The majority of customers we deal with in our online shops are pretty great,
right? But even then difficult
customers turn up every now and then.
And in this video I'm going to show you how we can handle those situations.
Anyone in retail can tell you that negative customers can be an absolute headache.
And unfortunately, I feel like
because people can hide behind their computers and stay somewhat anonymous,
things can get pretty rough for online businesses.
Now, we might not be able to avoid unomfortable situations altogether with our customers,
especially since the longer you've been in business
the more likely you are to encounter these situations,
but we can control how we handle them and that can make all the difference.
So let's get to it.
Hi. My name is Mei Pak and I help makers, artists,
and designers make a living selling their handmade products online.
Now I run three online businesses myself, so
believe me, I have dealt with pretty much every type of situation with a customer.
Now you probably want to hear that
we don't have to deal with tough customers, you know,
if they're being rude or have outrageous expectations,
we can just shut them down and just stop doing business with them,
right? Well not exactly. See when it comes to customer service
my philosophy is to always try to make the customer happy,
even if it costs me money or time
and even if the problem wasn't my fault.
I know what you're thinking. Why should we break our backs and our banks for difficult people?
Honestly, I believe that keeping our customers happy,
even at our own expense, is one of the keys to long-term success.
It actually saves our business, even if we think it might hurt it.
Trust me when I say that nothing will burn a business down faster than angry customers
posting all sorts of negative reviews online.
And don't forget, people have so much power online these days.
When you think about it, reviews have the power to make or break a business,
right? I mean, reviews are how we decide whether or not to trust a business.
So if a customer posts that she had a bad experience from a shop,
we're going to be less likely to buy from that business.
That's why it's ultimately worth it to make those sacrifices for those difficult customers.
It's worth the cost of an extra shipment,
for example, if it means just one less negative review.
Plus sometimes customers really notice
when we go out of our way for them and will give us a five star review to thank us
and then they'll tell their friends about how awesome we are.
Of course, I know this is all easier said than done.
I see a lot of shop owners become protective and defensive when customers are upset.
And I get that. I feel that way too all the time. As makers,
I know, we are proud of our products and our work ethic,
right? It's totally understandable to be frustrated
or upset when dealing with a difficult customer,
and it's tempting to send that angry or sarcastic response back to the customer.
I mean, we've put so much hard work into our businesses and when people are rude or condescending,
we have every right to feel sensitive about it.
Having said that, the best thing
for your business is to keep our emotions to ourselves
or save them for a vent session with your friends and stay patient and calm with a customer.
Remember, when our customers are happy, our businesses are as well.
And the last thing we want is an even angrier customer
dragging your shop name through the mud all over the internet,
right? So with that, in mind,
I want to give you some handy customer service tips.
These will help you know
what to do when you're dealing with those customers who are really giving you a hard
time and might leave you at a loss for how
to handle the situation delicately. Number one,
if you are feeling emotional, just wait a few moments to send an email back.
You don't want to send a heated email in a moment of anger.
Give yourself a chance to calm down and reply when your emotions have had some time to settle.
You're going to be able to give the best advice
when you can detach yourself from the situation and not take things too
personally. Number two - be empathetic.
Remember these customers aren't complaining just to make your life miserable.
They have a reason for making their complaint.
So listen to them and be empathetic to their situation,
try to put yourself in their shoes. Even if they're just having a bad day and taking it out on you.
This just might help you to see the bigger picture and just be a little more patient with them.
Number three, try to be objective.
This can be hard, I know. There have been many times where I just want to fire back at the customer,
but what good is that going to do anyone,
right? When it comes to our businesses that we built ourselves with our blood, sweat,
and tears, every complaint can feel like a personal attack.
If you find that you can't be objective when dealing with certain customers,
see if you can find someone else, you know,
a family member, a friend, or someone in the Facebook group,
to help you handle that customer for you.
That way your emotions don't get in the way of doing the right thing for your business.
And what I found in these situations is what's right for your business is also
what’s the hardest for you to do, which is often to swallow our pride.
Number four, offer multiple solutions.
If you know that you can't give the customer exactly what they want,
offer multiple alternative solutions
that could help them. That way your customer feels like they're still in control of the situation
because now they can choose how they want the problem to be solved.
Plus it shows them that you really care about helping them even
when you can't give them exactly what they want.
Of course, there are some situations that can be especially be hard to navigate.
So I want to give you a few examples so you will know what to do
if you ever have to deal with them. What do you do
when a customer tells you that they need their order reshipped
because their package never arrived
or maybe it arrived broken? And what if the customer won't provide any proof?
Okay, so this has happened to me a couple of times.
Now even in a situation like this,
I believe in coming from a place of empathy.
Remember, we talked about this, this person might be having a bad day
and I don't want to make it worse.
I also never want to make any assumptions about this person.
This means no assuming that they are a liar
or a freeloader or anything else negative. When it comes to my business,
my products are always priced appropriately with at least a two times markup.
Which by the way side note, you can check out my video on pricing by clicking this link.
So, even though I might not want to send something for free,
I can't afford to me a new product if I need to to the customer.
Now, this situation is rare. So it is worth the sacrifice to keep this customer happy.
Because in the grand scheme of things, this is not really going to make a dent in my business
because I will still be profitable
but to the customer this could be like a really important product
or gift for them and it could really make a difference in their day or in their lives.
So if you have the power to do that, why wouldn't you?
That's how I think about it. I found that it is better and it won't be a burden on
your conscience to assume that the other person is telling the truth.
We never want to assume that they're lying, that's their own weight to carry,
not ours. If you can't afford to provide this level of service,
I highly encourage you to revisit your pricing and that it might be time to raise those prices.
It is a part of building, a long-term business that lasts. Another
tough situation is when people don't read item descriptions
and then they give you poor feedback when the item isn't exactly what
they expected. For example, they might not pay attention to the size of the item
and then complain when it's smaller than
what they thought it would be and then they leave you like one star feedback on Etsy,
for example. This has happened to all of us at one time or another,
right? We live in such a fast-paced world
these days it is really easy to miss those little details
and I've definitely been on that end as a buyer and have made that mistake.
So again, let's come at it from a place of empathy for our customers.
Now we can approach this differently depending on the situation.
So, for example, if it was a customer on Etsy,
we can send them a private message after we get their
one star review and then talk to them,
to try to find a solution. We might offer to send them a size that they really want
or provide them with a refund.
Again, I know the situation isn't our fault.
So spending time and money on mailing them a new size,
a new product, or providing that refund might sting a little bit.
But I guarantee that a poor review will hurt a lot more in the
long term. If your customer is happy with the
solution you offer then politely ask them to change their feedback.
Remember positive feedback on Etsy is super important to maintain on there
because it affects your rankings.
So with that said, do whatever it takes.
Let me just say that again, do whatever it takes.
Now, if this happens on Shopify, there's a little less pressure,
right? Because you have more in control. On Shopify,
you manage your own product feedback
and you can choose not to display feedback that's false or like not your
fault. Still, though, you do you want to do whatever it takes to keep your customers happy
and coming back for more and telling their friends about you.
So still take the time to reach out
and offer a solution when your customer comes to you with a problem.
Finally, this third situation that Andi Anu shared,
I just had a customer ask for their delivery number of their package but I lost the receipt
it's on. I feel so bad, I don't know what to say.
Don't worry Andi, this happens all the time.
It's a very human mistake so don't feel bad,
okay? So let's talk about what we can do
when we, the business owners, are the ones who messed up. And for the record,
I mess up all the time. It is bound to happen
when we're running a business and it's best to just own up to the truth.
Provide an honest and sincere apology.
This isn't the time to give an excuse to try to hide the mistakes
so we can save face, okay? You want the customer to know that you genuinely feel bad
for what happened
because you do. That will gain your customers trust and they will understand
and you might even earn their loyalty.
So, after you apologize offer some kind of solution.
Remember, multiple solutions even. In this case,
I would let them know the date their package shipped,
and give them an idea of when it should arrive, depending on what shipping service you bought.
And because my products are priced with a 2x
mark up, I can also offer to resend the package if it doesn't arrive by a certain date.
Customers can refuse the duplicate package if they both
arrive, and don't be surprised to find that most people are super accommodating
and kind and cooperative,
especially when we acknowledge our mistake
honestly. Now, I know none of us like to deal with negative or angry customers.
Honestly, sometimes I get anxiety just logging into my inbox.
But the good news is that these situations are actually really,
really rare. Most of the time,
customers are not trying to take advantage of us or trying to deliberately make our lives harder,
I promise you. So don't let the idea of difficult customers
keep you from starting your own business.
Every situation is handleable and the really tough ones will rarely happen anyway.