How to Recover Dissatisfied Customers and Retain Them
Before we start talking about how to win back dissatisfied clients and what approach techniques can be used, it is necessary to address the cause of their discomfort or dissatisfaction.
Some of them may be the following:
- Because they observed the same product or service online or offline at a lower cost. Or you just found this same product on a private label.
- Because of economic factors. Your product or service does not cover primary needs, so you can postpone the purchase.
- The client observed that the quality of the service has decreased in relation to the first time it was purchased. For example, in proportion, if we talk about a product and duration in terms of service.
- You feel that you have not been treated in the right way by the company or organization.
What is a fact is that companies and brands have lost customers for various reasons. For this reason, we mention some strategies that help you how to recover dissatisfied customers.
Strategies that teach you how to recover dissatisfied customers
The ideal is not to become engrossed in the problem or to remain submerged in anguish, but to go directly to the solutions. What strategies can you use to improve dissatisfaction in your customers? We mention some below:
Identify the reason for dissatisfaction
It is essential to evaluate the root of the situation for which you feel dissatisfied. The list described above are probabilities and if you do not know directly what was the reason for your dissatisfaction, you will hardly be able to improve.
For this, you can use personalized emails where you send a survey to a dissatisfied customers. There are companies that have created their own template to be able to address and improve some departments of the company.
Take a deep look at these reasons
Sometimes customer-developed dissatisfaction slips out of your hands as a company. For example, later you found that the competition has adopted better prices in relation to those of your company.
If you have adapted a cost it is because in this way you keep the company active, this is a reason for dissatisfaction that is beyond your control.
Therefore, you must evaluate which reasons are modifiable and which reasons are not. If the reason turns out to be monetary, try anyway to offer other features, discounts, promotional plans without compromising the capital of the company.
Create ID cards
Just as we have mentioned countless times that you must create a target audience or a buyer persona, you can do the same with those customers who abandon you.
Do they have the same gender? Are they part of the same region? How old are they?
With this information, you can use new traditional and digital marketing strategies and make the decision to persuade them in another way or stop being interested in that sector.
Strengthen the customer service department
One of the fundamental mistakes is leaving the customer service department in the hands of third parties. According to data released by Bloomberg Businessweek, 82% of consumers leave because of bad service.
It is important to develop a team that is in line with the values of the company and that handles an assertive communicational tone when dealing with customers who may be annoying.
Some of the ways to win back a dissatisfied customer are:
- Create a sales force design where you have a single and exclusive customer service department.
- Design plans and write down repetitive complaints for improvements.
- Begin creating solutions based on repetitive complaints.
Continuously study your competition
In the article 10 reasons why a client leaves with your competition, we mention that it is not necessary to use the same information or promotion strategies about your product or service.
What is necessary is to evaluate which ones it uses and how you could respond to them. With the SEMrush payment tool, you will be able to evaluate your competition online and not only learn how to recover dissatisfied customers but also to attract new ones.
Always perfect your product or service
If one of the complaints is that you feel that the quality of your product has decreased, start using strategies that help you improve and reposition your product .
As we mentioned before, a loyal customer will forgive you that the product has not covered their needs only once, but if it is continuously, they will end up trying other options.
So if for example, you have a fast-food store try experimenting with other flavors, textures and colors. Now, if your business is in relation to a service, it offers features such as a guarantee on touch-ups, bad functions, among others.
Use the reward
If the dissatisfied customer is a potential customer, offer a reward. You can create an attractive offer:
- Send you another product for free to your home.
- Offer a discount on another product.
- Non-material benefits such as an invitation to a social or charitable event held by your company.
- Take a phone call to hear their dissatisfaction directly.
- Send a personalized letter of apology with first and last name to let him know that you are sorry for the experience.
No one but your company should know their customers. What are the customers who buy more frequently? Create attractive offers with them in mind.
Be consistent
It is important to note that how to win back dissatisfied customers lies in not continually making mistakes. So if, for example, your client complains that the product is no longer the same size, you reach an agreement to improve the next time.
The customer agrees to purchase a product again, but in this case decides to have it sent to their home address and receives it days after the agreement. Do you get the idea?
If you make other types of mistakes, you will not only be seen as incongruous in the eyes of the customer, but you will also lose credibility as a brand, eliminating the loyalty of the potential consumer.
Stay in touch with your customers after each sale
One of the ways to recover dissatisfied customers or prevent this from happening is by monitoring the post-sale process. How can you do it?
- Send reviews to your email about the product or service.
- Submit surveys that you could add or remove.
- Address satisfaction or the purchase process: How did you feel at the time of purchase? How did they treat you? Would you return? The best way to have these questions answered as transparently as possible is to remain anonymous. This is one of the techniques used in face-to-face establishments, where a customer is selected at random and then asked to add their opinion to a mailbox.
Hire professionals who manage emotions
A dissatisfied customer is likely to vent his anger through yelling and mistreatment. And perhaps this is the only way he has found to deposit dissatisfaction with the only entity that considers it relevant, which is your brand.
For this reason, you must have professionals capable of staying calm and responding assertively without getting involved in the dynamics of dissatisfaction.
Hire professionals who are psychologically capable of dealing with this type of situation, and not only this, but ending up approaching the client, arrives annoyed and can leave with another perspective of what happened.