Dealing With The First Complaint (we promise that it’s not that bad)
The first complaint can feel like a hammer to the heart. But what if we told you it’s not a crisis but rather a compass. Treat it like a gift, fix the friction, and you’ll often gain a louder advocate.
Did you know that oftentimes customers think more highly of you and your business after a corrected failure compared to before a complaint even happened? Human psychology can work in such wondrous ways sometimes.
“Successful recovery… can transform dissatisfied customers into loyal patrons”
The game is to own it, fix it then prevent it from ever happening again.
Here are our simple tips for dealing with complaints:
- When an issue occurs, name the change and make a promise to fix it by a time then deliver. Back it with a one line your team can copy — e.g. “We apologise about the inconvenience, our technical team is currently fixing the bug in our system. The issue will be resolved by 9am tomorrow”
- Publish a simple HOW TO COMPLAIN link in your footer and receipts and respond within one business day
- Track a Complaint -> Change log (issue, fix, fate, outcomes) and share a monthly “what we changed” post
- When you can’t fix it: offer choices (refund/redo/voucher) and thank them for this signal
Criticism can hurt but by rebranding it as redirection not only are we able to grow but we may just secure a loyal customer along the way.
