Important customer service pointers

Business: Can I help you sir?
Customer: I'd like to complain.
Business: Certainly, Sir. Would you like the standard ten minute complaint or do you want to go for the full half hour?

Apologies to Monty Python for the above.

The statistics seem to be as follows:

• 96% of dissatisfied customers do not complain; they simply go elsewhere next time
  
• Of the 4% who do complain, if we handle their complaint well, between 50% and 74% will return. If we solve their problem instantly, however, 97% will return.

That means if a customer complains, at least 20 would have complained but couldn't be bothered. Not only that, if a customer complains and you solve their problem straight away, you are almost guaranteed that they will return to your business in the future.

So what do you do when a customer rings up with a complaint?

Listen!

The customer is likely to be angry when they complain. You have probably not lived up to your promise or Murphy has taken over so they have not received what they expected. Quite often just letting the customer talk will be enough to defuse the anger.

Empathise

If you argue with the customer, you have lost. It doesn't matter whether the customer is right or wrong, as far as he is concerned he is right. A very useful technique at this stage is to say to the customer "You know, if I were in your shoes, I would feel exactly the same way that you do." This sort of empathy takes the sting out of any complaint. If the customer thinks that you understand then he will lower his tone and listen to what you have to say. This does not mean that you are agreeing with the customer, just letting him know that you know how he feels.

Take the complaint seriously

Your customer wants to know that you care. You may have had 20 people complaining this morning but he wants you to tell him that his complaint is the most important thing on your mind right now.

Don't pass the buck!

The person who takes a complaint call is now the person who has to make sure the problem is solved. Even if you happen to pick up the phone by mistake, it is your problem now. Customers do not want to be passed around having to relate their complaint to a number of different people before they find somebody who can fix it.

Write it down

Listen carefully and write down all the details. Make sure you get the customer's name correct and his contact details.

Inquire about the required solution

Before you offer a solution to the customer, you should ask what the customer thinks the best solution would be - you may be surprised with the answer. For instance:

You may have a customer in Pietersburg who has a new piece of equipment from you that has a broken switch. Knowing that he is a very important customer, you may be tempted to say "I know you need this equipment working, Mr Customer, so I will go and get the part from stores, give it to the sales rep who will drive up there this afternoon, fit the part for you and stay overnight to make sure it is all working properly."

If, on the other hand, you ask the customer what the best solution would be, he may say "Just send me the part overnight and I will get our maintenance people to install it." That, of course, is a less costly solution and the customer goes away happy.

Tell the customer

Having agreed the solution with the customer, repeat it to them together with the time you expect to do it by.

Do it!

The last stage is to make sure that the solution happens within the time scale. You may not be the person who fixes the problem but you are the person who liaises with the customer. Get back to him at each stage to make sure he knows that it is happening as you promised.

Lastly, I would like to leave you with one thought: "The sun never sets on a customer complaint."

If a customer raises a problem with you today, if he doesn't have a solution by the end of the day, it will be a much bigger problem tomorrow. Sometimes complaints take more that a few days to solve, so we have to keep in regular contact to make sure the customer knows we care.