“It seems rather incongruous that in a society of super sophisticated communication, we often suffer from a shortage of listeners.”
– William Butler Yeats.
If you want to improve the customer service you offer to customers, especially any customers who are complaining, you need to learn to listen. Entrepreneurs often have brilliant ideas, but do not take criticism well and a customer complaint can sound like unwarranted criticism – after all, you know you have a brilliant product! If you learn to deal effectively with customer complaints by providing excellent customer service, you will find that you can often turn a complaining customer into a happy customer who returns to buy from the business regularly in the future. How do clever business people achieve this? Many turn to the LEAMF model of customer service.
The LEAMF model stands for Listen, Empathize, Apologize, Make Amends and Follow Up. This is the order of actions you should take when you talk with customers, especially those who are unhappy with your product or service.
Listen
This is always the first step any small business owner should take when dealing with a customer complaint. Most people forget this important step and do not listen properly. Instead of thinking ahead to how you will solve the problem while the customer talks; focus all of your energies on listening. Ask questions for clarification and listen carefully to the answers.
Empathize
Once you have heard the customer’s complaint in full, the second step you should take is to empathise. Just by simply putting yourself in the customer’s shoes and thinking about how you would feel given the situation, you can start to solve the problem. Often just expressing some empathetic comment, such as, “I know that was hard for you,” will help calm the customer down. This indicates that you have understood what the customer has said and how the customer feels.
Apologize
The third step you should take when dealing with customer complaints is to apologise. Many people baulk at this step, but if the customer has a valid complaint, nothing but an apology will solve the problem. Avoid sounding insincere when you apologise and remember that the aim is to turn the unhappy customer into a happy one. A simple “I’m sorry this product does not meet your expectations” is an essential component in the customer service dialogue.
Make Amends
The fourth step you can take in the LEAMF model of customer service is to make amends. This could be offering a refund, offering a new product, or providing the service again. Think carefully about how you make amends – it is always better to provide the service or product again than to offer a refund, as you often lose a customer who receives a refund. Offering something else, even if it is a discount on the customer’s next order, may cost you something in the business, but will give you the opportunity to change the customer’s mind about the products or services your business provides. You are likely to keep the customer if you make amends for the problem.
Follow Up
Although many small business owners forget this step, it can be as important as listening in the first place when you want to retain the customer. Remember that an unhappy customer is the worst marketer you can have for your business – most people will tell everyone they know about bad customer services and will only tell a couple of people about excellent customer service. After you have dealt with the problem, follow up with the customer in the next week or so. Making a quick phone call to check that the customer is now satisfied is an ideal to follow up your customer service.
When you deal effectively with customer complaints by providing excellent customer service, you learn how to keep your customers happy for the benefit of the business in the long-term. Using the LEAMF model can help you to remember the five steps involved in providing excellent customer service: listen, empathize, apologize, make amends, and follow up.
Photo Credit: 
photo credit: Tomi Tapio
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