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Archive for the ‘Customer Complaint’ Category

Organizations are finding that their complaint tracking software is an important tool for building sustainable relationships with their customers and suppliers. In addition to using the data to strengthen weak spots within the organization, solid bridges to customers are being constructed as organizations provide in-the-moment solutions to common problems.

Complaint tracking software, traditionally used to collect, track and analyze data for the purpose of continuous quality improvement, now stands to serve as an immediate feedback tool for organizations to seamlessly serve customers. The immediacy generated by these tools streamlines both internal and external processes within organizations.

Increased communication within the organization is anticipated as part of a complaint tracking implementation, but not to the extent that it often occurs. Price discrepancies and shipment mistakes, for example, can be reconciled in accounting right away, rather than one of the departments finding out much later when everyone has all but forgotten the details of what happened. Organizational synergy is produced as the back office keeps pace with front line issues. Billing goes smoother, as do overall operations.

Customers benefit from the generated synergy – problems are solved quicker than ever by employees who are informed of what is happening throughout the organization.

Product delivery is another area that often improves due to increased visibility of data. Rapidly correcting any mistake is the first priority. Once problems are solved however, employees can begin looking for patterns that may need to be explored at another level. Preventative measures can then be taken to avoid future occurrences.

Everest – Customer Focused Quality is an efficient software application that collects and tracks customer feedback. Everest is designed to facilitate inter-departmental communication and customer responsiveness.

Many organizations have a complaint tracking system in place. It is full utilization of that system that makes a difference within the organization and with customers. Being customer focused is the first step. When an organization really cares and listens to what customers are experiencing they will find many ways to improve and customers will be sticking around to see it happen.

Customer complaints are never easy for small businesses. Many small businesses are run from a staff of five or less, which means a lot of heart, soul, and pure sweat goes into every order or service. So how can small businesses handle customer complaints without taking them personally?

The first step towards dealing with customer complaints is to acknowledge how the complaints make you feel. Once those feelings are acknowledged, it will be easier to look at the customer complaints from an objective standpoint. After all, customer complaints immediately put you, the small business owner, on the defense which makes it difficult to be objective. Customer complaints can also make you feel as though you have failed in some way. And finally, customer complaints can leave you feeling quite frustrated.

Since customer satisfaction is key to building customer loyalty and repeat sales, it’s important for you to make sure your customers not only feel, but believe, that their complaints are being taken seriously. When they feel as though you respect them, regardless of how petty their complaints may or may not be, they’re more apt to return to do business with you again and to praise your company instead of dragging it through the mud.

With that in mind, here are a few tips to help every small business owner handle customer complaints in a productive and non-offending way.

For online businesses:

You’ve just opened your business email and you’re confronted with a customer complaint, how do you handle it?

1. Let the initial shock take place as you read the email.

2. Once you’ve read the email, take a deep breathe and tell yourself, “Okay, there’s a problem here that needs to be addressed, but first I am going to step away from the computer for ten minutes and let the problem sink in. Then I’ll come back and look at it from an objective point of view.”

3. Walk away from the computer for at least ten minutes.

4. Go back to the email and re-read it again. Then ask yourself, “What exactly is the problem? How can it be handled? What would satisfy the customer without hurting my pocket-book or the company’s reputation?”

5. Write your thoughts down in a word document, check for grammar and spelling and then let it sit there for a few minutes while you read and answer a few more emails.

6. After you’ve give your response a cooling off period go back to the email and ask yourself, “How does it sound? Am I short-tempered with my words or was I apologetic? Did I offer a reasonable solution to the problem?” If you’re not sure, ask a business associate or friend to read it over for you.

7. Once you feel the email is ready to be sent, send it out.

8. Give the customer one day or two to read over your email and respond. If your customer has not replied, give him a call. Let your customer know that his (or her) satisfaction is very important to you.

For storefront businesses:

1. When a customer comes in with a complaint, always keep eye contact and nod from time to time-as if to say, “I hear you.” It’s important that your customer knows you are actually listening to his concerns.

2. Once the customer finishes telling you about his problem, apologize-even if you did nothing wrong. Apologizing for the inconvenience the customer feels lets your customer know you care and want to make him happy.

3. Resolve the problem as soon as possible.

o Can you handle the situation on the spot?
o Can you offer a refund?
o Can you offer a replacement item?
o Can you offer a partial refund (or store credit) if the item cannot be returned?

4. No immediate resolution in sight? Ask for the customer’s home and work phone number, first and last name, and best time to contact him. Let the customer know you will investigate the problem and get back to him within 24 hours. If you need more time, call the customer within that first 24 hours to let him know what you’re doing to resolve the situation.

Finally, notice patterns in customer complaints. If you constantly receive the same complaint from several of your customers, it’s time to re-evaluate the way you do things. By listening to repeat customer complaints, you can solve a problem that is ultimately costing you hundreds of dollars in sales thus increasing your business profits and ending repeat complaints for the same problem!

In the end it’s your customers who can make or break your business so treat them well. And remember, the time, effort, and cost put into serving repeat customers is minimal in comparison to the cost of finding new customers so take the time to listen to their complaints and then offer reasonable solutions for both parties.

As a professional in the computer reseller business, you need to create strong recourse policies to handle any customer complaints. If these policies are clear and in place, you can have satisfied customers and a good reputation even if you run into snags along the way.

Elements of Computer Reseller Business Recourse Policies

The most effective recourse policies give the customer a sense of total control. Listen to concerns, apologize for any inconveniences and quickly fix the problem. Taking action in this way will help build a positive relationship in the computer reseller business and give a customer the opportunity to get his needs best met.

A Good Advisor

Consulting an advisor can help a computer reseller business build its reputation. Choose someone that has a strong presence in the community and put the advisor’s name on all brochures, on the website and on the letterheads. Customers will trust you more as a business connected with a well-respected community leader.

The Better Business Bureau

Joining the Better Business Bureau or another similar community group is also important for a computer reseller business. But do more than just join; attend meetings and activities to gain insight into how to better deal with customers and run your business.

Employee Involvement

Employees handling customers on a daily basis need to be involved in the development and execution of recourse policies. You can get valuable information and feedback from employees. Some team members might be overworked or may be in need of new supplies or critical tools. Open communication will make employees comfortable with the sharing process, and they will work harder to find solutions before they think about complaining.

Customer recourse policies are vital to every computer reseller business. Responding to customer complaints quickly and efficiently and making yourself accountable will help promote customer satisfaction.

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To my customer,
I may not have the answer, but I’ll find it!
I may not have the time, but I’ll make it!

Yes, this is the essence of managing customer complaints. A satisfied customer is the lifeline for any business. However, in real life it is not possible to keep your customers happy always. Even the best run businesses face problems or make mistakes which might cause customer dissatisfaction. While unhappy customers will and must complain, customer oriented businesses will and must tend to them! While no one likes a whiner, you must realize that customer complaints can actually be turned to your advantage. Viewing the complaint as an opportunity to gain insight that will help you improve takes you a step closer to ensuring customer loyalty.

Following are the two direct benefits for your business when you take good care of customer complaints:

1. Improvement: There’s no smoke without fire. If a customer is complaining, chances are that there is a real problem somewhere. Listening to the complaint will allow you to look for solutions.

2. Image: When you provide quick solutions, it shows your respect for the customer and makes him or her feel valued. In turn, the customer believes that you can be relied upon, even when things go wrong. What more can you ask for?

But, there is a third, much larger benefit that effective complaint handling can bring to your business. Research proves that customers who had problems that were satisfactorily solved are generally much more loyal than those who are simply happy with your product. So, how do you go about converting a complaining customer into a captive one?

Pay Attention: The best way to make dejected customers feel good is by listening to them. This shows that you care. Be friendly, polite, and helpful; and try your best to solve the problem. Even if a problem is not completely solved, the fact that your business did everything to help will make the customer feel much better about it. Sometimes you may find it difficult to help irate customers especially when the problem is not caused from your side – no matter what, grin and bear it, because the customer is always right.

Offer a Solution: Try offering a solution, always. If you cannot fix the problem right away, at least let them know that you are trying. Or choose between the following options:

1. Replace – Offer a replacement for a defective product. If an exact replacement is not available, suggest an alternative model. This might cost you a bit, but you get to keep your customer.
2. Refund – If a customer is disappointed with your product or service, he may want a refund. While this means loss of revenue, it may be the best solution at the time. In case of a minor complaint, a partial refund may douse the fire.
3. Discount – Sometimes you can offer the customer discount coupons that could be redeemed on their next purchase. This will ensure that they return to you, while also minimizing financial loss.
4. Apologize – An apology works like a charm almost always. In fact, do this first! It can be a verbal regret for minor problems, or a written apology for bigger issues. Don’t let your ego stand in the way.

While we’ve given you a bird’s eye view, books like ‘Resolve customer complaints’, ‘Dealing with customer complaints’ and ’6 ways to benefit from customer complaints’ are great for gaining further insight.

Finally, we leave you with a thought from Peter Drucker. “The single most important thing about any enterprise is that there are no results inside its walls. The result of a business is a satisfied customer.”

Background

The company was experiencing an increase in the number of customer complaints and an increase in the cost of processing them and we were hired to analyze the current situation and develop recommendations to increase the effectiveness of the process of administering and resolving the complaints.

Identify Customer Requirements

A consultant was assigned to the design of customer service systems and complaint processes, and who had done extensive work in QFD (Quality Function Deployment), which is a methodology that analyzes the needs of the customer and integrates them with the company processes to ensure the needs are met.

The first task was to identify what the customers’ requirements were for complaint handling and how well customers felt their complaints were resolved. This involved conducting interviews with customers who had filed a recent complaint.Customers were asked to talk about their experience with the complaint handling process.

The purpose of this exercise was to:

determine positive and negative incidents in the complaint handling process

determine important information regarding the customer’s feelings about the resolution of his/her complaint

identity the main reasons for deficiencies in the process

develop suggestions on how to improve the system.

Review Existing Complaint Process

The review of the process started` by developing a complaint management questionnaire that was administered to all complaint handlers. This provided a view of the complaint handling process across all departments of the company and at the same time it identified areas for improvement.
An operations study was performed on the current complaint handling process.

A Service plan was developed that detailed the complete current process for a customer reporting a complaint to the company. A Serviceplan shows a cross sectional view of what is happening to all participants of the process at each step. This includes
the customer, front line personnel,
support personnel,
other departments, and
outside regulatory agencies.

With the Service plan it is easy to see escalation points and interfaces to other personnel and departments. This is critical information to understand when streamlining a process.

Other aspects of the process were analyzed, such as where do the customers call first to report a complaint, how do they find the number to call, and how many calls did they have to make before the complaint was resolved.

Analysis of Complaint Data

A complete analysis of complaint data for the past four years was conducted. Starting at the beginning of this process, a review was conducted of what information was being captured from the interaction between the complaint handler and the customer.

The review continued by investigating how the complaint data itself was captured and logged into a complaint database.We also looked at what types of reports were generated from complaint data and the frequency of distribution.

We also analyzed the claims data, searching for potential causes for the claims and the trend and frequency of claims. The data revealed certain tendencies that indicate that a new method for the administration of claims would have positive effects.

Recommendations

Aa synthesis was developed of the analysis, investigations, and review of the activities associated with the claims process in the holding company.
Based on this, several recommendations emerged which were customized to the specific needs of each of the subsidiaries.

The recommendations included:

establish a Centralized Center

negotiate with the regulatory agencies in various states so they can direct the customers with complaints to the Center

establish stronger links with the service recovery process and the Center

establish diagnostic activities to prevent future complaints

implement prevention planning

establish targets for complaint reductions

The new system for administration and resolution of complaints has resulted in:

more effective and timely resolution of customers’ complaints

focus on prevention and avoidance of recurring problems

integration of the different work units involved in the claims process

reduction of costs associated with the handling of claims

increased customer satisfaction

It is said that 91% of people don’t complain. They prefer to obtain their revenge by not buying from a business that has given them an inferior product or a poor service.

They have a passive power and they know it!

The following is a true story – only the name of the business has been changed

Blooming Buds was a well established garden centre on the outskirts of a growing town. Two years before it closed it had expanded to include a caf