Business Communication: Strategies for Handling Customer Grievances

This case study explores effective strategies for handling unsatisfied customers in a business setting. It emphasizes the importance of remaining calm, actively listening to the customer, and focusing on facts rather than emotions. The approach involves defusing the situation by allowing the customer to vent, acknowledging any mistakes, and redirecting the interaction towards problem-solving. It also covers understanding the situation thoroughly by reviewing documentation, engaging with involved employees, and determining the customer's needs. The proposed solution involves incorporating the customer in the process, offering appropriate apologies or explanations, and presenting available options to meet their needs. The study also highlights the importance of providing feedback and training to employees to prevent similar issues in the future, ensuring better customer relations.

Running Head: BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS
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Servicing a customer who is unsatisfied is always a difficult task someone can ever encounter in the
workplace. This because some customers are very arrogant when they are highly charged with emotions
even when the situation at hand was not the employee’s fault. The employee may as well raise his/her
tone and miss the point on how to deal with the said customer, Ghosh, (2019). It is therefore required
that the employee should remain calm, listen to the customer, focus on the facts and develop an
understanding to find and present options so as to overcome the situation with success.
Defuse the situation
In this situation where a customer is, the first thing I will do as the manager is to ensure
that I control the customer anger from worsening due to his/her interaction with the employee
further. In doing so, I will take to employ the following steps in order to calm down the angry
customer.
I will let the angry customer talk since the customer will always want have someone who
can listen to them so as to find a way of venting their frustrations. It will be best if I allow the
customer to speak his/her grievances as I actively listen and take notes to show the customer that
what he/she is saying important to me.
The second thing I will do is to accept the mistake, analyze it and find out if it was our
fault and apologize if it is our mistake. This reinforce that I have heard and understood his/her
claims. Even if the issue was not our mistake, I will also ensure that I apologize to the customer
for the mistreatment from the employee.

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I will own up the frustrations from the junior employee and tell the customer that I will
offer solution and ask the customer not to interact with the employee in the situation but instead
contact me direct as I start working on his/her behalf.
After the customers has calm down, I will keep him focused on the facts and not
emotions. This is because anyone who is upset is taken over by emotions and they easily loose
objectivity and later will start speculating about the situation as a way of venting their
frustrations. I will however be keen to avoid customers from pulling me into emotional argument
by redirecting interaction with the customer using phrase such as “your situation is really
frustrating and I understand, but can we try and fix it?” (Kan & Chung, 2019)
In the process, I will keep staying calm and not take anything personally to help me focus
on facts and control my emotions. This will further calm the customer. This will be a sure way
making customer to eventually lack the vigor of cooling down the frustrations with the customer.
I will also ensure I be positive to accept any correct by empathizing with the customer situation
and intently take the customers perspective to view the situation. I will do this in an intelligent
way that will show any sign of insincerity. I will achieve this by keeping a polite tone vital to
show am positive and honesty.
Understanding the situation
All customers want faster results and there should not be an exception of angry customer.
While I let the customer vent his/her frustrations, I will ensure I understand the situation fully
and try to balance the situation by taking through the following steps:

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i) Following up with the customer assuring customer I am still working on the situation is
not enough and will therefore keep my word and follow up with him, failure to which
he/she will further get angry.
ii) I will review all the available documentations, more so those that tighten the deadline
arising to late application. This will help me in developing a picture of the original
interaction between the customer and what they initially asked for, and the service that
was delivered to them in appropriately that angered them.
iii) I will engage employee who was serving the customer and talk to him, and with the
people involved in the department that help the customers.
iv) I will review the relevant policies that fixes the deadline by ensure I understand the role
that the department policies play in the issue. This is because some policies have
constraints and an impact on how the service was provided to the customer.
v) I will therefore determine the customer’s needs from the service interaction by focusing
on what he/she requested initially, (Eddleston, 2002).
vi) I will finally consider the available options since customers love being treated to having
options.
How I will address the Problem
Having objectified the occurrence, having in mind what the customer wants, and
preparing the available options I will embark on incorporating the customer in my work so that
we can together following the progress and meet customers need, (Eddleston et al 2002).:
Apologize appropriately if I find the employee failed to meet customer’s requirements
that led to the misunderstanding with the customer. However, if I find it was all a customer’s

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fault, I simply acknowledge that the situation is not the way it is supposed to be and I will assure
the customer that I can try as much as possible to assist where I can like in this situation.
I will briefly explain to the customers what transpired by focusing on fixing the
customers situation as I also provide other remarks that are useful in ensuring the same issue is
not repeated explain to the customer what I can do for him/her and why my take are the best
options for him/her.
I will therefore check for agreement by asking the customer their best option of
preference and after the customer shall have left, I will call the employee and enquire what led to
the argument with the customers. whether it was all customers fault for doing his/her things late
or the employees lack for paying attention to the customer, I will take the employee through
customer employee relation since the customer may be right or wrong so listening to the
customer is very important, (Garcia et al 2019). I will ensure that I tender a warning for not listen
to customer though.

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Reference
Eddleston, K. A., Kidder, D. L., & Litzky, B. E. (2002). Who's the boss? Contending with
competing expectations from customers and management. Academy of Management
Perspectives, 16(4), 85-95.
Garcia, P. R. J. M., Restubog, S. L. D., Lu, V. N., Amarnani, R. K., Wang, L., & Capezio, A.
(2019). Attributions of blame for customer mistreatment: Implications for employees'
service performance and customers' negative word of mouth. Journal of Vocational
Behavior, 110, 203-213.
Ghosh, B. (2019). Closing the Deal Amidst Falling Customer Satisfaction. Information Systems
Education Journal, 17(2), 12.
Kan, S., Chung, D., & Chung, G. (2019). Customer Experience Transformation in the Aviation
Industry: Business Strategy Realization through Design Thinking, Innovation
Management, and HPT. Performance Improvement, 58(1), 13-30.