Unit 7 Complaints and claims

listening and viewing

Text A

Dealing with Complaints

All businesses, even the most successful ones, will have dissatisfied customers every once in a while. The most unhappy customers actually never complain. They simply switch to your competitors without even letting you know when and how your company failed to meet their expectations. However, 95% of those who do complain are ready to give you a second chance if you manage to deal with their complaint successfully and professionally. So how can you turn every complaint into a positive customer experience to win those customers over for life?

所有企业，即使是最成功的企业，偶尔也会有不满意的客户。最不满意的客户实际上从不投诉。他们直接转向您的竞争对手，甚至不让您知道您的公司在何时何地未能达到他们的期望。然而，如果您成功并专业地处理他们的投诉，95%的投诉者愿意给您第二次机会。那么，您会如何将每一个投诉转化为积极的客户体验，赢得这些客户的青睐呢？

It’s All about the Attitude

The key to successfully dealing with complaints is having the right attitude. In fact, customer complaints should be welcomed and seen as a kind of feedback, which is always a valuable source of information about your business. Customers don’t complain just to be rude. They do it because they’ve experienced a problem with your products, services, or the way your business operates, and they’re simply telling you about it. This is an opportunity for learning where your business could be improved. Here are six tips to keep in mind whenever you get a complaining customer.

一切都取决于态度

成功处理投诉的关键在于态度正确。实际上，应该欢迎客户投诉，并将其视为一种反馈，因为投诉始终是与您的业务相关的宝贵信息来源。客户投诉并不是为了蛮横无理。他们这样做是因为他们在您的产品、服务或您的业务运营方式上遇到了问题，他们只是在告诉您这个问题。这是一个改进业务的机会。当您遇到投诉客户时，请牢记以下六点建议。

React Immediately

Make sure that everyone who complains on the phone, via live chat, social media, or by email gets a quick reply. Even if you cannot provide an immediate solution to their problem, you can at least let them know that their complaint is heard and that you’re going to do your best to make things right as soon as possible.

1. 立即做出回应

确保所有通过电话、在线聊天、社交媒体或电子邮件投诉的人都能得到快速回复。即使您无法立即解决他们的问题，您至少可以告诉他们，您已经收到了他们的投诉，并且您将尽最大努力尽快解决问题。

  Stay Calm

No matter how angry or even rude the customer might be, you need to remain calm and listen without interrupting. Let them speak and express their frustration without taking it personally and losing your cool.

2. 保持冷静

无论客户有多生气，有多粗鲁，您都需要保持冷静，持续听取他们的意见。让他们投诉，表达他们的不满，不要把太往心里去从而失去冷静。

  Get the Facts and Details

After letting them talk, take the lead and start asking questions to get as many details as needed to really understand the situation and the problem. Use this opportunity to start a real conversation and build a trusting relationship with a customer.

3. 获取事实和细节

他们投诉完以后，请主动提问，获取尽可能多的细节，真正了解情况和问题。利用这个机会开始一次真正有效的对话，并与客户建立信任关系。

 Acknowledge the Problem

If your company really made a mistake, acknowledge the problem and take responsibility for helping a customer to solve it. It also makes perfect sense to apologise. Saying sorry shows compassion and understanding of their feelings and frustration with the situation.

4. 承认问题

如果您的公司确实犯了错，请承认错误，并承担帮助客户解决问题的责任。道歉也是完全合理的。道歉表明您对他们的感受的同情和对情况不满的理解。

 Offer a Helpful Solution

Now that you know all the facts and the real problem behind a customer’s complaint, it’s time to offer a helpful solution. If you can’t do that, pass the issue over to someone who can. If you are able to get things right quickly and effectively without making them wait for ages, you’ll get a happy and, most probably, loyal customer.

5. 提供有效解决方案

此时，您已经了解了客户投诉背后的所有事实和真正的问题，现在是提供有效解决方案的时候了。如果您无法提供解决方案，那么请将问题转交给能够解决的人。如果您能够迅速有效地解决问题，不让客户等待很长时间，您将获得一个愉快且忠诚的客户。

 Thank the Customer

No matter how unpleasant the situation is, when customers complain, you still need to thank the customer for bringing the complaint to your attention and giving your business an opportunity to improve. That makes them feel important and valuable.

6. 感谢客户

无论场面闹得多么不愉快，客户投诉时，您都需要感谢客户提出投诉，并给予您的业务改进的机会。这让他们觉得被重视、有价值。

Minimise the Reasons for Complaints

Knowing how to fix customer complaints successfully is very important for your business’s success. Do whatever needs to be done — improve your product, fix the process, train staff, or whatever it is, and be honest with your customers about your products or services from the beginning.

减少投诉的原因

了解如何成功解决客户投诉对于您的业务成功非常重要。做好一切需要做的——改进产品、修复流程、培训员工等，以及自始至终，对您的产品或服务秉持真诚态度。

Text B

How salespeople can make a difference to people’s lives

 Story one: customer service is not a Mickey Mouse affair

     Not too long ago, a guest who was checking out of our Polynesian Village resort at Walt Disney World told the receptionist that she had had a wonderful holiday, but was very unhappy about losing several rolls of camera film, which had all the pictures she had shot at our Polynesian luau, as this was a memory she especially treasured. She said she had wanted to show all her family and friends her photos.

     We have no policy covering any photos lost in Disney World. However, the receptionist at the front desk understood Disney’s philosophy of caring for our guests. She asked the guest to leave her a few rolls of new film and said she would take care of the rest.

     Two weeks later, this guest received a package at her home. In it were photos of the entire cast of our luau show, personally signed by everybody who took part in the performance. There were also photos of the parade and fireworks in the theme park, taken by the receptionist on her own time after work. I know this story because this guest wrote us a letter. She asked us to thank the receptionist and said that she had never received such service from any business establishment.

     We passed on the lady’s thanks and told the hostess that we were very proud of her and the help she had given our guest. Good service comes from people who care.

 Story two: faulty laptop with less than faulty service

     I had a bad experience last May. One Monday, the expensive, state-of-the-art American laptop computer that my company had ordered for me finally arrived. I had been waiting for it for three months. I wanted to use it to read and write my emails when I was in Europe on business, but first I wanted to install the necessary software so that I could read my Hong Kong emails anywhere in Europe.

     Early on Friday morning, the day before I was to fly to London, I finished installing the software. But it wouldn’t work. I couldn’t get a connection to the Internet, so I took the laptop and the software into the office and the technician tried to fix it. He worked all day on it but it still didn’t work. I didn’t have time to take the laptop to the shop that had sold us the computer as I was flying the next morning.

     While I was in London, the computer suppliers phoned me from Hong Kong the following Monday. They said they would send me new software by courier. It arrived two days later on Wednesday. I tried to install the software but again, no luck. My English colleague tried. He was also unsuccessful. I was in Europe for three months and during that time I had no email contact with my family, friends or colleagues except when I logged in from my hotel.

     When I finally returned to Hong Kong, I sent the laptop back to the computer suppliers and explained the problem. They immediately sent me a temporary replacement to use while they looked into the problem, with a letter of apology. They discovered that the trouble was a faulty modem that had been installed on a brand-new laptop. Fortunately, as soon as they had exchanged the modem for another one, it worked perfectly. The computer suppliers offered to service the laptop for three years for no charge. Being without Internet for three months was extremely annoying, but the computer suppliers more than compensated for the problem. I will go back to them for my next computer.

销售人员可以如何影响人们的生活

故事一：客户服务不是请客吃饭

不算很久以前，一位客人在我们的迪斯尼世界波利尼西亚度假村退房时告诉前台服务员，她的假期非常开心，但遗憾的是丢失了几卷胶卷，其中包括她在波利尼西亚野宴上拍摄的所有相片，这些是她特别珍视的记忆。她说她本想把这些照片与家人和朋友一同分享。

在迪士尼世界，我们并没有找回丢失相片的服务规定。然而，这位前台接待员深谙迪士尼为客户服务的理念。她请客人留下几卷新的胶卷，剩下的事情她会搞定。

两周后，这位客人在家中收到了一件包裹。包裹中有野宴全体演职人员的合影，还有每位表演者的亲笔签名。此外还有那位前台服务员在工作之余拍摄的主题公园内的游行和焰火表演照片。收到这位客人的来信后，我才得知这件事情。她请我们向那位前台服务员转达谢意，并表示她在其他任何一家商业场所都从未曾获得过如此温暖贴心的服务。

我们向前台服务员转达了这位女士的谢意，并告诉这位服务员，我们为她以及她给予客人的帮助感到骄傲。优质的服务来自那些真正关心别人的人。

故事二：电脑有故障，服务没问题

去年五月，我有一次不愉快的经历。某个星期一，公司为我购置的一台价格昂贵、性能优越的美国产笔记本电脑终于到货了。我已经等待了三个月。我想在欧洲出差的时候用这台电脑来收发电子邮件。不过首先，我得在这台电脑上安装必备的软件，这样无论我在欧洲什么地方，都可以读到来自香港的邮件。

周五早晨，在启程飞往伦敦的前一天，我终于装完了软件，但却没法用。我无法连接到互联网，于是我将笔记本和软件带到办公室交由技术员处理。他花了整整一天，但还是没法用。我没时间把电脑送到经销商那里修理，因为第二天一早就要赶飞机。

我到了伦敦后，供应商在接下来的星期一从香港给我打来电话。他们说会把新软件快递给我。两天后，我在星期三收到了快递。我尝试安装软件，但依旧没有成功。英国的同事试图帮忙，也以失败告终。我在欧洲待了三个月，在那段时间里，除了在酒店里上网之外，我无法与家人、朋友或者同事通过电子邮件联系。

回到香港后，我把电脑送回到供应商那里并说明问题。他们立即寄给我一个临时用的替代电脑供我在电脑检修期间使用，还附了一封道歉信。他们发现故障原因是新款笔记本上安装了错误的调制解调器。幸运的是，在替换了调制解调器之后，电脑恢复了正常。供应商主动承诺提供三年免费售后服务。三个月没有网络着实令人烦恼，然而电脑供应商良好的处理弥补了这个问题。下次购置电脑我还会找他们。