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In every business, mistakes happen and customers get angry. But when a problem is fixed properly and stays fixed–loyalty actually increases! Here are five steps you can take to not only resolve the problem but also actually build loyalty with an angry customer.

In fact, you can also follow these steps to deal with angry co-workers and build positive relationships in your workplace.

LISTEN carefully to the person who is angry.

Active listening requires a lot of effort and cannot be accomplished when you’re distracted. You need to stop everything you are doing and give your customer 100% of your attention.

EMPATHIZE with your customer’s concerns.

Let them know that you sincerely care about the problem even if you don’t agree with their comments. One way to show you care is to sincerely thank your customer for bringing the problem to your attention.

APOLOGIZE even if you are not the cause of the problem.

When said sincerely, the words “I’m sorry” can eliminate as much as 95% of a person’s anger. This will help your customer to calm down and be more open to problem resolution.

RESOLVE the problem.

Show your customer that you are on his or her side and will do everything you can to get the problem resolved. If an employee in another department is better equipped to fix it, help make the transition smooth by explaining the problem so your customer doesn’t have to repeat their story.

NOW is the time to address the problem.

The faster the response time, the better. When the problem is addressed quickly and with care, loyalty actually goes up.

Check out the first letter of each of the words listed above. The best way to handle a situation in which a customer is angry or upset is to remember the acronym LEARN.  Every time a customer complains it gives us an opportunity to learn how we could have handled things better or differently in order to build loyalty. Remember, many of our silent, angry customers just go away. Apply the five steps listed above. Then feel great about the positive difference you made in your customer’s day and your company’s success!