Yet more wisdom from Seth Godin—this time on how to treat angry customers. In particular, angry customers who take the time to write you a letter.

His advice? Tell them they’re right to be upset.

When clients criticize you or your service in writing, they’re usually pretty miffed, and trying to argue with them—which amounts to telling them they’re wrong—is simply going to make them more irate, more critical of you and your service.

Tell them they’re right to be upset, and you’ll almost always diffuse the situation. The problem won’t go away, but you will have positioned yourself as empathetic problem-solver, not a defensive responsibility-dodger.

Godin: “Arguing with a customer who takes the time to write to you does two things: it keeps them from ever writing again and it costs you (at least) one customer. Perhaps that’s your goal. Just take a moment before you launch an unhappy former customer into the world.”

What Godin’s post amounts to is a restatement of this timeless business adage: The customer is always right. It’s now a cliché, but it’s no less true.