Research shows that only 4% of customers will complain following a bad experience, while 96% will not voice a complaint.

Furthermore, while customers might not voice a complaint following a bad service experience, 91% will not come back and would rather do business with competitors.

Rather than seeing customer complaints as something to dread or avoid, brands need to shift the paradigm and start welcoming customer complaints if they are to survive, thrive and remain relevant in a rapidly changing and competitive world.

Brands need to embrace customer complaints and pain points because when customers complain, they give brands insight into what’s working and what is not working.

Understanding customer pain points also give brands the opportunity to fix what’s not working, build on what is working and, ultimately, improve how the business is ran.

Furthermore, it is not enough to merely embrace customer complaints. Brands need to actively and intentionally act and do something about the feedback.

Resolving customer complaints quickly and effectively sends a strong message to customers, and quite often, those same customers become a brand’s greatest advocate.

When it comes to dealing with customer complaints, particularly for front-end or customer-facing staff, there are a couple of things to bear in mind.

1. Ensure customer concerns are being addressed by the correct person

If a customer-facing staff cannot fix the customer’s problem, then they need to get the right person, with the right knowledge and authority, to take ownership of the situation and address the customer’s concerns.

Customers don’t like being sent from pillar to post and being given the run-around, especially when they have an issue they want resolved.

2. Accept responsiblity

If the fault lies with the brand or the employees, then brands need to step up and take complete ownership. 

Customers respect and appreciate when brands take ownership of their problems and make themselves accountable for resolving such problems.

When engaging face to face with a customer that has an issue with a product or service, it is very important that the customer feels that they have the brand's full and undivided attention.

Staff also need to reapeat what is said to them so that the customer feels acknowledged and ensured that there is clarity and that nothing is lost in translation.

3. Thank the customer and apologise

'Sincerely' is the key operative word here. Today’s customers are savvy and can pick up if brands are being genuine, or just going through the motions.

If a brand is sincere, genuine and attempts to resolve the issue timeously, it is a great rebound opportunity to turn that customer into a brand advocate.

If the brand is not, it can make a bad situation worse. Not only can the customer be lost, but that customer will go on to share their poor experience on social media with potentially thousands of people, causing immense damage.

Brands should never forget that today’s customer has more choice than ever before. If their pain points are not addressed properly, then they will have a reason to stop doing business with the brand.

For more information, visit www.se-institute.com.  

*Image courtesy of Vecteezy