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Leveraging Customer Complaints Into Customer
Loyalty
An effective feedback system is worth its weight in service reps
By Craig Cochran
Many organizations consider complaints to be anything but what they are:
urgent calls to action from a trusted source. When a customer complains,
your organization is at a crossroads where one of two results can occur:
| • |
You’ll address the causes of the complaint, let
the customer know the actions you’ve taken and strengthen your
customer’s loyalty. |
| • |
You’ll fiddle-faddle around, fail to address the causes, never
let the customer know anything and ultimately lose that customer. |
A complaint is really a fork in the road, and the choice of paths couldn’t
be more different. Go one way and ensure your long-term success; go the
other and strangle slowly from your own ineptitude.
Only committed customers bother to complain
Why don’t more companies recognize complaints as opportunities for
improvement? It’s because they don’t see complaints as opportunities
at all. Instead, they see them as distractions generated by people intent
on being bothersome. Such companies fail to realize that only committed
customers bother to complain. Here are some of my favorite misguided comments
about complaints:
| • |
Customers only complain when they think we’re
not paying attention to them. This view is rooted in the belief that
not paying attention to customers is OK. Paying attention to customers
is (or should be) your organization’s mission. |
| • |
Customers complain because they have nothing better to do. This
attitude indicates a deep disdain for the customer. As anyone who’s
done it knows, complaining takes a great deal of time and trouble,
and customers who do it generally have something worthwhile to say.
|
| • |
Customers are just nitpicking. This view stems from the belief that
details don’t matter. Details are everything, though. Customers
who complain about details should receive special attention and thanks
because they’ve delved deeper into your product than other users
have. |
| • |
Customers who complain are just trying to get a discount. This mindset
characterizes customers as penny-pinching misers, an almost laughable
attitude in these competitive times. If your customers want to save
a few bucks, they can easily find a vendor that will cut the price
they’re paying for your product. Companies will always compete
with lower-priced suppliers. |
The truth is, customers who complain are committed to your organization.
They expend time, effort and emotion to communicate their experiences,
and they do it for free. Someone indifferent to your organization wouldn’t
bother to take this trouble.
Smart organizations make complaining easy
You must do everything you can to encourage customer feedback, especially
if it’s negative. Focus on your customers’ convenience rather
than your own and provide several ways for them to contact you.
The first method you should consider is a toll-free number answered by
knowledgeable personnel. This provides an easy way for customers to pick
up a phone and call you from anywhere. A round-the-clock staff is ideal,
but if this isn’t possible, provide clear instructions for leaving
a message and return the customer’s call promptly in the morning.
Personal contact is critical for telephone communication. People who choose
to contact a company via telephone usually do so because they want to
speak to a real person. That person should be knowledgeable about the
product in question and ready to assist the customer. Wooden, scripted
answers aren’t enough.
When using a toll-free number to capture feedback, be sure to:
| • |
Assist with real troubleshooting steps (if applicable),
but don’t insult the customer’s intelligence. |
| • |
Capture all details of the problem if it isn’t something that
can be resolved over the phone. |
| • |
Get the customer’s contact information. |
| • |
Let your customers know that their problems will be investigated,
and someone will call them back with the results. |
Another useful method of customer communication is the Internet. Web
pages, chat rooms and e-mail are commonplace tools these days, and a growing
number of people prefer these media to more traditional forms of communication.
Organizations must recognize this and build their complaint-capturing
systems around their customers’ cyber-preferences. A good Web site
offers customers:
| • |
Clearly defined information fields that ensure a comprehensive
description of the problem |
| • |
Access to the company from anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day,
seven days a week |
| • |
Consistency in the complaint process |
| • |
An impersonal approach, which some customers prefer |
Keep in mind that Web sites can never provide the same psychological
satisfaction offered by a human-to-human encounter over the phone. The
Web’s immediacy, while offering numerous benefits, also presents
some drawbacks, including:
| • |
No opportunity to personally convey empathy about the
customer’s problem |
| • |
No ability to probe issues beyond the constraints of the Web tool |
| • |
Limited ability to provide troubleshooting guidance or quick fixes
|
| • |
An impersonal approach, which some customers find dissatisfying |
| • |
Perception that complaints might disappear |
These issues can be overcome by following up with customers via telephone
or e-mail. The follow-up can serve purposes such as letting customers
know you’ve received their message, soliciting more details, expressing
empathy for their situations and offering advice. The point is that your
Web-based complaint system must include some interactivity. A one-way
communication medium is completely unsatisfactory when a customer has
experienced a problem.
Use teams for best results
Everyone, even the most objective individual, enters a problem-solving
situation equipped with certain biases and prejudices. In a similar way,
everyone applies his or her unique skills and analytical abilities to
a problem. It’s a rare person who’s both clever and objective
enough to solve complex problems. That’s why team problem solving
nearly always produces the best results.
A problem-solving team draws from a wealth of strengths, experiences and
perspectives, and typically the best corrective actions are products of
this kind of diversity. A team can moderate a single individual’s
natural tendency to jump to conclusions before examining the full range
of possible causes.
However, organizations often tackle team problem solving without first
taking the steps needed to ensure its success.
These include:
| • |
Defining a problem-solving method. A team requires a
basic road map for how it plans to conduct its work. Without this
structure, teams flounder in confusion and frustration. A problem-solving
method provides structure and enables everyone to understand where
the team stands in the overall process. It also prevents people from
short-circuiting the process by choosing solutions before the causes
are fully understood. Fundamental problem-solving steps include clearly
defining the problem, determining the causes, determining actions
to remove the causes, implementing actions and determining effectiveness.
|
| • |
Providing a team facilitator. Facilitation is key to managing team
dynamics, but it’s often neglected due to time and cost considerations.
I’ve often heard the remark, “Our people don’t have
a facilitator for their normal jobs. Why would they need one when
they meet to solve problems?” The answer is that problem solving
isn’t part of most people’s jobs, and they might not be
completely comfortable with the role. A facilitator can address team
member’s concerns, moderate conflict and keep the group focused
on the problem at hand. |
| • |
Applying project management to corrective actions. Lack of follow-through
breeds like a disease in many organizations. Problem solvers get started
with good intentions, make impressive progress and then slowly fizzle
out. The initial steps of problem solving offer some excitement, and
few intelligent people can resist the challenge of investigating a
problem, determining the causes and brainstorming corrective actions.
|
But that’s the easy part. The hard work and drudgery occurs when
you carry out the corrective actions. That requires discipline.
Tell your customers
Customers aren’t familiar with your organization’s internal
affairs. All they know is what they’ve experienced with your products.
They might bring problems to your attention, and you might correct them,
but your efforts will count for nothing unless your customers know what
you’ve done.
The final step of every corrective action on a complaint must be notifying
your customers. You must let them know exactly what you’ve done
to address their concerns and how that action will benefit them. Don’t
close a complaint until you’ve taken these steps.
What exactly should an organization say to a customer following a corrective
action? Here are the specifics:
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“We’re sorry you had a problem.” This
isn’t conceding weakness. The organization is expressing genuine
empathy for the inconvenience the customer has experienced. |
| • |
“Thanks for letting us know about it.” The customer
complaint is a rare gift that’s laid in your lap. Only a fool
wouldn’t be thankful for it. |
| • |
“Here’s what we’ve done about the problem.”
It’s nice to say “sorry” and “thank you,”
but what’s even more important is to say what you’ve done
about the problem. Describe the corrective action in concise terms
that anyone can understand. |
| • |
“We’d appreciate you giving us another chance.”
The final part of the conversation is an appeal. You must directly
ask for the customer’s business. It’s not something that
can be taken for granted. |
The objective for an effective complaint system is to leverage the complaint
into long-term customer loyalty. This isn’t manipulation but rather
smart business and good human relations. Nobody likes problems, but customers
do appreciate an organization that takes sincere and effective action
to address the problems. You must, however, tell them what you’ve
done to address their complaints and thank them for the opportunity to
improve your product.
Craig Cochran |
About the Author:
Craig Cochran is a project manager with the Center for International
Standards & Quality, part of Georgia Tech's Economic Development
Institute. He's an RAB-certified QMS lead auditor and the author of
Customer Satisfaction: Tools, Techniques and Formulas for Success
and The Continual Improvement Process: From Strategy to the Bottom
Line, both available from Paton
Press. CISQ can be reached at (800) 859-0968 or on the Web at
www.cisq.gatech.edu. |
|
The Continual Improvement Process: From Strategy to the
Bottom Line
Continual improvement is not optional. It is a condition of survival.
Every organization must have systematic methods for making smart decisions,
attacking problems, improving its products and services, and repelling
competitors. Anything less than a systematic, disciplined approach
is leaving your future in the hands of chance. This book presents
a range of practical methods for driving continual improvement throughout
the organization. The starting point is leadership, with a clear definition
of mission, strategy, and key measures. These themes are then carried
throughout the enterprise, informing everyone on the issues that matter
most to survival and success. Strategic approaches for the deployment
of metrics, review of organizational performance, effective problem
solving, internal auditing, process orientation, and cultural development
are also described in detail. Practical tools and examples are provided
at every step of the way, enabling immediate implementation of the
concepts. This book is more than a guide to continual improvement;
it is a guide to leading and managing any organization. |
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Customer Satisfaction: Tools, Techniques and Formulas
for Success
Customer satisfaction is the single most important issue affecting
organizational survival. Despite this fact, most companies have
no clue what their customers really think. They operate in a state
of ignorant bliss, believing that if their customers were anything
less than 100-percent satisfied they'd hear about it. Then they
are shocked when their customer base erodes and their existence
is threatened. The key to competitive advantage is proactively gauging
customer perceptions and aggressively acting on the findings. The
techniques for doing this don't have to be difficult, they just
have to be timely and effective. This book explores a range of practical
techniques for probing your customers' true level of satisfaction.
Tools and specific instructions for use are described in detail,
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