How to Handle an Irate Customer

One of my clients told me this story and asked for my advice.  The client is a doctor who has been in practice for several years.  Here is the story:

A  patient who is a travel agent had been coming to this doctor’s office for several months.  When  he asked how she was doing, she occasionally bemoaned the fact that her travel agency was not doing well.

The other day, he casually mentioned he was taking a cruise with his family and that he had booked it online to save money.  The patient was very upset and asked, “Why didn’t you book it with me?!”  Even though he apologized profusely, she stormed out of the office.

Several options occurred to me:

1. Apologize. The doctor could, and did, apologize.  He could continue to apologize by calling the patient and trying to calm her down.

2. Make amends. In addition to apologizing, he could try to make amends, by cancelling his trip and re-booking with her (I wouldn’t do it myself; I’m just providing options).  Or he could refer other people to her, hoping that the extra business would help her calm down.

3. Get angry and “fire” the customer. He could be angry at the customer and decide that this person isn’t the kind of person he wants to work with.  Anyone in business has the right to work with anyone they want. If you have a customer you can’t stand, you should have the right to tell the person you don’t want to work with him or her anymore.  This lady was ultra sensitive; maybe she was the kind of person who would take offense at anything.  You know the kind of person I mean.

4. Learn a Lesson. The doctor could let the patient go and chalk the debacle up to experience.  He should not have revealed his personal plans to a patient anyway.  He should have just said he would be out of the office for a couple of weeks; if pressed, he could say, “We’re taking a family vacation.”  It really isn’t the patient’s business where he goes or how he chooses to book his trip.  Bringing person stuff into the business environment isn’t very professional anyway.

So there you have the options, as I see them. You might have some other possibilities.  Which one would you choose?

Image: liaj@sxc