Responding to a complaint is never easy. But you can’t ignore complaints. And you can’t tell the complainers to take a hike (at least not if you want your business to keep having customers). Instead, you need to put aside your personal feelings and respond in a helpful, professional tone.
But how do you write a good response to a letter of complaint? Let’s find out.
If you’re responding on behalf of your employer, check their official policies regarding complaints. And if your company doesn’t have a standard procedure for handling complaints, you may want to look at setting one!
Simply following the rulebook may not be enough to satisfy a disgruntled customer, though. And in cases like these, you should also check whether you’re allowed to bend the rules to resolve a problem.
For instance, imagine your employer has a 30-day returns policy. If someone then contacts you after 31 days with a good excuse for missing the 30-day deadline, such as being stuck in hospital, following the rules blindly will leave them disappointed. And they might not come back. Or they might tell their friends and family about their bad experience.
If you accept the return, on the other hand, the customer will be more likely to come back. And it might even generate some positive word of mouth (the most important form of marketing). Overall, then, knowing the rules is important. But bending them can be crucial, too!
Minimally, you should begin any response to a letter of complaint by thanking the customer. If nothing else, this means you start on a positive note, acknowledging the time and effort they’ve spent to get in touch.
Remember, too: As inconvenient as a complaint might be, by bringing a problem to your attention, the customer has done you a favor. Your responsibility is to fix the problem as quickly as possible.
The most important thing when responding to a letter of complaint is striking a sympathetic tone. After all, if someone isn’t happy with something, they want to be understood. They want to know that someone else cares. And if you’re responding to a complaint, it’s your job to care.