Tips Provided For Complaints
Every kitchen and bath project involves complaints or, at least,
the potential for complaints. What follows is a checklist of ways
to handle complaints:
- Don’t make the complaint worse. Do not descend to the personal
level yourself. Remember, it’s only business. Try to avoid getting
emotional.
- Thank the person for bringing the problem to your attention.
Even if the complaint is being screamed at you, keep your half of
the conversation unemotional and pleasant.
- Say, “Let me make sure I understand the problem.” Then restate
what the customer has said in unemotional terms, slowly and in
detail. This gives the person you’re arguing with a chance to catch
his breath and calm down. It also shows that you’ve been listening
and are taking the problem seriously.
- Find at least one thing in his side of the argument with which
you can agree. Build your rebuttal on that point. “Yes, the
cabinets did arrive three days late. I will speak to the supplier
about that. However, this is the door style and finish you
selected.” By conceding a point right away, you’re showing that
you’re responding rationally, rather than emotionally, to the
situation.
- Solve the problem. Often, a customer’s complaint turns out to
center on a problem that can easily be solved, and his heated
argument is really about his fear that the job is out of his
control. If you can solve the problem, you’ll score big points with
the customer.
- Don’t cite policy as a reason for doing nothing about the
complaint. Nothing infuriates an already peeved customer more than
an absolute “I can’t” statement. Don’t say, “That’s the color you
chose. I’m not going to change it now. That’s our policy.” Say
instead,
“I don’t want a customer who is not satisfied, even though our
policy is that changes must be paid for. What do you think would be
fair?”
Of course, you need to accept that there are people who are chronic
complainers. However, most customers do not want anything other
than a fair deal.