Be careful how you treat a disgruntled customer, even the unreasonable ones. Be careful how you make them feel even if you feel justified. A bad feeling is difficult to shake off , a bad experience is difficult to forget, a lost customer is near impossible to get back. Some customers are badly behaved, you feel the need to let them go for the sake of your mental well being right? We have all dealt with the customer from Hell but even the most difficult customer must be treated with respect. This is where training comes in.

Please my dear entrepreneur, train your staff to be respectful. Don’t just expect them to do so , you need to be deliberate about this. Next thing is to put policies in place to favor the customer not just to be make things easy for you. Your return policies , shop display, loyalty schemes, and everything else should reflect a brand that is customer centric. This feeds into the culture of your brand and influences how the customer feels in your space and most importantly how she feels when she thinks of your brand.

I consider myself a difficult but fiercely loyal customer. If I buy from you and I am happy with your services or product, you have a customer for life and a self appointed brand ambassador. If I don’t enjoy shopping from you or engaging with you is less than seemless or stressful, I’m not forgiving….. I’m emotional and I won’t be back. I live for great customer service, dependability and respect from a brand. So please think of these things. I just had a bad experience from a store I will not be returning to and I will be back to my favorite store for the same product tomorrow…..we can all do better.
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