When your customers complain

In today’s Internet-driven world, customers have more power than ever. A satisfied customer may share their good experience with three friends, whereas an angry customer has the potential to tell thrice thousand friends in social networks and communities. And for each customer that complains, there are anywhere from tens to thousands of people that don’t complain – And they simply stop doing business with you.

The fact is, customers with issues that are resolved quickly can often turn into loyal customers and even brand advocates. In nutshell, a customer complaint can become very profitable when you can resolve their problem.

A customer complaint highlights problems with employees or internal processes and you can fix them before further problems arise and cause a bad customer experience. In receiving customer feedback, both positive and negative, you can use positive feedback to provide social proofing and attract new customers and use negative feedback to fix any internal processes and make your customers happy

Your company will hear about a complaint either from the customer directly, in written or verbal communication or by leaving your brand to shop with a competitor due a negative experience.

The number one reason customers leave a brand to use a competitor is not due to pricing or faster service, but due to poor quality and rude customer service.

In analyzing the complaint, it is imperative to review a number of factors, like, who the complaint came from and how often this customer complains. Analyze how often this complaint occurs and then take the necessary actions to ensure it does not happen again.

When it comes to dealing with complaints, you need to consider your organizations service, quality, communication and response time. Look at the cost, billing issues and if problems are regularly followed up. Also you can launch customer service software that allows for more advanced reporting system. Through manual reporting, you are limited to reports.

In managing complaints effectively, you have to ask yourself a number of questions like, has this happened before? Have the complaints been recorded into your customer service system? How often does the same compliant arise? Is there a pattern to this complaint in how it was received? Has the same customer reported this previously? Etcetera

In handling customer complaints you need to be extra careful as this will help to transform into a golden opportunity for your business.

Always listen to the customer. They have complained for a reason and it is important to understand why they are complaining. Take the time to listen and understand what their problem is. Also maintain quality from all support personnel all the time.

Don’t be afraid to apologize for the mistake. Many customers are simply looking for an apology and acknowledgement of their complaint. However, don’t just stop at the apology - follow through with a promise to resolve the complaint.

When your customer has a legitimate complaint, your customer service teams need to find a solution and fix it. If the issue has been or can be repeated, make the necessary changes so you do not receive another complaint.

Make sure that you follow up with your customer to make sure they are satisfied with the solution. This can be in the form of a follow up email or survey asking for feedback on how the complaint was handled. 68% of customers leave a company because they believe you don’t care about them.You have acknowledged the mistake, fixed the problem and followed up.

By Julius Landu Bulili – M.Sc. (Econometrics); CPM, S.A.| Business Coach Email: [email protected] or [email protected]