatisfaction and it could
appear in the personnel file.
A reply letter should conveys an
attitude of problem solving, good
will, and exhibits professionalism.
Human relations skills should be
applied when replying to a
complain writer, be sensitive to
peoples feelings, interest, wants
and needs.
Failure to do so will create strain
on the consumer relationship.
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According to Rebecca Morgan, the 3 Fs are a

skeleton on which to hang the rest of your
response to a customer.
This technique acknowledges the customer
feelings in a way a person could listen to.
The 3 Fs are:
Feel understand how they feel
Felt others have felt that way too
Found after and explanation

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1.

People are strongly interested in themselves

People usually express their egocentricity in their
language when they speak or write (the use of
word, I)
Business people can turn this egocentricity into an
advantage if they recognize the readers needs.
Learn to express concern and appreciation of views
of other in letters, memos, proposals, reports and
etc.

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2.

People prefer receiver centered messages

A way to reflect consideration for another
person is by phrasing your message in terms of
that persons viewpoint.
Receiver oriented writers think of and convey
their message in terms of what the message
receiver wants or needs.
The overall tone and sense of caring for the
other person is far more important than simply
avoiding the use of first person pronouns.

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Example of I-Centered
We require that you sign the sales slip before we
charge this purchase to your account
Example of Receiver Viewpoint
For your protection, we charge your account only
after you have signed the sales slip

Phrasing ideas in terms of the receivers

view point convey an interest in the other
person and recognizes a principle of good
human relations.

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3.

People want to be treated as individuals

Improve tones of written documents by
phrasing our information as though talking to
individuals.
A personal addressed business letter singles
out a reader for individual attention (more
sincere compared to Dear Sir)

Name

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 Blanket tone should be avoided. Its an attempt to talk to

people as group rather than as individuals.
Example of Blanket Tone
When a thousand requests are received from
prospective customers, we feel pleased. These request
show that our product is well received.
Example of Personal Tone
A copy of the booklet you requested is being sent to
you today. Thank you for requesting it.
Blanket tone make readers feel lost in a crowd.
Its better to express ideas in terms of individuals benefit
using direct address.
Direct address shows your receivers how your message
applies to them and how it can meet their individual
needs in some way.

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4.

People want positive information

Positive language often convey more information

than negative.
It tends to be more upbeat with a more pleasant
tone
The message should be specific and positive, for
example:
I can arrange to have the product exchanged
for another model that may better meet your
needs
Positive wording does a better job of building and
holding goodwill for the company

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Example of negative wording:

Smoking is not permitted anywhere accept in the
lobby
We regret to inform you that we must deny your
request for credit
We cannot deliver your order until next Wednesday
Example of positive wording:
Smoking is permitted in the lobby only
For the time being, we can serve you only on cash
basis
We can deliver your order on Wednesday

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5.

People dont like abrasive people

Abrasive means irritating manner or tone that

sounds pushy or critical. Its like being pleasantly
direct
An abrasive personality will tend to communicate
in a manner that can be irritating to others.
There is a major difference between abrasive and
being assertive.
Assertiveness means that you express your
feelings and observations in a normally phrased
manner that is no threatening to other people

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The hostility curve follows a pattern which

includes 6 stages, which are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Rational level at level where things can be reason

out.
Take off customer will take off steam and be
abusive, expressing hostility.
Slow down customer runs out of steam and slow
down.
Supportive behavior understanding the customer
feeling by giving supportive statements.
Cool off after hearing supportive statements.
Problem solve person has returned to rational level.

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