In the dynamic world of business, being business-ready and maintaining a professional and level-headed approach to feedback, complaints, and reviews is crucial to success. Whether you are a small business owner responding to customer complaints, working from home around your kids, or an employee on the front line of customer service, being business-ready and using emotional intelligence is essential. Here are some ways you can guarantee you’ll be business-ready before responding to customers:
Sleep on it:
One of the key aspects of being business-ready is responding to feedback and complaints with impartiality. Regardless of the nature of the feedback, it is important to approach it with an open mind and a commitment to finding a fair resolution. This is especially vital for small businesses, where the business owner often takes on the role of responding to feedback personally. It’s essential to remain level-headed and impartial, avoiding emotive words and off-the-cuff responses that could potentially escalate the situation. Waiting a few hours, or even a day or weekend can mean a more level-headed response. It also means you’re more focused and less likely to be distracted by other stressors. Even though you see it instantly, that does not mean you have to reply instantly.
Choose your words wisely:
In the digital age, online reviews, particularly on platforms like Google Reviews, can greatly impact a business’s reputation. As such, it’s crucial for businesses to avoid snarky or defensive replies to negative reviews. We have all seen the business responses that go viral for their biting wit, but the odds are not with you. More likely, a would-be customer will see any snarky remarks as a reason to go elsewhere. A measured and professional response not only demonstrates professionalism, but also showcases the business’s commitment to addressing customer concerns.
Moreover, understanding social media emotional intelligence is a crucial part of being business-ready. Interacting with customers on platforms like Facebook, X, and Instagram requires a high level of emotional intelligence. To read more about social media emotional intelligence for businesses, click here.
Try to see the lesson in it:
Ultimately, every business needs to learn from customer feedback. The lesson from some may be as simple as exercising your patience and control. However, the majority of people who take the time to contact you or leave a review have some validity, so learn from it. We have had so many businesses contact us at Above Benchmark after receiving negative customer feedback. This is because they want to see their business from a customer’s viewpoint, a unique opportunity and insight that we provide with our customised mystery shopping programs.
We love that those businesses are learning from the feedback and taking steps to fix it. Understanding and empathising with customers’ concerns, and responding thoughtfully, will benefit your business.
Consider it an opportunity to engage:
Any chance to engage your audience, on any level, is a chance to promote your brand and build a connection. While some customers may not be your target demographic, your target demographic is reading your Google Review response or your post on social media. Take the opportunity and speak to them through the medium. It may be as simple as thanking a disgruntled customer for their feedback and then explaining why they’re incorrect, or what was unusual about their experience, or simply admitting that your business dropped the ball on that occasion.
Avoid it:
It’s a cliche because it’s true… the best defence is a good offence. Take steps to avoid disappointing customers so they don’t become disgruntled. The best way to do this is by making them feel valued and providing good customer service. You can read more about basic customer service skills here. The best way to stay ahead of customer complaints is to have consistent customer satisfaction and mystery shopping programs in place. These programs enable your team to monitor day-to-day customer interactions.
Being business-ready encompasses the ability to respond to feedback and complaints impartially, communicate with emotional intelligence on digital platforms, and approach feedback with objectivity. These principles are crucial for the success and reputation of any business, whether small or large. By embodying these traits, businesses and individuals alike can navigate the complex landscape of customer feedback, complaints, and evaluations with professionalism and effectiveness.
At Above Benchmark, we train our Mystery Shoppers to assess our clients objectively. They must be prepared to approach their evaluation with a clear mindset. To illustrate the importance of readiness, we allow a generous timeframe for our mystery shoppers so they can schedule their mystery shops at a time that suits them best, ensuring they are not influenced by a bad day or illness. This approach reinforces the significance of objectivity and impartiality in evaluating a business’s operations and customer experience. The same standards must be maintained by those working in customer service. Please contact us to learn more about how you can perfect your business’s customer service skills.