What do you do when a client makes a complaint about one of your team members?
It can be tricky to find the balance.
Get it right and you’ll maintain the client relationship whilst treating your employee fairly.
But, get it wrong, and you could risk losing the client and damaging team morale.
Your step-by-step approach
1. Stay calm and listen
Thank the client for bringing it up. Let them get it all out without jumping in to defend anyone.
You’re just gathering information at this stage. Take notes and save your questions until they’ve finished. What happened? When? Who was there?
2. Acknowledge and apologise
Get back to them within 24 hours, even if it’s just to say you’re looking into it.
“I’m sorry you’ve had this experience” shows that you’re taking it seriously. You’re not admitting fault, just buying time to work out what actually happened.
3. Ask questions
Before talking to your employee, get the details. “They were rude” tells you nothing.
What exactly was said? Are there emails or messages? Did anyone else see it? The more specifics you have, the fairer you can be when investigating.
4. Meet with your employee
Talk to them privately. Keep it factual: “The client says X happened on Tuesday. What’s your take on it?”
Hear them out properly. There’s often more to the story. Maybe the client was being unrealistic. Maybe it’s a misunderstanding.
If the complaint’s valid, work out how to fix it. Do they need training? Are your procedures confusing? Are they overwhelmed? Sort the real problem, not just the surface issue.
5. Update your client
Once you’ve looked into it and dealt with it, let your client know. You must keep employee details confidential, but you can still give them confidence it’s sorted.
“I’ve looked into this thoroughly and we’ve made changes to stop it happening again.” If you’ve changed something they’ll notice, tell them.
Setting up your approach
Write down how you’ll handle complaints before the next one lands. Who deals with them? How fast do you respond? When do you need outside help?
Having a plan means less panic and more consistency. Keep a simple record of each complaint: date, who’s involved, what happened and what you did about it.
When to get help
Some complaints are too tricky to handle yourself. For example, discrimination claims or harassment accusations could end up in court. These carry real legal risk.
An HR consultant or legal adviser gives you what you need: someone neutral who knows the rules and can handle the investigation while you keep both relationships intact.
Are you dealing with a tricky complaint right now? Or perhaps you want help with setting up a proper way to handle these situations?
Let’s have a quick chat about sorting this out. Drop us a message.
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