How to Handle Customer Dissatisfaction? [eCommerce Edition]

Ah, customers. They are always right, yet do they even know what they want? All in all, there are some primary factors that stand behind customer dissatisfaction, regardless of the industry.

Pleasing every single customer is a hard task, still, it is not something that you cannot, at least, try to do.

Let us review them, and provide you with some actionable tips on how to deal with unhappy customers.

PS: Everyone knows there is one person in the world that is impossible to satisfy, so there is no point in even trying to. And yes, we are looking at you, Mick Jagger.

Readers Also Enjoy: Customer Intelligence 101: Your Guide to Winning the Customer’s Heart – DevriX

What Are the Main Reasons for Customer Dissatisfaction?

There are a lot of factors that can contribute to customer dissatisfaction. In recent years, clients have become increasingly demanding, perhaps due to the variety of channels they can use to complain, most notably social media.

Still, there are some components that are always in play, when it comes to unhappy customers.

1. High Expectations

It is not uncommon for customers to sometimes have unrealistically high expectations. However, the truth is that it is not always their own fault.

Perhaps, your products/services seem too good to be true, or maybe customers expect the same things from you as your industry competitors.

In all cases, the best way to address such issues is to explain to the customer that you apologize for the inconvenience, and will take their feedback seriously, so that you can improve your product/service.

On top of that, a proper solution is to align expectations with reality – make sure that you do not overexaggerate or promise things that you cannot deliver.

You can also ask the customer if there is anything else you can do to improve their experience with the product or service.

Readers Also Enjoy: Does a Free Trial Marketing Strategy Work? [2023] – DevriX

2. Price

One of the most common reasons for customers to be unsatisfied with is pricing. They might start to complain about your product or service being overpriced, even if they are getting a lot of value for their money.

A lot of times, this point stands out when customers compare your product or service with similar products/services on the market. Thus, they might not necessarily be unhappy with what you offer, but they could be lowering their overall rating due to the price comparison.

What you can do in such a situation is to, again, thank the customer for their feedback and explain that they can find the reason for your pricing in your value proposition.

Readers Also Enjoy: What Is Captive Product Pricing and Does It Work? – DevriX

3. Quality

Closely related to the pricing aspect, customer satisfaction is dependent on the quality of your product/service. Here you need to be fair, as well as, realistic. When the quality of your product or service does not match the pricing you have set, then it becomes a problem.

After all, if you are selling wireless headphones for $300, when the average price is around $60, you better make sure the headphones are worth that amount, and don’t end up falling apart within a week.

The best course of action in such a situation is to offer up a solution to the situation, and address the negative review, in the case there is one.

Readers Also Enjoy: How to Write a Product Review That Sells? – DevriX

4. Usability

How easy is it to use your product or service? The quality you promised might be high, and the price you have set acceptable, however, if it is hard for users to use your product or service, they will most likely be unsatisfied.

You should also never leave a bad user experience unresolved. If you’ve noticed that customers are having a hard time using your product/service, you should respond by providing them with the resources and support necessary to fix the problem, so they can use the product/service properly and to their satisfaction.

Readers Also Enjoy: User Testing: Why, When and How? – DevriX

5. Customer Service

The first line of handling a dissatisfied customer is typically your customer service department. Still, in some cases, customer support representatives end up being a problem on their own.

Unfortunately, some customer support reps can irritate customers by being unresponsive, lacking empathy, having knowledge gaps, or simply being rude.

Providing top-notch customer service should always be a priority for any eCommerce store, and/or business. In general, this department should always be able to help customers resolve their issues.

A good way to deal with an unhappy customer is to first apologize for the inconvenience, and any negative experiences they have had with your business, and let them know that you are there to assist them, despite your initial inability to do so.

Readers Also Enjoy: 6 Secrets to Improve Your Team’s Customer Relation Skills – DevriX

How to Handle Customer Dissatisfaction?

1. Act Fast and Try to Prevent It
2. Find Out the Reason For the Dissatisfaction
3. Respond to Negative Feedback
4. Make Customers Feel Heard
5. Continuously Educate Your Team

1. Act Fast and Try to Prevent It

An unhappy client should be dealt with as soon as possible. Do not let the negative feelings fester. Try to act quickly and resolve whatever caused the issue.

What is more, after you’ve successfully dealt with the unhappy customer, you should do your best to find the core reason behind it, and try to improve on that aspect, in order to prevent the same thing from becoming a problem again in the future.

2. Find Out the Reason for the Dissatisfaction

It is important to emphasize this step. If your goal is to simply resolve the problem for the moment, you will risk it happening again and again with other customers.

It is much better for your business, and its customers, to locate the issue, and make sure it never happens again.

3. Respond to Negative Feedback

Many businesses think that receiving negative feedback is the end of the world. Well, it’s not. However, it does indicate that there is something wrong. Pretending like nothing happened will not be a viable, long-term solution.

Just be open to criticism. Write a reply if it is an online review, or on social media, and find a way to let both the customer that left the review, and everyone else that might be reading, that you are looking to improve and make things better.

4. Make Customers Feel Heard

Following this line of thought, dissatisfied customers will appreciate it, if you make them feel like their voice is being heard.

Leaving them without a reply will just strengthen their feelings of anger, and tell them that you do not care about their opinion. However, statistics show that around 70% of customers are willing to continue doing business with a company that resolved their complaint properly.

Ultimately, it is up to you: do you want to retain your customers, or is it okay for you to lose them?

Readers Also Enjoy: How to Manage Customer Queries on Your WordPress Website? – DevriX

5. Continuously Educate Your Team

According to 80% of American consumers, the most valuable aspects of customer support are speed, convenience, knowledge, and friendliness.

Therefore, you should always be looking to invest into educating your customer support team, developing their soft skills, and keeping them up to date with the latest products, and so on.

Readers Also Enjoy: 8 Leadership Soft Skills for Workplace Success – DevriX

What Do Unsatisfied Customers Want?

How can you flip customer dissatisfaction around? The key is finding what an unhappy customer wants so you can deal with the situation correctly and hopefully to the satisfaction of the client.

More or less, it is one of these:

1. Get an Apology. Sometimes all an angry customer wants to hear is the magic words: “I am sorry.” Showing that you care about your client’s feelings might not sound like a big deal, but quite often an apology works wonders.
2. Talk to a Manager. ”I want to talk with your manager.” is the classic phrase of any disgruntled customer. However, this just often means that the support the client originally received was not enough to provide an outcome that satisfies both parties.
3. Receive a Refund. There are some instances where the only thing to do is to provide the customer with the refund they want. Of course, you should always try to understand why the customer was not satisfied with the product/service.
4. Replace the Product/Service. As a good rule of thumb, always be prepared to replace a product an unhappy customer has ordered with another of your products, especially if there has been an issue with said item.
5. Express Their Frustration. Sometimes, customers mainly want to express their frustration, and let you know how they feel. Approach these complaints with empathy, and try to find a positive solution to the problem.

Readers Also Enjoy: 3 Secret Tips to Happy Clients – DevriX

Summary

The key to handling customer dissatisfaction is… caring! That is right.

If you truly care about your customers, and truly feel bad whenever they are unhappy, you will do whatever is necessary to make them happy.

Furthermore, true caring means that you will look for ways to prevent the issues before they happen. There are many reasons why a customer is dissatisfied, yet you can address all of them by just listening to what they have to say, and apologizing for your mistakes.

Last but not least, you shouldn’t forget that DevriX is a WordPress agency that can help you build and scale your eCommerce store.