More complaints leads to better customer service

Yes, it’s true and it’s quite possibly one of the best kept secrets of those companies with superior profits and good reputations. In fact, what may surprise you is that those companies with consistently high levels of customer complaints also have even higher levels of customer loyalty.

More Complaints = Better Business

How does that work? These companies actively pursue customer feedback and see each complaint as a gift rather than a nuisance. They make it easy for customers to let them know what they think and what they experience with their products or services. Only 14% of customers leave for product reasons, 68% leave because of poor treatment when complaining or asking questions. These companies recognize that trust and listening are the foundations for customer interactions. Also, better interactions translate into happier customers and more business.

In my more than two decades of working with companies looking to improve their relationships with customers, I’ve discovered that your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning and if you make it easy for them to complain, they offer themselves for free! The customer that does not complain and does not come back is the one that hurts your business most of all! Ninety percent of them won’t come back to you.

Not surprisingly, I found resonance in a recent article in the newsletter of the Toronto Chapter of ICSA (Int. Customer Service Association) by Gail Levitt who provided these critical steps and checkpoints for developing an effective complaint management system:

1. Create and Implement a Complaint Management System Policy Statement

• Communicate standards for conduct, policies, procedures, and resolution in writing so it is clear to all customers and staff;
• Ensure that the policy statement reflects the needs of customers based on value and legality;
• Make it accessible to customers and staff through a variety of media.
  

2. Publicize a Location for Receiving Complaints

• Make it visible and accessible to customers;
• Encourage customers to voice their dissatisfaction;
• Communicate the positive intentions of the company.
  

3. Develop an Efficient System for Record-Keeping

• Design a flexible and efficient system with quick identification of and responses to complaints;
• Enable staff to respond immediately to complaints that must be reported to other departments or distribution networks or legal enforcement or regulatory agencies;
• Monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of the system and make improvements with minimal bureaucracy.

4. Process and Record Complaints Consistently

• Log in the complaint and any relevant data;
• Categorize the complaint for the appropriate resolution and record-keeping;
• Assign the complaint to one person for handling;
• Forward the complaint to additional levels of authority, as appropriate.
  

5. Acknowledge Customer Complaints Promptly

• Establish and enforce response times;
• Personalize the message;
• Talk to the customer if possible by phone or in person;
• Avoid using impersonal form letters or emails;
• Ensure customers with special needs are handled appropriately.

I would like to share with readers that I offer an innovative and very systematic complaint handling diagnostic service. Interested?