Question:
“I hear a lot of companies talking about customer service these days, but not enough of them actually practicing it. I’m a small business owner and about a month ago I received a form letter from my credit card company telling me that the interest rate on my account was going to be raised. When I called them to sort this through, the representative said she couldn’t help me and directed me to another representative via an 800 number. When I called this number, it sounded like I’d reached one of those offshore call centers. I’m unhappy and want to complain, have my voice heard, and the issue resolved. Hiding behind the policy manual just makes me mad. What should I do?”
Answer:
In these economic times, client acquisition and retention is job No. 1.
While this is an obvious conclusion, my own negative experiences tend to mirror yours, suggesting that not all organizations are walking the talk at a very high level along these lines.
What can organizations do to handle complaints better, in essence, turning lemons into lemonade? In our consulting practice, we like to explore these charged interactions where a customer is upset, frustrated, angry, etc., as moments of truth. We think that if they are well-handled, customer satisfaction can actually be heightened because the problem is resolved and corresponding trust has been built, as follows: You heard the customer’s concern, you responded to it without becoming defensive or dismissive, and you took care of the situation to the customer’s satisfaction.
To begin, let me make the following observations about customer complaints:
- Complaints happen. They are a fact of life. No business operates in a complaint-free zone.
- Complaints represent a small percentage of the totality of customer interactions. I’ve seen some researchers put the number at about 5 percent.
- Customers who have a bad experience are more likely to tell other people about it than customers who have a good experience. I’ve seen various statistics over the years, but a pretty safe conclusion is that the customer with the negative experience will tell his/her story to at least three or four times more people than the customer who has the positive experience.
- Most significantly, one bad experience (i.e., poorly handled complaint) can scare away a customer … for good!
Cast in this light, the stakes are pretty high when it comes to complaint handling.
And, I’ve noted previously, complaints are opportunities. Think about the following positive potential by-products of well-handled customer complaints:
- Relationship deepening and the fostering of goodwill.
- Improvements in operations.
- More knowledge by the customer.
- Increased customer loyalty.
- “Win back” dissatisfied customers.
Further, thinking of complaints as opportunities can lead to the opening and widening of communication channels with customers. After all, it is better to encourage customers to complain, even about minor points, than to wait until customers become dissatisfied and go elsewhere.
Additionally, customers don’t always voice their complaints, so don’t deceive yourself by practicing a philosophy of, “What we don’t know won’t hurt us.” Most people who are dissatisfied simply leave and go elsewhere . . . you won’t even know they’re unhappy until you don’t see them anymore!
To get out-front on this issue, the place to start is with a focused program of communication training for the people who interface with the external customers. The idea is to craft a uniform approach to handling and resolving complaints that creates a consistent look and feel. You don’t want only one or a few employees and work areas to do a very strong job in this regard. You want all of the employees and all of the work areas that support the customers to do a strong job.
By adopting a systematic approach to external customer service and the handling of complaints, you need to start by building an internal customer service where complaints are well handled. If there is variation between work areas and/or infighting, blaming, etc., these “grouchy” feelings are bound to carry over to the customer experience. It’s hard to “phony it up” on the outside when you’re unhappy on the inside.
Here are some simple suggestions for promoting positive behaviors that will lead to more effective complaint handling:
- Listen without interrupting the customer.
- Show empathy and be willing to help.
- Guide the conversation with open questions – who, what, where, when, why, how?
- Write down the information.
- Stay with the customer … don’t pass the buck.
- Discuss a resolution and agree to a course of action that is acceptable to you and your customer.
- Act to resolve the complaint immediately, if possible (if not, set a time by which the problem will be resolved).
- Make sure the action is carried out.
- Keep the customer informed of everything that is happening.
This is a customer-centric approach that says, “You are important to us. I’m here to help you. I will do everything I can to resolve this situation to your satisfaction.”
By the way, I’m not suggesting you give away the store. Customers have the right to have their needs met, but within realistic parameters consistent with sound business practices supported by ethical and integrity-oriented problem solving.
Here are some simple suggestions for when you have to say “no” to a customer:
- Listen to the customer.
- Don’t say, “It’s the policy.”
- Empathize with the customer.
- Acknowledge the content of the complaint and the feelings of the customer.
- Decline with reasons you can justify.
- Suggest an alternative.
- Ask open-ended questions.
- Repeatedly keep to your point.
As Kerry Patterson and colleagues have pointed out in their publications, customer complaints are examples of “crucial conversations.” These can be avoided, handled poorly or handled well. By following and extending the steps I outlined in this column, you and your colleagues will be well on your way to moving up the customer satisfaction hierarchy, from “meeting expectations” to “meeting desires” to “providing excitement.”
In these highly competitive times, this is the only way to go.
