Handling an unhappy client

Speed and honesty save accounts. Defensiveness ends them.

The sequence

Same calm tonality you use for objections, applied under more pressure.

Respond fast — slow replies confirm their fear
Acknowledge the specific thing, not 'your concerns'
Say what happened plainly, without blame
Give a dated action, then beat the date

Say it like this

Weak

We're sorry you feel that way — there were several factors outside our control.

Meri standard

You're right, the follow-up messages didn't go out for four days and that's on us. It's fixed as of this morning and I'll send you the numbers Friday.

Practice drill

Rewrite a defensive apology you have seen or given into the Meri version.

Run this drill with Meri Coach

Knowledge check

Question 1 of 1 · Client Success0/0 correct

What is the correct opening move with an unhappy client?

Back to track

Lesson 23 of 23 in the Meri Academy curriculum.