No one enjoys having to deal with member complaints. But you should! These less-than-positive experiences are some of the biggest opportunities to turn your neutral customers into raving fans. The key, however, is in how you respond.
In an e-mail:
E-mails are the easiest type of communication to respond to because it gives you time to think and proofread. Remember to be honest! If you messed up, admit to it and explain what you’re going to do to remedy it. And by remedy, I don’t mean describe what free things you’re going to give them, although that can sometimes be beneficial in more extreme situations. Explain to them that you’re going to incorporate their e-mail into your training (without their name of course!) or that you’re going to specifically observe and coach the employee in question. Giving concrete examples of what you’re going to do to prevent the situation from happening again is just as important as apologizing for it already having happened.
Over the phone:
Watch your tone! Your member will immediately pick up on any shift in your tone, especially if it changes to one of aggression and defense. Listen to them and never interrupt. Follow the same guidelines for the e-mail and tell them the prevention measure that you’re going to implement to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. And as always, apologize! It doesn’t matter if you think you’re wrong, they DO!
In person:
If at all possible, take the member in an office, at a table in the café, or anywhere where you’re not just standing in front of other members and staff. Giving them privacy both helps in diffusing the situation and acknowledges that they have your undivided attention. Follow the same steps as above in regards to talking about prevention as well as apology.
Regardless of the communication medium, be genuine. Talk to them like you would want to be talked to, and don’t use templates for your responses. Members can tell when you’ve cut and pasted the same response for every problem (i.e. “We’re sorry and we’re taking care of it”). Make sure that you strongly encourage an open line of communication so that they can immediately come to you if an issue arises.
Your fan base will start to develop when instead of receiving a typical response to a complaint, your members instead receive a meaningful, human-to-human apology.
Amanda Purser is the Front Desk Manager at Gainesville Health & Fitness. She can be reached at APurser@ghfc.com.
