Hot Gossip > 5 Ways to Welcome Complaints and Grow Your Business
By Mark Lincoln, Hot PJ Business Development Manager
Most of us have been on the receiving end of a complaint – whether we think it was justified or not – and most of us have at some time made a complaint, and experienced the reaction to it.
I owe a lot of my customer relations expertise to time spent as a young sales assistant in PlaceMaker’s paint department. I worked on the shop floor and dealt with customer complaints face-to-face. Through this, I learnt the best way to deal with complaints. In fact, I actually came to enjoy receiving complaints as they provided more of an opportunity than regular sales.
Here are my 5 best practices when it comes to dealing with complaints.
1. Don’t contradict the complainant.
What not to do:
A client or customer has come to you with a complaint – Ha!, you think. What do they know? You have tested the product yourself and know that there’s nothing wrong with it. The problem is obviously with the customer. Inform them that no one else has experienced that problem and give them 10 reasons why they’re wrong.
Best Practice:
Chances are they are not the only person that have had, or will have, that problem but they may be the only person who has taken the time to bring it to your attention. This gives you valuable insight into the customer's experience, and the chance to make good thereby cementing your relationship with them.
If you believe the client is wrong, put yourself in their shoes and pay close attention to how the complaint has come about. Perhaps there’s some other factor involved – maybe the product isn’t faulty but is was actually the wrong choice for the client.
2. Don’t fight back.
What not to do:
Often, complaints are delivered by a customer in an aggressive manner. This is best dealt with by getting angry and defensive. Clearly this person thinks they can take on your business like they’re Erin Brockovich or something. Fight aggression with aggression - you don’t want them to think they can get something for free out of this.
Best Practice:
Why is the customer showing aggression? Often it’s out of fear. Fear that their rights have been violated. Fear that they’re going to lose because you have hundreds of customers and don’t care about their business. Fear that you’ll say their complaint isn’t valid and they’ll lose their money.
Don’t take the aggression personally. The customer doesn't have anything against you personally - it's the product or service they are unhappy with and this experience has fuelled their anger. On the other hand you are a professional representing your professional organisation. You are not allowed to get angry (or at least show that you’re angry) – which leads me into ...
3. Don’t distance yourself from the situation.
What not to do:
I’ve seen customer service staff respond to complaints by instinctively backing away, thinking someone else in their organisation should be dealing with the complaint instead. Anything to avoid tackling the complaint themselves.
Best Practice:
Nothing upsets a unhappy customer more than an employee who starts laying the blame on their colleagues and stating that they can’t deal with the complaint themselves. If you really can’t deal with the complaint, take all the information you can and take steps to ensure that the relevant party will get back to them. Tell the customer you will check back on the situation to make sure it has been resolved to their satisfaction. In your customer’s eyes, you are your company and saying that it’s not your fault won’t resolve the situation.
4. Show empathy.
This really could be the most important point of all. It should be obvious and easy to do ... but I experience a lack of empathy in stores around Christchurch all the time. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes, however different they are to you.
Here’s an example that I was witness to recently in a large grocery store:
A clearly heavily pregnant woman has returned to the grocery store with a young child in tow as she has accidentally left a bag of shopping at the checkout. It’s been a while so the bag has been emptied and products returned to the shelve.
In this scenario, a male floor manager responded:
“Oh that sucks. Well it’s obviously hard to confirm that you haven’t already taken the shopping but I’ll tell you what, we’re happy to trust you on this one, so how about you go around the store and re-collect the items you’re missing then bring them to me. I’ll check those with your receipt and you can take them away with you”
That manager figured he’d done a nice thing. He’d helped the woman when someone else could have accused her of trying to steal extra items. Technically, she didn’t have a leg to stand on. He was pretty pleased with himself after doing his good deed for the day.
But here’s a better response:
“Oh that's terrible. I can imagine that you weren’t looking forward to coming all the way back in here. Obviously I’ve never been pregnant myself (laugh and a smile) but my sister/wife was recently pregnant and I can relate to how much of an effort it is for you to come all the way back to us. Especially when looking after your child at the same time. I’ll tell you what, why don’t you show me the items that are missing on your receipt and then I’ll go and get them for you while you take a seat? I’ll try and be quick.”
By putting himself in the woman’s position, however different that position may be, the manager could have turned this awkward situation into one that would bring about more business. Chances are she's tell all her friends how helpful the store was, becoming a loyal customer and advocate for the store.
5. Acknowledge, record and measure.
Depending on your business, you may or may not change a product or process based on one complaint. But whatever you do, record the nature of the complaint and cross-reference it with future complaints. This way you can spot any recurring themes that you need to act on to improve your product.
If you’re currently acting on it or plan to, share this information with the customer. The knowledge that you’re doing something to stop the issue from reoccurring may actually be enough to regain the customer’s trust.
Don't fear complaints
Not everyone knows that negative responses can be more valuable than positive ones. See them as an opportunity to take a close look at your product offering and customer service, and to improve your relations with that customer. A complaint is a raw diamond that, with the right approach, can be turned into a sparkling success.
Plus, and perhaps most importantly, recognise the complaint's power!
Here’s another scenario: a customer has a bad experience with your company. Instead of giving you a chance to make good, they’ve gone straight to their blog or Twitter and written about how poor your company’s products are. Potentially thousands of their followers will be influenced by their experience, and you haven’t even been given a chance to sort out the problem for them!
If that happens, be sure to comment on the blog post, (following best practice of course). The blogger will be impressed that they have caught your attention (all bloggers love to know their posts are being read by relevant people) and you will have been given a free opportunity to provide your response to the world. For our own blog article on the power of bloggers, click here, or see professional blogger, Kalena Jordan's tale of the good and bad of customer service.
In summary, welcome complaints and provide tools to make it easy for the customer to complain to you directly so that you can do something positive for your business.
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