Customer complaints are unavoidable. At one time or another, you will run across a customer who has a complaint about your products and/or your services. You need to handle these delicate situations with care and before they get out of hand. Sending an unsatisfied customer away can result in negative feedback spread thruout the internet. Unresolved customer compaints can and usually will be blown out of proportion. You have no control over negative feedback comments seen by millions of prospective customers on sites such as My3Cents.com.
Whatever the problem, your challenge is to handle the situation and send the customer away thinking he or she has just done business with the greatest company on earth, says John Tschohl, founder and president of the Service Quality Institute in Minneapolis, Minn.
Fuelnet author Ken Beaulieu has posted an article for resolving customer complaints. Read From Mad To Glad to see all 6 customer service steps recommended by John Tschohl.
Customer complaints should always be dealt with effectively, an unhappy customer is more likely to talk about you than your completely satisfied one. I always ask “What can I do to improve” and I find that this is the best way to deal with critics. I’ve yet to have one that can come up with a solution, sometimes people just want to be heard.
Steps For Handling Customer Compaints ?
Hi Amanda, I believe you mean Complaints.
Anyway, good resource you pointed to us. This is absolutely important because whether we like it or not, our customers and employees are what keeps our business into life. Without these people, our business would die. So we must take good care of them and deal to them correctly even if we have to face them with their complaints.
Also, I saw a good sign if a certain customer comes to you for a complain. In this act, we learn our limitations and mistakes which gives us more place for improvement. I always thank my customers to come back to me and tell me their good/bad feedback on a certain product that I am selling. I would feel worse if I learned that one of my customer turned back at me and gossips my business’ mistakes to others without telling to me their concerns.
The thing is to ask what the customer expected to get in terms of quality, delivery and price.
As a quick reflection: I see that many banks are listed on My3Cents (”Most Talked About”) site.
If you have the approach that it is all about an exchange of values between traders, then you could tackle the situation in a correct way. I am planning to write an e-pamphlet on this topic.
customer complaints should be taken seriously at all times. All employees should work hand in hand as they tackle and handle all issues arising from any business transaction. The top management need to also train their employees on the importance of good communication skills when dealing with clients.
@Amanda - thanks for the quote! We have two products that help companies deal with service recovery: e-Service and Loyal for Life. More about them can be found on our website: http://www.customer-service.com