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While the customer may not always be right, it's up to you to make sure they feel as though they are. Though you might want to argue your point when dealing with a customer complaint, it's better to handle complaints with a bit more tact. This way, you can show your customers that you want their return business – because you do. Plus, you can use these complaint opportunities to learn more about your business and how your customer sees your business through their experiences. Here's how to handle customer complaints the 'right' way.

Listen, Listen, Listen

Many times, a customer complaint isn't necessarily about the complaint itself. The customer is complaining because they want their concerns heard and validated. When you receive a customer complaint, it will help to talk to the customer (either on the phone or in email), asking them more details about their experience, what went wrong, and how they felt about the situation. Not only will you get a better understanding of the situation as a result, but you will also be able to defuse any anger the customer might be feeling. Just by listening to them, many customers will begin to relax and will not be as confrontational. If you don't understand something the customer says, ask them to explain it again. Continue this process until you feel you understand the situation and then repeat what you think you understand back to the customer to be sure.

Ask the Customer about Their Expectations

At this point in the process, you understand the problem, but it's a good idea to then ask the customer what they feel a good solution may be. Ask them what they want from you and then listen to their solutions. Some customers may not have any idea, while other customers may have a long list of ideas. In either case, it's best to listen to see just how they expect to be compensated and from there, you can make a determination of what you will give them for their troubles.

Create a Policy for Complaints

To handle complaints most effectively, you want to create a policy of compensation. For example, if the customer has troubles with the shipping process, they will be refunded the shipping costs or they will get free shipping on their next purchase. By creating a list of the ways you will handle complaints, you will be about to be consistent with your customers. Of course, at first, you won't have a system in place, so you will need to build one starting with the first customer complaint. And when you're first growing a business, it never hurts to go above and beyond what the customer expects since this will make the customer feel all the more recognized and important. Customer complaints will happen, but it's how you handle them that will make your company all the stronger. By listening to the errors in your system, you can begin to understand where your business may need to change and how you can improve your process. This is a time to learn, not a time to feel badly or upset at the customers. You can only grow stronger from complaints, now that you know where to begin making improvements.