Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
“Be thankful for customers who complain. You still have the opportunity to make them happy.” – Smith Management Group
It would be so great if a company did everything right ensuring that its customers were always happy. However, we know that would be a utopian situation and one that does not exist. The fact is, there are many reasons why customers complain. Worse still, they choose to do so, on public forums and platforms – given that our world has become highly digitized.
However, customers do not complain because they have nothing better to do. Rather, companies provide less efficient services and the quality of their offerings may not be up to the customers’ expectations. If you’re looking for ways to provide better customer service, consider using a tool like the interactive decision trees.
With a tool, it is easier to provide better services to your customers. So, do you want to learn some of the most common reasons why customers complain? Let’s get down to it.
Why Do Customers Complain?
Management gurus and market leaders say that companies must be extremely grateful when customers complain. It means that customers are giving the company another chance to prove itself. In today’s business market, this proves to be an advantage. It is also true that when customers complain, they expect a company to do something about it. 88% of customers would be less likely to ever buy again from a company that ignores complaints.
As mentioned, it is extremely helpful to a company when customers complain. The percentage of such customers is quite small. A bigger chunk of customers prefers to remain silent and walk away to do business with a competitor. Such customers rarely return to a company. In today’s competitive market, losing customers for any reason can potentially be fatal for any company. It would be prudent for companies to immediately pay attention when customers complain and swiftly resolve the issue. It helps prevent the loss of the customer’s business and market reputation.
Companies Not Able To Meet Customers’ Expectations
Customers complain and that’s a fact. Research proves that companies that remain proactive and resolve complaints swiftly and efficiently have a better chance of turning customers into loyal brand ambassadors, who would contribute to its success. Simply put – when customers complain, take note, resolve quickly, and make every complaint lucrative and profitable for your company. Possibly, one of the toughest challenges that companies face today is being unable to match the pace of customer expectations. This leads to problems, complaints, and the inability to resolve problems in a manner and timelines that customers expect. These challenges are further compounded by the fact that digitization makes it easy for customers to publicize their complaints. One negative online comment is visible to a very large audience. Such comments can be from existing and prospective customers. Sometimes, these comments remain online forever.
Customers Complain To Highlight A Problem
When customers complain, it means that they are trying to highlight a problem with the company’s employees, processes, and strategies. Rather than negate the complaint, the company should acknowledge the customer’s complaint, apologize, and resolve the problem. Giving due importance to the words and feelings of customers can save a company from many other problems. It alleviates the possibility of further causes for which customers may complain.
Remember, when customers complain, it is an opportunity that a company must be grateful for. They can use it to strengthen the relationship with the customer. Investing in an updated CRM system enables a company to have every customer’s details in a safe and centralized location. It should be easily accessible and retrievable when required. The company should secure customer information. It can have a greater possibility of enhancing its service and product quality. In turn, it can bring down the number of customer complaints and enhance feelings of warmth and trust toward the company.
When customers complain, the company must remember that it is feedback. How the company uses this information makes it negative or positive. By resolving customer complaints, a company could use it to provide social proof of its commitment to customers. It enhances its chances of attracting new customers. In addition, a company could use it to fix its internal processes and strategies, aligned with the expectations of customers. In turn, it would keep customers happy, rather than complaining.
Poor Customer Service
We’ve discussed before that of the many reasons that customers complain, it would be because a company may have neglected their feelings and emotions. Rude and shoddy customer service is the top reason why customers complain and leave a company. Customers perceive poor service as neglect of their feelings. They do not hesitate to leave a company irrespective of its products and prices. The scary part is that when customers complain, it now is usually not directly to the company.
They place their complaints on highly visible platforms such as social media. A very large audience can view them even before the company, making this time-lapse tough to recover from. It would make sense for a company to, therefore, focus on keeping complaints to a minimum. When customers complain, they should quickly and thoroughly respond and get down to analyzing the reasons for the complaint. Some of the factors to consider would be which customer made the complaint, what could be the basis of the complaint, how often the particular customer complains, etc. If the complaint seems to be recurring, the company should rectify it immediately. Whatever the reasons for a complaint, the company must take necessary actions to ensure that the complaint does not reoccur.
How To Manage Customers Complain
When considering why customers complain, a company must first ensure that it has the capacity and capability to deal with the complaints in the most speedy and efficient manner. What according to your company are some of the reasons for customer complaints? In no particular order, we believe that poor customer service would definitely be one of the top reasons. Rude and inefficient service representatives, long wait times, ambiguous policies, poor quality of online chats, no response via emails, non-availability of staff and facilities, and more, cause customer complaints. It would be prudent to fix these problems before customers take their complaints on social media and choose your competitors.
The thumb rule of any customer-company relationship is never to over-promise and under-deliver. However, many companies seem to invert this equation all the time. Great promises of service and products are made to customers. However, the delivery of these promises can be way below the promises and expectations. Customers are unlikely to return to a company that does not deliver on its promises. Most of them do not shy away from letting others know of the company’s incapacity. Not only would a company lose existing customers, but a significant portion of the prospective business would also be lost.
Let’s Recap
Hidden costs, intricate payment methods, no return policy, and no free shipping are significant other reasons why customers complain. It is not hard to fix these problems. Yet, companies continue to screw up on the side of neglect and irresponsibility.
When customers complain, the sensible thing to do would be to acknowledge and apologize for the inconvenience. Also, assure the customer of swift and efficient action, which must be done. Losing even one customer today can prove to be extremely costly. Companies must first seek to understand the reasons why customers complain. They should also ensure that they have the capability of resolving the complaints and make sure they do not reoccur. So, where does your company stand in this regard?