Main Idea
How do you handle customers that are upset or are returning product? Is this a chore or an opportunity to give great service? How does your team approach these areas?
Expansion of Idea
Possibly the only thing worse than the Christmas season for retailers is the two weeks right after when they have to deal with customers who are returning items. Personally, I would rather have a root canal than return a gift to a store right after Christmas. People can get rather irritable. They wait in long lines to return items, they have out of town family staying with them that stayed one day too long, and their kids are telling them that they are bored with nothing to do. Tension can run high.
Every business has some of these times. In my office, we have clients who have had their tax return finalized for two months and then they get to looking at it on April 12 and they realize that they forgot to tell us about a $10,000 charitable contribution. We are scrambling to meet the April 15 deadline and we do not want to redo a return that we thought we were finished with. These are the times that separate normal businesses from businesses that have great customer loyalty. When people are upset or when tensions run high, opportunities exist to raise your service levels to new highs.
If you think about the companies that you are most loyal to, it is very possible that you may have had a problem with them sometime in the past. The way that they handled it cemented your relationship with them. Or alternatively, when they mishandle problems, you vow to never go back to them. The point is that these are special occasions to build deeper and more long-lasting client relationships. The choice is yours.
Here are some things to think about:
What are your policies on customer returns or complaints?
Do you view these situations as a marketing opportunity?
Have you trained your team in how to handle the problems?
Do you learn from the mistakes to improve your existing systems?