 Complaints Can Help Your Business
by
Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D.
Copyright 2005
All rights reserved
The last thing any businessperson wants to hear is a complaint. And yet a complaint could help your business improve.
First, thank the client for mustering up the courage to voice the dissatisfaction to you where there’s a chance of fixing the problem. He could have broadcast it to others.
Second, look at how the complaint can help you.
1. It may point to a gap between what you promise and what you offer. A product that is enclosed in an attractive outer package that is four times larger than the actual contents, for example, may indeed disappoint the recipient. This is an opportunity to bring the promise and product in alignment. Scale down the packaging to more accurately reflect the size of the inner contents, unless you have a good reason for this disparity. Printer cartridges and computer memory sold in retail stores, for example, are likely housed in oversized packages to discourage shoplifters and increase visibility as they pass through exit doors.
2. It can confirm that your marketing is on track. One of my relatives complained that my postcard mailers were directed at corporate clients, not the general consumer. That was exactly right. The corporate market was my target for those postcards.
3. A complaint may also indicate out-dated or ineffective merchandise. If your website shows photos of products that are no longer available, it’s time for updates and revisions. A customer could well complain about a delivered design that bears no resemblance to the pictured design.
4. More than a few complaints about the same item or service indicates there is a definite problem, but it may not be yours. Decide if you want to fix the problem, or if you’d rather lose the clients that will be alienated by it. For example, if you get complaints that your products are too expensive, don’t start lowering your prices just yet. Examine your pricing formula to decide if you think it’s fair. If you have enough clients who are satisfied with your prices and you have confidence in the quality of your product or service, then it doesn’t matter that some think you’re too high. The complaining ones are just not your target clients. I doubt that Lamborghini will lower their prices to suit my budget. I’m not their target client.
When faced with a complaint, follow these steps to bring about a successful resolution:
1. Listen patiently until the complainer has finished. Put yourself in his place and empathize with his dilemma. Some people just want to be heard. This alone diffuses many tempers.
2. Don’t take it personally. Even if you’re called names your mama didn’t give you.
3. Thank the client for sharing his thoughts with you and validate his/her feelings by repeating back the complaint. “I can hear that you’re very upset that your gift basket arrived late. That is a very disgusting experience to go through.”
4. Ask how you can make him/her happy. Replace the product, offer a refund, or carry out whatever gestures will satisfy your customers Best of all, apologize for any inconvenience or misunderstanding.
I am not suggesting that you change your service or product to suit the whim of every customer. What I am suggesting is that you listen, acknowledge and use the complaint to improve your service, maintain your credibility and better serve your clients. |
