By the Client Service Team

Our Client Services department is an integral part of operations within Digital Planet. We are responsible for building and maintaining relationships with our clients with a view to exceed their expectations.

Impeccable client service is always going above and beyond the client’s expectations, and ensuring long term relationships. We strive to deliver the greatest customer and client experience because that plays a pivotal role in developing value and trust.

We have adopted a proactive attitude to ensure growth and impede complications, whilst maintaining sharp focus and professionalism in the face of a crisis. Through our experience we’ve learned a lot about dealing with irate customers; so here are some of our tips. 

Here are some of our tips for dealing with an angry client:

Honouring basic principles – Provide valuable feedback by effectively establishing workflow and channelling complaints to the correct person the first time they arise, this ensures that it’s attended to faster with useful feedback given to the client  upon first contact. The result will be clear communication with your clients.

Build rapport- Allow yourself to understand and relate to the client’s feelings. We go the extra mile to maintain, a fruitful relationship with the client. We use the “Quid pro quo” principle, where we constantly strive to deliver great client service in exchange for long-term partnerships. By building a positive relationship with the client, we gain a much better understanding of their needs.

Never Argue Back– It is natural for upset clients to express their anger, but some clients can take things too far and your initial reaction may be to defend yourself. However, as a professional client service specialist, you should never argue back. Maintain your integrity and keep your cool. If clients begin to abuse you verbally, let them know that you understand their frustration and that being rude will not solve their problem. Let the client know that you are there to help, but you cannot do so until they calm down.

Find a solution – One of the reasons why a client would be angry is due to their        expectations not being met, or something going wrong with our service .

• Find out what the root of the problem is
• Offer the client different reasonable and realistic solutions that are within the scope of the business
• If the relationship between the client and the business allows an exception to be made, ask the client for a solution that will best resolve the problem. Allowing the client an option to choose how to resolve their complaint tends to promote the feeling of being in control which brings greater personal satisfaction.

Build a Positive Reputation – On the flip side, we are presented with an opportunity to build loyalty when an unhappy client is transformed into a delighted one. In other words, we strengthen trust when we go above and beyond to resolve a problem timeously.