How Did Ya'll Handle Your First "disappointed" Customer?

[Frank Stastny]

I would probably have your agency owner or manager call the client and see if they can fix the situation.

Sometimes an "experienced" apology is all that is needed.

In situations when your upset it can be hard to really hear/understand what the client is really saying especially when your caught off guard, and a neutral person (fresh voice of reason) will see it more clearly.

Angry clients can turn into your best clients and of course sometimes they are just crazy.

Excellent advice. Sometimes having the "boss" call can easily turn them around.

When I get a client like that the first thing I do is agree with everything they are saying. They are looking for a fight when they call and if you won't "fight" with them it takes all the wind out of their sales and they will calm down.

Then and only then are you able to get down to what the real problem is. You can ask questions and they will usually answer them calmly and truthfully. After that it is usually fixable.

But then, one cannot fix stupid.

 

[G.Gordon]

Like Frank just said... just listen. Don't try to fix it quickly. Listen, let her vent and when she's out of steam then tell her to let you investigate the matter... When you call back present her with the facts in a manner that does not look like blame.

 

[briko3]

It's probably not too late to get your "boss" to call her and try to rectify the situation. He might be able to make her feel better by saying that a lot of people get that AARP card and make the same mistake and that he can either fix it for her if she wants or she can keep the AARP deal.

Then write the same in a letter and keep a copy.

 

[STIBROKER]

how long have you been doing this.....get use to it....make notes ....file ....and move on.....

She also told me that she has had nothing but TURMOIL since she met me... and she refused to do business with me ever again.

 

[Jessica Durphy]

Yea, Like I mentioned earlier, she refused to speak to me about the matter, so Mr. Williams did give her a call. He said that it was all fixed, EXCEPT she told him that she will never do business with me EVER again. She's just going to keep the AARP and in November she will contact Mr. Williams, not me.

I asked him if he stood up for me, and he just basically said that he didn't play the "blame game" but he let her know in no uncertain terms that he was sorry about the situation and the mix up, and as the business owner he'd do anything that he could to make it right. BUT he said he wasn't going to let her blame me for somthing that I did not do. He told her " I spoke with Jessica and she had done everything exactly the way I would have done it myself...Jessica is an awesome agent, and I'm sure this was an honest misunderstanding somewhere!"

I guess that fixed her problem in general, but it didn't fix her problem with me..

Like other's have said, move on.... my fear was; I didn't want my reputation ruined.
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how long have you been doing this.....get use to it....make notes ....file ....and move on.....

May will be 1 year

 

[G.Gordon]

Sooner or later you can return the favor. I've actually fired clients for being too much of a PITA. You can't make some folks happy and they will talk about you like trash, to you like trash, and find anything to bitch about.

 

[xrac]

Some people are not worth having as clients no matter how much money you make. Some things in life are more valuable than money.

 

[Mr_Ed]

It's probably not too late to get your "boss" to call her and try to rectify the situation. He might be able to make her feel better by saying that a lot of people get that AARP card and make the same mistake and that he can either fix it for her if she wants or she can keep the AARP deal.

Then write the same in a letter and keep a copy.

GREAT advice, Briko!!!!

 

[Yoda]

If you are going to stoop to making a living giving away er I mean selling those MA plans then you are going to have to take the B S that goes along along with it. Only tight asses and the poor want to mess with those MA's and those types of clients are trouble with a capital T.

 

[VaDwayne]

I would admit to failure if I was the one in the wrong... in this case I wasn't at all!!

I had a lady call me on Thursday, she was "LIVID" (her words) she hadn't recieved her cards for her MAPD yet, but her husband had. This couple, make somewhat of a decent amount of money, but due to bills she couldn't afford a supplement or MAPD. When she called and asked if I had anything that was a $0 premium... I told her that I did. We met, I sold her and her husband a Freedom Blue PPO MAPD, $1000.00 deductible plan. (I personally don't care for them, but it was either sell her what she wanted or sell her nothing at all...) After meeting with them, going over the summary, and showing her the pros and cons... she and her husband accepted, signed the forms and whaaa laaa we were all over with.
She called, like I mentioned to tell me that she hadn't recieved her cards, but her hubby had, and she was very upset with me about it. I told her that I'd get to the bottom of it. I directly got off the phone with her and called Highmark to find out what was wrong. They told me that she was approved BUTTTTT she enrolled in another plan after Freedom Blue... They told me it was United Healthcare. This lady got a letter or something in the mail from AARP, she signed it and sent it back in.... well unbeknownst to her she signed up for another plan. (HOW COULD THEY DO THAT?? WHEN WE HAVE SO MANY RULE AND REGULATIONS??)

Anyway, this lady blamed me for not being upfront with her, for not telling her that she could possibly lose this coverage by signing on with someone else, she just blamed me for the whole MESSED UP situation. She also told me that she has had nothing but TURMOIL since she met me... and she refused to do business with me ever again.

Us women can be a bit emotional at times, I'd have to admit, but wowsers, she really hurt me by her words. I know she was scared and upset, BUT I don't see where I made the mistake.... That is water under the bridge now, my quesiton is.. HOW DID YA'LL HANDLE your first dissatisfied customer? and the fear of them ruining your name? You all know that I'm still fairly new, although a lot more knowledgable than I was last year at this time, my biggest fear is her hurting my reputation, which is impecable with the seniors at this moment.

I feel your pain. The only dissatisfied customers that I can recall having in 2009 were MA customers. How did I handle it, I got on the phone and got the run-around from Cigna. The beneficiaries are not receving their cards and I have one that simply was not enrolled by Cigna. I sent a copy of his disenrollment letter in with his app. because he was dropped by Coventry. I sent this app. in on October 26 because of the disenrollment, and the person working on it did not notice it. I have talked to 4 people there, finally a supervisor yesterday, and he is still not enrolled.

How did I handle it, I will not sell another MA, ever? I am getting ready to put this fact on my website. If someone wants a MA, let another agent have it because I don't need the sale badly enough.