It’s never easy getting a complaint, especially when you’re proud of the merch you provided. But even the best branded merch programs won’t make people happy 100% of the time. A client may not like the way the colors printed, or they may find the quality to be different than expected.

The goal isn’t to avoid complaints entirely but to understand how to turn those moments into trust-building opportunities. Mathew Patterson of More Human Content says complaints must be heard and handled. In this issue of PromoPro Daily, we share his tips for handling complaints like a total pro.

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  1. Give your staff members the authority to take action. If you lead a team, make sure your reps know they can take the appropriate action without needing to pass the customer up the chain. Patterson recommends enabling them with both the tools to take actions and the permission to make guided judgement calls.

  2. Set boundaries instead of rigid policies. Rather than enforcing strict policies when responding to customers, Patterson says it’s better to give reps broader boundaries and give them flexibility within those boundaries. For example, if merch arrives a day late for an event, give reps the authority offer expedited shipping on a replacement or a discount on a future order without waiting for manager approval.

  3. Build in “slack” time to ask further questions. If your team is constantly under pressure to resolve tickets quickly, Patterson says they are less likely to take the time to listen with empathy, ask follow up questions and gather a more nuanced understanding of the issue. Give them the time and permission to really look after upset customers. He says that could mean sharing workloads or adjusting response times.

  4. Train employees to make good judgement calls. Your team members need opportunities to learn from others through sample scenarios and calls. Patterson recommends giving them guidance they can apply to help them make a decision. Think playbooks rather than scripts, he says.

  5. Create a safe environment. Dealing with angry or upset people is stressful, he says, and it can be hard for customer-centric support staff to deal with them consistently and fairly. People who feel psychologically safe will have a lot more emotional energy left to care for your customers. Make sure your staff know how you want to handle abusive customers, and that you have their back. 

  6. Create a system for following up on complaints. It’s important to close the loop on complaints and make sure that the customer got what they requested, whether it’s replacement merch or a discount on their next order.

Nobody hopes for a complaint, but every branded merch rep will get one eventually. What clients remember most isn’t always the mistake. It’s how quickly you responded and whether you made things right.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Mathew Patterson is the founder of More Human Content and contributes to the Help Scout blog.