How Reducing Complaints Will Help Your Business
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Clive Richard Weeks
Imagine for a moment being in the shoes of one of your customers. Imagine that this customer has an issue with your business or one of your products or services. Let's also assume that the issue is a legitimate problem that is not being resolved.
As consumers, many of us have been in this situation, so try to recall how you felt and how you responded.
Often, the only thing we can do is to take our custom elsewhere.
We might also tell our friends and acquaintances about our negative experiences and post our frustrations on the internet, perhaps via social media like Facebook and Twitter, thus allowing negative sentiment towards the company to spread virally.
But when a company manages complaints calmly and reasonably, with an understanding of the consumer’s situation and emotions, the consumer will probably feel heard and understood. When you listen, you give value to their point of view and they will generally respond positively.
It is worth noting that for every consumer who complains, there could be many others who remain silent. So when a consumer contacts your company, you should be grateful that at least one person has made the effort to communicate with you.
Now that you have listened to your unhappy customer, it's time to solve their immediate problems.
In the case of a faulty product, sending a replacement can easily solve the problem. In some cases, you might need to provide compensation or there could be other appropriate responses, depending on the situation.
But why not go further? Keep the customer informed about what you are doing and offer a free sample, an upgrade or some other incentive for them to remain loyal to your brands.
You may from time-to-time even manage to create a brand advocate – someone who has renewed faith in your brand and who will happily communicate with their friends and associates how well your company handled their situation.
Once you have dealt with the immediate issue, you need to ensure that any on-going issues are resolved. If problems persist, you will always be fighting an uphill battle to retain your customers, who can potentially become your advocates.
You will need to have systems and procedures in place for analysing your complaints data so that you can identify problem trends and isolate underlying root causes. For example, the ability to measure complaints per quantity sales or per dollar sales will allow you to easily track complaints trends relative to sales.
Once you have identified problems they should be addressed in a timely and effective manner to minimise future product problems that could lead to further complaints or even more serious consequences.
When you resolve consumer complaints and related on-going issues you realise the following benefits that contribute to reduced costs or increased sales and improve your bottom line profit:
- ● Reduce negative sentiment towards your brands
- ● Retention of loyal and valuable customers
- ● The possible creation of brand advocates
- ● Reduced marketing spend required to replace lost customers
- ● Reduced complaint costs if on-going issues are fixed
- ● Reduced risk of fines from regulatory bodies
- ● Reduced risk of litigation from dissatisfied customers
- ● Reduced need to compensate customers
What can you do to improve your complaints handling and improve your bottom line?
