It's frustrating to hear complaints while an event is going on. You did your best to come up with a great event, but all you hear are complaints from the attendees. You need to be calm and try your best to handle the situation. It is possible that some of the attendees have a valid reason for raising their complaints, and it's your job to listen to them.
Redirect The Person To The Appropriate Committee
You don’t need to respond to all the complaints. It could be overwhelming if you do so. You can request the person to speak with someone else from your team. For instance, if there are complaints regarding the food, or if the right dish didn’t reach the table, you can talk to the caterers. If you have a specific committee that deals with the caterers, you can also ask for their help.
Don’t Fight Back
Even if you feel disrespected and you don't like the tone used in raising the complaint, you have to remain calm. You can't fight back because you're the organizer. It will reflect terribly on you and your entire team if you're unable to handle these complaints with grace and respect. Regardless of the problem, there's always a way to solve it.
Be Honest If There Is Nothing You Can Do
Sometimes, the complaints are ridiculous, and the demands arise because there were no prior requests. You can't act on those things on the spot. Therefore, you have to be honest about it. For instance, if you received a request to provide a specific meal, but you didn't get any information before that, you don't need to respond to it. Tell the person that these issues won't have an immediate solution. The same thing applies to parking issues. If there was no request for a parking spot and the attendee brought a vehicle, you could provide information on nearby parking areas, but you can't accept the blame.
Talk To The Venue Manager
If the complaints are about the venue, it’s not too late for you to act. You can ask the venue manager to deal with these complaints if they’re reasonable. For instance, if the sound is unclear for people seated at the back, you can deal with the problem right away. If there are issues with air conditioning, you can also do something about it. If you choose one of the best corporate event venues, and you feel comfortable working with the manager, it won’t be a huge problem.
Make Announcements
If the problem concerns everyone in the venue, the best thing to do is to make an announcement. You have to let everyone know what to do if the problem involves safety. Tell people where to go and how to avoid the problem. You can also advise everyone to calm down if you think that the problem is under control.
Corporate Complaints Conclusion
You can’t avoid complaints. They will happen even if you feel like you did everything for the event to succeed. Make the most of the situation and try your best to respond positively to the problems.
