Hi there,
when I published my first patterns, I was very excited. I kept an eye on them on Ravelry - I was like a mother hen. And then it happened: My first ever message about my designs.
There are only three designs published yet, it’s a winter accessory bundle and I used a very well-known snowflake pattern - or so I thought.
See, the very considerate person who took it upon themselves to enlighten me, told me that I was wrong, traditionally this motif was meant to be flowers, tulips or lilies.
Honestly, I was baffled and didn’t really know how to react. Their tone told me that they were very convinced that they were right. Also, they started with: “Just in case you care--& possibly it doesn’t matter to you” which didn’t feel very friendly to me either.
I learned that in business, the customer always comes first. In Germany we even say: Der Kunde ist König (the customer is king). And I’m of the opinion, if you choose to do that job, you should embrace it. Working in service and providing services means that you are a servant in a way.
But what about your personal boundaries? I myself learned quite late in my life where my boundaries are and how to defend them. I don’t want to give them up, only because I love working with people. And I’m sure that you feel the same way.
How can you combine these two opposing practises though? You don’t want to lose customers but you want to stay true to yourself as well.
Here are my favourite solutions. Of course they won’t fit for every situation and every person but I think they can help you find your way of handling complaining or weird customers (or even people compelled to tell you what they think about you and your designs).
1. Don’t engage with idiots, trolls and people who only want to shout to let off steam.
You can recognise those. And you won’t change their mind. They don’t want to understand, they don’t want your help or a solution. They have problems with themselves and want to put the anger and frustration they feel on you. But you don’t need to take it. Just keep quiet and don’t reply. You can’t destroy future business here because they wouldn’t want to buy your patterns anyway.
In my example above, a very experienced designer I know told me I should have just deleted the message because it was obviously nonsense.
Being me and that being my first ever message about a design, I replied.
2. Get into contact, engage them and show them you understand them and want to help.
Customers who are angry about something you did or wrote (or didn’t do), want a solution. This is a chance. They could have just kept quiet and put you on their list of designers to never again buy from (totally guilty of this one :-)). But when they get in contact, they haven’t given up on you yet. Take this chance and engage with them. Show them that they’re the queen or king and you are there to help them. You can make them a special offer to apologise for your mistake. Be generous with your time, your patience and maybe even money (e.g. pay back what they paid for the offending pattern or gift them another one). You want to do your best to keep them as a customer - but if they turn into idiots, trolls or shouting people -> see above.
In my example: I told them that I was interested, that I didn’t know of the flower thing and would like to learn more. I asked if they could point me into the direction of sources.
3. Be clear about what you are prepared to do and what you won’t do.
Here your boundaries come into play again. Be clear for yourself what you are prepared to do. How far are you going to go? At which point will you need to put solution 1 into practise? And then make this clear to your customer/ commenter as well. Be friendly and kind but very clear about it.
In my example above: I told them that everyone can see what they want in this motif. To me, it is a snowflake, to them it might be a flower, to someone else it might be a star or something completely different. We can’t influence associations. And even if I was wrong and the motif traditionally was meant to be a flower, I wouldn’t change the names of my designs.
In general: Keep in mind that the customer might be queen or king but they can loose their crown.
So what do you think? Did I get a reply to my answer?
How do you handle unhappy customers/commenters? Do you have a great trick or strategy?
I love to hear from you, so get in contact and tell me!
Talk soon,
Frauke