Top tips for dealing with angry or upset customers

DON’T be combative because you’ll always lose. Acknowledge your client’s standpoint – remember the customer is always right and if they’re demanding a refund, ultimately the law is the law.

DON’T disappear. If you ignore a client and let them fester, they’ll come back more angry and more entrenched in their decision, which you don’t want.

DO get in touch with clients as soon as you can to stay ahead of the curve, stop them getting angry and pre-empt their response, explaining the situation as soon as you possibly can.

DO pick up the phone, or do a FaceTime or Zoom call to speak "face-to-face". An email will only make things worse as the client won’t be able to appreciate your subtext. Try to deflect away from the idea of them talking to a business and swing them over to the idea that they’re talking to an individual. If clients can hear your kids in the background that’s fine, it humanises you. If you appeal to your client’s reason, more often than not, they’ll be sympathetic and empathetic towards your situation. After all, we’re all in this together.

DO be honest. Explain your predicament and that you’re likely to be waiting on money from suppliers.

DO listen to your client’s concerns, and empathise with their situation. Accept their point of view without taking liability. Apologise, but don’t necessarily accept responsibility for the situation, because actually it’s not your fault. For example say: “I’m sorry you feel that way,” rather than: “I’m sorry we made you feel this way.” Apologising and being empathetic will often diffuse an angry client, since often people are angry because they’re not being heard.

DO reassure clients that you’re being an advocate for them by talking to suppliers on their behalf and trying to secure refunds from them if that’s what clients ask for.

DO retreat to consider your position and get in touch with suppliers to explain your client’s predicament. You don’t need to provide an answer for a client there and then over the phone.

DO get back in touch with the client regularly. If they’re happy to accept a credit note, get this in writing from them.

If the supplier can’t provide a refund, you have an opportunity of good brand delivery by going back to the customer and saying: “It’s going to hurt us, but we’ll refund you.” Be honest and say if you did this to everyone, you’d be out of business.

DO focus on the relationship you have with your customer, on that rapport you had when they first enquired, the rapport you’ve hopefully had for years with them and think of ways around refunding if you possibly can.

DO stay hopeful. There’s an emotional connection between people now because of this virus. If you can tap into that connection and build that relationship, your client will stick with you and you could potentially have a customer for life. Once this is over, reward customers for their support with a loyalty programme or a bottle of wine to say thank you.