Turning upset customers into wins

I didn’t miss many classes in college.

But something good happened when I did.

I think about it often and how it relates to marketing and sales.

Scroll down to read about it in this week’s issue of No Budget Marketing…

I don’t remember exactly what happened; I think I overslept.

But, I had missed a class in college, so I stopped by the professor's office to catch up on the material and any assignments.

I ended up having a long conversation, and not only did I have a private lesson on what had been covered, but my teacher knew my name from that day forward.

I went into the situation wondering what would happen when I told the teacher I was there because I missed class. And I came out of it feeling better off than if I had just gone to class that day. 

Sometimes we can flip a situation that might seem bad into something valuable.

That’s what I want to focus on this week.

Sometimes, we have an unhappy customer, and the idea of talking to them about their problem can be intimidating, especially if they’re angry.

But when a customer complains, it’s an opportunity.

They’re handing you a window into their world, showing you exactly where the friction is and allowing you to smooth it out. They care enough to tell you what’s broken—sometimes, after you fix it, they even become your most loyal advocates.

The customers you should be losing sleep over are the silent ones. The ones who vanish without a word, quietly slipping away because something didn’t work for them. They don’t give you a chance to make it right. They just go.

But that’s a big topic for another day. Let’s focus on the ones you do hear from.

Each complaint, each piece of feedback, is a chance to grow.

When someone speaks up, it’s like having your own mini focus group—an invaluable peek into what they love, what’s not working, and what they’d tweak if they could.

Unhappy customers can reveal how they found you, why they tried your product, and what’s standing in the way of a great experience. These can be great customer conversations.

Embrace these interactions. Show your gratitude and address their concerns, even if you can’t win them back. Most importantly, listen. Don’t interrupt them or get defensive. Let them vent. Make them feel heard.

Every interaction has a lesson—a chance to sharpen your product, polish your process, and make things better for everyone else who comes next.

Don’t just fix it. Use it. Turn their feedback into a win.

And if you don’t win them back, you might learn something that help you avoid losses like this in the future.

Thank you for reading!

Catch up on previous No Budget Marketing issues at nobudget.beehiiv.com.

-Mike
https://bio.link/mikeholden

P.S. If you missed it, I sent an email on Thursday called “Three ways to make money.”