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What Is A Customer Complaint?
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction with a product, service, or experience. In plain terms, it is feedback that something fell short.
Complaints come in many forms.
They include formal written requests sent through official channels such as postal mail, faxes, e-mails, phone calls, etc.; informal verbal communications; and even social media postings.
The most important thing to remember about all types of complaints is that they represent dissatisfaction with some aspect of your company’s services or products.
Why Do People Make Complaints?
There are several different theories regarding why people make complaints. Some believe that complaining helps individuals feel better because it gives them control over events. Others think that making complaints provides a way for dissatisfied clients to vent anger at others. Still others argue that complaining allows consumers to express frustration without having to confront the person responsible for causing the problem directly. Whatever the reason, however, it seems clear that people do complain.
How Many Unhappy Customers Actually Speak Up?
Most do not. About 96% of unhappy customers never formally complain, according to research from Lee Resources and 1st Financial Training Services. For every complaint you hear, many more customers stay silent and simply leave.
If you look closely enough, you can probably find evidence of complaints on almost any website. For example, if you search Google News for “complain,” you will see hundreds of news articles related to the topic.
Silent churn is expensive. Poor customer service costs US businesses an estimated $75 billion a year, according to NewVoiceMedia research reported by Forbes. The customers who leave quietly cost the most, because you never get the chance to fix what drove them away.
The lesson is clear. Do not wait for complaints to surface problems. Go find them. The techniques below show you how.
Ask Your Employees
Customer Service Teams are an important resource for identifying customer service issues and helping solve those problems. They should be involved from the beginning of a project so that they understand what needs to happen before the final product goes into production. If possible, involve representatives from various departments when developing new processes or procedures. This approach ensures that everyone understands the importance of good customer service.
In addition, managers need to take responsibility for ensuring that employee training programs include information about handling customer complaints effectively. In fact, this type of training could help reduce turnover rates among staff members.
Finally, supervisors must ensure that employees have access to appropriate resources such as telephone hotlines, websites, and email addresses where they can provide feedback about customer service experiences.
Ask For Reviews
Encourage your customers to leave reviews online. You might even consider asking them to do it yourself! Many sites offer free tools to make it easy for consumers to post comments. Some review services also allow users to rate products based on criteria like price, quality, convenience, etc.
Reviews give you valuable insight into consumer perceptions of your company. When people read positive reviews, they tend to trust the opinions expressed more than negative ones. As a result, these types of posts often increase sales. Because most social media platforms encourage interaction between brands and customers, posting glowing reviews is likely to get noticed.
The Bottom Line: Customer satisfaction levels influence everything from revenue growth to stock prices. That's why improving customer relationships is one of the most effective ways to cut business expenses.
Listen, summarize, and repeat
Listening closely to a customer's problem is an important customer service skill. It helps you determine whether there is something wrong with the way you're doing things, if you've done all you can do, and how best to handle the situation.
If you listen carefully without interrupting, you'll learn a lot about your customers' attitudes towards your brand and service. The key words here are "without interrupting." Don't ask questions unless you really want to know the answer; don't tell customers what they think until you're sure they won't mind hearing it again. Instead, paraphrase what they say in order to let them express themselves fully. Then follow up with some kind of action plan. Here's how it works...
Customer Service Example 1:
"Hi John, I'm sorry we didn't call back yesterday to confirm our appointment time. We had trouble getting through because of a technical glitch. Are you still available today?"
Customer Service Example 2:
"Good morning Mary, my name is Brian Smith. Unfortunately, we ran out of paper towels last week. Would you please send us another box? Thank you very much!"
Here are two examples of listening skills. Notice how each person takes turns talking while the other listens attentively. Also notice that both listeners try to respond appropriately after every statement made.
Acknowledge Your Mistakes
When dealing with dissatisfied customers, you may not always know exactly which mistake led to the complaint. However, you will almost certainly discover mistakes along the way. These errors usually occur during routine transactions and create opportunities for improvement. To avoid repeating past blunders, develop systems that prevent future incidents. For instance, implement standard operating procedures whenever possible. SOPs outline any steps required prior to completion of a transaction. By following established protocols, you minimize human error.
For example, many companies use pre-printed forms to collect data from customers. Customers fill out the forms and hand them in to store clerks.
Look At The Data
Look into your data for places where customers are struggling. If you see trends developing over time, take corrective actions immediately. This will help ensure that customers receive consistent quality throughout the year. In addition, keep track of comments posted on review sites such as Yelp or Google Places. Analyze these posts and look for common themes among negative feedback. You might be surprised at the number of issues people have when interacting with your company. As long as this is happening in only a few locations, however, chances are good that you're handling the complaints effectively.
Use Social Media Monitoring Tools
Social media monitoring tools allow employees to quickly scan platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook to spot emerging customer support concerns before they become major problems. Support platforms such as Zendesk integrate social channels into ticketing, so a public complaint becomes a tracked case. These are paid tools, not free services, but they pay off by surfacing problems before they escalate. Analyze posts and mentions, find the areas that need attention, and use what you learn to improve.
Ask Questions About Complaints
Asking open-ended questions allows you to gather more detailed information than closed ended ones. Closed-ended questions require yes/no answers, whereas open-ended queries invite responses ranging from unhelpful to helpful.
By asking simple, direct questions, you show interest in resolving the issue rather than just passing blame. When used correctly, open-ended questions also give you insight into customer needs and expectations.
What Can Companies Learn from Customer Service Problems?
Companies have learned a lot from handling customer complaints. In fact, there are so many lessons to be gained from these experiences that we could write a book just listing them! Here are five things that companies should consider when trying to improve their customer service.
1) Listen carefully to what customers want. This includes listening not only to what they tell you but also to what they don’t say. If someone tells you something negative, take note of this information. It might help you avoid future mistakes.
2) Don’t assume that everyone wants exactly the same thing. When you hear a complaint, pay attention to whether the issue relates specifically to your business model. You may discover that certain aspects of your offering aren’t as popular as other parts.
3) Ask yourself questions before acting. Consider asking yourself such questions as: What would I like my customers to know? How does this situation relate to our brand identity? Why did this happen? Is this really worth spending resources on?
4) Think long-term. Although short term gains seem attractive, focusing solely on immediate results often leads to bigger problems down the road. Instead, focus on building relationships with your customers. By doing so, you increase the likelihood that they will return again and again.
5) Remember that no matter how good your customer service team is, sometimes bad luck happens. Even the best teams can make errors or miss opportunities. So even though it seems unfair at times, accept responsibility for failures and learn from them.
The Bottom Line
Customer satisfaction isn’t always easy. But it doesn’t need to be complicated either. As long as you keep learning from past experience, you can build a solid foundation for success.
The teams that win do not wait for complaints. They surface problems early and act on what the data shows. Want help turning service signals into retention? Book a discovery call with Twelverays.
Related Twelverays resources: demand generation services and demand generation guide.
