It is natural to have irate, displeased customers in any business. No matter how perfect your product or services are, you will find a section of your customer complaining about your product. Ecommerce businesses face the same challenge, and with an online business, it is critical to understand how to handle ecommerce customer complaints. Since the online industry is easily accessible it becomes imperative to handle these complaints smartly.
Customers are a business’ biggest advocates. So offering the best customer support should be a priority. A business should strive to offer customer service that exceeds the expectations of your customer. According to a survey, 84% of customers believe that customer service is a deciding factor when it comes to buying a product.
Most common ecommerce complaints
Let’s look into, what are the most common eCommerce complaints:
The product is out of stock
My preferred payment method is not accepted
My order hasn’t been delivered yet
The product’s quality is not as good as expected
It’s difficult to return the product
Customer service is not satisfactory
Handle ecommerce customer complaints the right way
Ecommerce customer complaints need to be handled cleverly, as it drastically affects your user experience and brand image. We’ll walk you through 9 ways in which you can handle ecommerce customer complaints.
Do not blame the customer
The golden rule of excellent customer support is; never blame your customers. It might not be your fault but blaming your customer for anything may put a patch on your brand reputation and customer experience as well. In order to maintain a healthy customer base, maintaining a positive customer experience is very important.
Be polite and helpful
Another common business saying is the customer is always right. Sometimes customer complaints can be illogical and not your fault, in situations like these it is important to stay calm and respond politely. No matter what your customer’s tone and language is, ensure you maintain your composure and respond calmly and politely. This leaves a positive impact on the customer and goes a long way in enhancing user experience.
Apologize first and then solve the issue
No matter how negative the complaint is, make sure you apologise first. Ecommerce customer complaints are usually out in the open, they could be on your social media handles, your app store or play store reviews, or reviews on any website.
This is why it becomes all the more important to respond in the right way. Starting your response with an apology shows empathy and leaves a positive impact. It is a way of connecting with the customer first and then resolving their issue.
A simple sentence like, we are sorry you have had this experience, or we apologise for what you have had to go through, can help you calm your irate customer before you resolve the issue.
Don’t interrupt your customer
Listening to your customer is one of the most important parts of good customer service. Make sure you do not interrupt your customer when they are talking, even if it’s a very long call, or you have understood the issue, or the customer is repeating themselves.
Hear them out so they are satisfied that they have conveyed the issue to you. Interrupting your customer will make them feel unheard and lead to bad user experience. So let them speak as much as they want and then confirm that you have understood the issue and then proceed to resolve it.
Do not delete complaints that are posted
Deleting a customer complaint from an open platform leaves a negative impact not only on the complainant but also on the other users who have noticed the issue. It makes users feel like you do not care about them and this can be the worst form of negative user experience.
No matter how bad the customer complaint is, leave it there with your response. This will make your other customer believe that you can handle a situation even if it is really bad. It puts your business across as a company that has the strength to face the worst and work towards overcoming it. It helps in building brand trust.
Resolve issues within the committed time
When you receive a customer complaint, the user expects the fastest resolution. It is always good to set the expectations right beforehand. Let your customer know how much you will need to resolve the issue, in case you can’t do it immediately.
If you need more than the committed time, let your user know and request for an extension of time. Keeping them in the loop, gives them a feeling of staying connected to you and helps in gaining their trust and building a strong relationship with your customer.
Follow-ups are a must
Excellent user experience comes with excellent customer service, and one key tool to achieve this is personalization. Once you have resolved an issue for a customer, or even if you are in the process of resolving an issue for a customer, make sure you stay connected with them.
Follow up with customers to understand whether their issues remain resolved or if they are facing difficulties. This gives your customers a feeling that you care and thus improves their experience.
Good customer experience increases the chances of the customer being loyal to your brand and also talking about their experience and bringing in more customers.
Summing it up
When exceeding everyone’s expectations for customers turns into your new standard, your client maintenance measurements ought to take off. Offering excellent client support is an approach to saying thanks to the astounding individuals who’ve made your business the success it is. Ecommerce customer complaints are inescapable, however handling them with care can be a game-changer.