There are many things people dread when starting up a business, but one of the most frightening is the refund. In many ways, this is because it can be hard to strip the emotion out of it. Years of work have gone into this business, with hard-working employees and products or services that you put your heart into. And then someone asks for their money back.
It might even feel a bit senseless, but if you’re running a business, the most important thing to do is pick your battles and understand exactly how to deal with the situation. With this in mind, here are five steps you should take when you come up against the dreaded refund and how they will aid your business in the long run:
First Off, Don’t Lose Them!
When a customer asks for a refund, more often than not, they are doing so on legitimate grounds. In this case, you should forget about the here and now and think about the future. If you are a B2B company, especially, it is essential that you try to retain as many customers as possible.
In B2B, just a 5% increase in customer retention can increase your revenue by up to 95%, so this customer must be treated with care and precision. Utilise the loyalty programme you have set out or, if you do not have one yet, visit www.incentivesmart.com to create the best programme possible and give this customer a solid reason to stay.
Listen To Their Feedback
Another reason you can get this customer to stay is by actively listening to the feedback that they give. If there is something wrong with a product or service, then you’re going to want to know about it in order to avoid the same thing happening in the future. Take on board everything they say and show them that you are doing something about it.
Document The Issue And Follow Up On It
It’s also important for you as a business to document the refund, the customer feedback, the outcome of the interaction and then the lessons that you as a company learned from the whole experience.
As well as this, you should follow up with the customer, confirm the agreement that was made between you, and ask for more feedback – not just about the issue itself but also the way that you dealt with it. This is essentially another way to know your customers better, and it also shows that you are professional and care about what they think. This will be another factor in their decision to stay loyal.
Be Transparent
Transparency is another important thing, specifically in B2B. Every business owner dreads it, but sometimes customers hang their issues out to dry in public, which means that the process and the result of the refund are in the public eye too. In this instance, it’s always good to be as transparent as possible, as you are not only trying to appease the customer but ensure your other customers are not disheartened by the chain of events.
Take A Second Look
Lastly, it can be important to remember that – believe it or not – the customer isn’t always right. There have been a number of cases of scammers attempting to retrieve their money back from businesses, so it’s essential that you keep this in mind and really examine what the customer is saying. They must be specific, so take a look into their claims and make sure that they are backed up before you go any further.
Of course, you should always go into the process believing that what the customer is saying is truthful, but just be aware that there are some who will attempt to take advantage of your company. When they do, it is your job to identify the truth from the lies and ensure that no scammers tarnish the reputation of your company.
