How to Deal with Difficult Clients and Issue Refunds

Currently, you might be wondering how to deal with difficult clients and issue refunds due to this virus upset. Many people are being forced to postpone or cancel their events or orders because of the mandated quarantine. This is hurting a lot of businesses in more ways than one. Not only are monetary issues hitting hard, but dealing with upset clients is a problem as well. If you’re in the same boat as many businesses, here are a few tips on how to deal with difficult clients and issue refunds.

How to Deal with Difficult Clients and Issue Refunds

Be Clear

When conducting services for people, either have contracts or some sort of written and vocal material that is thorough. This way, they can’t say they didn’t know what to expect and you have proof to back yourself. Being clear isn’t just to protect you, it’s to please your customers so they’re confident in their purchases.

Use Grace

You’re upset, they’re upset, everyone is upset – this is what everyone is feeling during this crisis. It’s no one’s fault. Therefore, when clients call you to cancel, they’re going to have a million emotions they’re juggling. They may have been stuck home with kids, full of worry because their job laid them off, and more. Not to mention, many people mask the fact that they feel really bad for having to cancel service by being grumpy. The best way to handle difficult clients is with grace. Even if it’s outside of this Covid-19 crisis, grace is always the answer. Handling it in a mature and calm manner makes a huge difference.

Ask Questions

Some people get themselves worked up before talking to businesses and before asking for refunds. First, start with understanding and apologizing for their unhappiness, and be genuine. Next, get to the bottom of it by asking probing questions. Give them a chance to calm down and get it out. Many times, you will find it was just a misunderstanding or miscommunication. If it wasn’t, and it was a genuine problem, fix it. Own up to the mistake and face it with humility.

Give the Refund If Necessary

Don’t just settle for a refund because people are all about making up junk and swindling people out of refunds. However, once you’ve followed the steps above, if it truly ended up being your fault, as I stated, humble yourself and accept responsibility. If it’s unclear what happened and if it’s your fault or not, go ahead and accept responsibility. Remember, you want your business to have the best reputation as possible. Now, haters are gonna hate, and you’ll always have those, but those are usually pretty obvious. You can’t change those, but you can do your best in handling the real clients.

During this virus scare, use a lot of understanding, patience, and grace. Everyone is feeling it. However, outside of the virus, there’s still plenty of room for those three key ingredients to a happy customer. Refunds right now will be more abundant, and that’s ok. When it comes to learning how to deal with difficult clients and issuing refunds, you’ll learn it takes a lot of biting your tongue and lending a listening ear.