Have you ever had a crazy customer?
If you haven’t, it’s only a matter of time. And if you know how to deal with an angry customer, you can dramatically change how they feel about you and your business.
Today I want to show you a very angry customer email I received last year and how I made him extraordinarily happy.
Reasonable Customer Email, 8:11
Eugene ordered a book on November 7th, 2010. Immediately after placing his order he received an automated email. Then I sent him a personal email the next day confirming his address. He replied with his adjusted address on the 11th. So I shipped the book on November 13th and he received another automated email.
In total, he received three emails up to this point.
He sent me that email five days after I shipped his book. Mind you, the book was headed to Iraq.
Angry Customer Email, 8:17
Neither the font size nor color has been adjusted from the original email 
. Let’s call it, Big Red.
Six minutes after the first email, he sent me that beauty.
Initial Response Email, 8:42
I replied 25 minutes after receiving Big Red. Anytime you get an email like that, it’s important to handle it immediately.
Instead of apologizing, because I did nothing wrong, I offered to send him a free copy of the eBook. Actions always mean more than words.
Customer Response Email, 8:55
Eugene promptly responded 13 minutes after my email with an appreciative email of his own.
Promise Follow Through Email, 9:07
Less than an hour after receiving Big Red, I sent him a free copy of the eBook with a more in-depth explanation of what went wrong.
Final Thank You Email, 3 Days Later
Unbeknownst to Eugene, I personalized and signed the book I sent him five days prior to receiving Big Red.
I’ve exchanged a few more emails with Eugene since this incident and I think it’s safe to say he’s a happy customer.
Angry Customer Lessons
Here are a few lessons to take away as far as dealing with angry customers.
- Respond immediately with an honest explanation.
- Offer to make things right even if you did nothing wrong.
- Follow-up to make sure they’re happy.
Oftentimes your angriest customers become your most happy customers if you respond well to their concerns.
Do you have any angry customer stories?
Post image by: tricky
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{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice, as always, article
Thanks, Daniel! Still working on those questions
.
How does questions going.
;0
Hmm… I answered them a few days ago and thought it sent. But I must’ve just saved it as a draft. Anyway, your email has been sent!
Nice Article…
Thanks for sharing with us….
You’re welcome, Asad. What did you learn from it?
Thank you Nick, I found this very true!
I’m glad, Buntu! Still waiting for you to find something you disagree with me about.
Happy thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Love it when haters turn lovers
Yeah, I heard some statistics sometime ago that said unhappy customers usually become more happy than your happy customers if you respond to their unhappiness… Happy to see ya, King!
Hi I’m Daniel, Wow! aren’t you one of the 50 interviewees? Anyways, I agree.
There are different kinds of customers and it’s common to encounter people can sometimes get into our nerves. That’s why it is so much important to learn and know how to deal with angry customers. I really thank you for sharing this kind of information to everyone.
I don’t ever let customers get on my nerves, John. Sometimes the situation can be frustrating. But customers like this are more amusing than anything else. Plus, I like Eugene. Other than Big Red, he was very reasonable and appreciative.
What I try to keep in mind with customers that tick me off is that I’m doing whatever for the $$$$. And so far, that thinking hasn’t failed me yet.
Btw, Nick, for Christmas, I’m asking my family for a Paypal account, a domain, vending machines, Donald Trump’s newest book (Time to get tough), and an iPad 2. Wish me luck.
Vending machines?
Why not start a vending business?
That’s a great business to start. Just making sure that’s why you wanted one
.
Got your email
Why do you keep winking?
Not sure. Partially habitual. Partially to communicate that you have the inside track
.
Okay than.
Wait, which tablet do you think I should get*:
Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1
Apple iPad 2
Wait for iPad 3
HP touchpad
*google the different tablets if you don’t recognize them
I’m not the person to ask about tablets, Daniel. Generally Apple products are easier to use while others are overall better products.
I just learned that your link leads to your service Monument Marketing.
Hey Nick, reading Tony Hsieh’s (Zappos’ CEO) new book, “Delivering Happiness”, right now. It’s a really good book so far. You should check it out. Click on link above for a sneak peek!
Hey Daniel… That one’s on my list. Hoping to get to it early next year.
Got a wordpress account!
How do you get the picture icon?
It’s a gravatar: http://en.gravatar.com/
Check out my gravatar!
Hey Nick, some reason my comment disappeared some where on juniorbiz.com, so I’m also posting that comment on here. I found this national entrepreneur competition. Something called NFTE (pronounced “nifty”). Turns out I just missed their deadline by about a month. I’ll try again next year. Who knows, maybe I will use your green gym equipment idea. Maybe I might win the $10000 prize. You should have a entrepreneurial contest!
BTW: Merry Christmas, do you want any thing special?
Hey Daniel! Yeah, NFTE is a great organization. I may or may not be working on that. And I may or may not have signed a non-disclosure agreement about it earlier today.
Do you mean like, about the entrepreneur competition?
Because if you had an entrepreneur competition, consider me already signed up
I’ll be sure to let the organization that I may or may not have signed an NDA with know that there’s demand.
Hey Nick, I need help with funding. Any comments?
Yeah, why do you think you need funding? How can you start without it?
Great Article Nich
Im never going to leave this site Nick. It’s so addictive. I can’t thank you enough. I’ll read up and apply! Pray for me!
Haha… You’re wonderful, CosmoLove. Make sure you focus on the the application. Otherwise, I can’t truly help you.
An interesting read, thanks! Wow but you’re patient though, I mean there are unhappy customers and then there are complete wallies…But l can see it is important to be nice to even them haha you have a good attitude I must say!
Wallies, eh?! You must be from the UK, Anna. There’s a Bill Gates quote that says, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
Nick,
I believe your thoughts are spot on.
I too have needed to handle several unsatisfied customers. Although in my line of work, they are also grieving at the time. They are preparing a funeral. There has not been one customer who has walked away upset, but on the contrary leaving with some piece of mind that this part of the process was completely smoothly and beautifully.
This is for Funeral Program Templates, and some customers have had difficulty downloading the templates and asking for a refund. There was a reason they purchased the template in the first place, they liked it and thought it would serve them well. So the first step is making sure that we can get this done for them easily.
After completing this step via phone and or email, I’ve offered additional services such as the customization for photo restoration free of charge for their troubles. This has always proved to make my customers very happy. Although they might not be repeat customers, since we most likely do not plan to prepare many funerals, I am sure that they would recommend my products and services to anyone they know in need.
Thanks for the article.
I couldn’t imagine all the different ways you’d learn to help customers in that business, Matthew. Oh, I see what you mean by templates. That’s pretty cool. Haven’t seen that before.
The templates come in very useful for customers, as it takes away the need to try and come up with something on their own, and most people are not graphic designers. It just makes sense for people to choose something that suits their needs, and all they need to do is fill in the blanks.
A funeral home called me today as well, and is interested in many of my products for their clients. This is the ultimate goal in the end, after all of my services are in place, unfortunately, this takes more time and money. Nonetheless, it will get there.
Nick, I’d be happy to write a guest post for your blog if this is of interest to you.
I like your entrepreneurial spirit, Matthew. Send me an email with a few guest post topics (nick@14clicks.com) that you feel you’re qualified to write and would benefit the audience here.
Thanks Nick
I’ll get back to shortly with those topics.
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