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There are times when all businesses have to deal with an angry customer or two. When your turn comes around, are you prepared?

The social media age

Given today’s social media age, dealing with angry customers doesn’t just come any longer in the form of a letter or a phone call.

If you have a Web site or any social media presence for that matter, there is a good chance the “dirty laundry” you have to air out with an angry customer will be displayed for many to see.

As many businesses have unfortunately come to find, it just takes a single blog response, tweet or reply to a Facebook remark to have your business scrambling to put a positive spin on things.

While some business leaders say that any press is good for you, we all know that bad press rarely produces good results.

With consumer dollars tight and many businesses fighting for those same dollars, keeping your company’s brand and image clean is more important than ever. Remember, it just takes one unhappy customer to spread a negative word about your business, thereby leading others to question if you’re the company they want to service them.

In order to maintain a consistently high level of service with your customers, treat them like you’d want to be treated in their place.

Respond quickly

In the event a customer posts a response to your site complaining about service or an employee, deal with it quickly. Not responding is like the kiss of death, whereby the customer feels ignored and is likely to not be happy unless they get a satisfactory response.

Now in the event you’ve realized your business may have made a mistake, how are you going to go about fixing it?

Empathize

By saying you “understand” where the customer is coming from is a great way to defuse the problem in the first place. The bottom line is the customer is looking for vindication and you want to give them what they want within reason.

A gift

In some instances, you may want to offer the customer a discount or even a free gift if they will make another effort at work with you. If they were not happy with the recent service, perhaps offer them a 10 or 20 percent discount on their next purchase as a goodwill offer. It may not work, but it is worth the effort to try and continue the relationship.

Take it offline

In the event you’ve tried everything and the customer is still complaining online, then take the conversation offline. The last thing you want is all this dirty laundry being aired for all to see, allowing others to form their own opinion of your business, be it right or wrong in the first place.

Your business’ reputation is paramount to its success; having an online fight with an angry customer is certainly not going to serve its needs at the end of the day.

Photo credit: ukgraduate.co.uk