Whether you are in government service or the private sector, you may need to write to unhappy customers (via email, WhatsApp, Instagram, or Facebook).

They could be asking for things you cannot provide, decisions you cannot make, or rules you cannot bend.

Not all customers are hard to please. In fact, when people decide to buy a product or service, they try to justify their decision. Very few people buy something and then look for ways to convince themselves that they made a poor decision.

Some organisations have a rather "disjointed" process flow. Employees responsible for selling work hard to attract customers, but employees interacting with customers undo these efforts by being careless in their communication with them.

Writing to an unhappy customer is challenging, but it is worth the effort if you can retain the customer's respect and loyalty.

Don't under-estimate the damage that an unhappy customer can do, especially with the numerous platforms in the social media landscape today.