“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning” – Bill Gates
Running a business is not an easy task and the arduousness of this task is heightened when dealing with customers who are becoming increasingly aware and demanding. There are bound to issues leading to complaints and therefore effectively handling customer complaints must be an important part of customer service. The training imparted, skill sets and personal characteristics of the customer service staff, together will determine how well customer complaints are handled. The overall customer experience will be affected – either positively or adversely – by the manner of handling customer complaints. In fact, companies are now viewing a complaint as an opportunity to change a customer from being disgruntled to loyal for life. No one enjoys being told they are wrong and negative feedback can have a bad influence on employee morale and hence handling this kind of feedback requires training and time. Of course, in an ideal world there would not be any complaints but that’s just wishful thinking!
In the real customer service world, customer complaints are an everyday occurrence ranging from minor grievances to more complex troubleshooting related complaints. Customer service representatives must be adept at handling all kinds of complaints. Not handling customer complaints could have long term drastic results including destroying steadily built reputation, diminishing the bottom line and maybe altogether eliminating the company.
– Customers who complain expect to not only be heard but to receive a resolution that is in their favor. Customers that receive such service will in most cases will provide repeat business and speak well of you
– Customer complaints that are resolved timely and effectively will result in a high percentage of customers willing to forget and move forward with the company
It may not always be possible to provide a solution to all the complaints but a perceived sincere effort will also help to decrease the negativity of a bad customer experience. The customer will be able to see a genuine concern and be able to appreciate the limitations.
Let’s look at some of the ways to handle customers who are complaining to turn them to happy customers:
– Each customer is important and they must be made to feel that way. Internally you may prioritize customer issues and complaints, but when dealing with a particular customer, especially an irate one, make sure that you sit upright and listen. Treat the customer like a star with a huge fan following and so can be potentially detrimental to your company’s reputation if ignored.
– It would serve you well to remember that customers normally do not take out time to provide feedback. If they do, treat it as opportunity to improve. Each customer complaint will tell you something and provide pointers as to how you are faring and what you need to do better. It does not at all mean that you would need to do everything that a customer says, but just to use the words to point you in the right direction. Innovation and creativity in their product or service is something only a company can come up with. As Steve Jobs said: “It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” So listen attentively and put in to action what is best for the customer and your company.
– Be able to segregate a ‘complainer’ from one who really wants to make a difference. There are a plethora of customers out there looking to lay their hands on a freebie or bully you in to lowering the cost on an already competitively priced offering. Such feedback must at best be heard. However, if there is a majority of customers who complain about a particular feature of a product or who say that the troubleshooting guides provided are not helpful, these are the kinds of complaints that need immediate attention.
– Customers range from being tolerant complainers to the more vociferous to the extreme vengeful kinds. Knowing the customer type will help in a more effective handling of complaints received from the various kinds of customers. Having trained and skilled staff will help in managing each type of complaint accordingly.
– Display genuine regret at the problem being faced by the customer. Even if the customer is really irate, they will calm down with a heartfelt apology and unfeigned request asking them how they can be helped. Using rote sentences come across as condescending and only anger the customer more. Remain supportive, calm and polite in every situation.
– If a call lands at the desk of a customer service representative who is unable to resolve the problem, make sure that the customer is informed of why the call needs to be diverted elsewhere. Show the benefit of the action to the customer. For example – the nature of complaint is probably related to technical troubleshooting and so the team that deals will with this kind of complaint would need to hear the customer complaint. Never transfer a customer call without prior intimation to them and make sure the transfer is quick and the person you are transferring the call to is informed briefly of what the customer said. This saves time for the customer in not having to repeat the problem.
– Priority must be given to the highly irate customer who you stand a greater chance of losing. In any case, sluggish and sloppy service will always have an adverse effect. If you cannot resolve a problem immediately, let them know and commit a time by when you can. Then deliver before time!
– Customers just need to be heard and feel special. Building some amount of familiarity and providing a personal touch in your interactions go a long way in appeasing even the most angry customer. Using technical jargon that they cannot understand (even while troubleshooting a technical problem) will only serve to make the customer feel like you are attempting to appear smarter than them. Keep the interaction simple, polite and as grounded as possible. Your customer is more likely to listen to you.
– The key to handling customer complaints is to ensure that a customer does not leave as a result of the problem. However, if the customer seems to have made up their mind to do so, make it easy for them to delete their account with you. If you are courteous, helpful and provide service with a smile even as they leave, they will remember that as the last thing and are more likely to return.
– While customers may use any of the myriad channels to communicate with your company, you should choose a channel through which you would most effectively be able to resolve their problems. This way you save time and unnecessary exposure over the social media sites and are also able to resolve the customer’s complaint more effectively.
At the base of handling customer complaints is to remember most importantly that the customer is angry with something your company did and so has the right to be upset. They do not have anything personal against anyone and hence the complaint should be treated as objectively as possible. It’s hard to remember that when someone is shouting at you for something you did not do but remaining in control and positive will ensure that the angry customer calms down much faster. If you are willing to listen and empathize with them, it will be a lot easier to get them to see your point of view and take the suggestions you make. Not all customers are abrasive though. It could be said that handling customer complaints skilfully is almost an art and which can be perfected with time.
“Your customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” – Damon Richards
