Is It Easy For Your Customers To Complain?

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This video below is from CBC’s investigative consumer program (marketplace). They pranked customers in a fashion store, by assigning them an actor who played the role of an incompetent sales assistant.

The aim of the video was to test how tolerant customers were to bad service. I hope you enjoy the video

The most important takeaway from this clip is the fact that all the customers decided to leave the store quietly rather than complain. This gives credence to the fact that over 90% of dissatisfied customers will not complain – they simply take their business to your competitors.

96% of unhappy customers don’t complain, however 91% of those will simply leave and never come back
– 1Financial Training services.

Business owners & service managers must be careful making the erroneous assumption that – fewer complaints means customers are satisfied. You must learn to see complaints as valuable (raw) customer feedback, which can guide you in making improvements that enhance customer satisfaction and improve your bottom line (Read: Why The Complaining Customer Should Be Valued).

One of the major reasons why customers don’t complain is a cumbersome complaint process which discourages complaints. To find out if the processes in your business are discouraging complaints, ask these questions;

#1. Is There a Dedicated Complaint Channel Available?

Do you have a phone number or an email address or social media handle dedicated to handling complaints? It is best practice to create dedicated complaint channels, this would enable you to track and manage such interactions more effectively.

Having more than one channel also makes it easier for customers who need to complain to reach you.

#2. Are Complaint Channels Easy To Find?

Put up your complaint channels information visibly on your website, product labels/packaging, & business stores/offices. The point is to make it easy for the customers to reach you when things go wrong.

I once had cause to make a complaint about a product I ordered online, I checked the product packaging and the only contact channel available was a phone number for intending distributors, and even when I called the number, the man on the other end directed me to the company website to get the customer support number. I  searched their website and it took a few minutes before I could locate the customer support phone number, it was tucked away in small print at the footer area of the page! I called the number & was put a hold for a few minutes before I was finally attended to, by this time, I was dissatisfied & upset.

If I  didn’t really have a need for that product, I would have lost the zeal to make the complaint and tried something else.

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#3. Is It Easy For The Customer To Conclude a Complaint?

Complicated Complaint form

When the customer has chosen a complaint channel, it is important to make the complaint process as simple as possible,

  • Does the customer have to fill out one form or two?
  • Does she have to answer 5 security questions?
  • Does he have to print out a form, fill it & scan it back? (true story)

Such unnecessary processes can be cumbersome for the customers & discourage them from making the effort to reach out.

#4. Do you Ask For Feedback?

Image: amazonaws.com

Do you solicit feedback from your customers? This is the best way to get your customers to share their opinions and pain-points about doing business with you. Encourage employees to solicit feedback during interactions & escalate their findings, call the customers on phone, make use of online surveys, (whichever works best for you). Just ask them;

How are we doing? 
How can we improve?
Is there anything you’d like us to change?

You’d be surprised what you can learn from such feedback.  If you answered ‘No’ to these questions more than once, your customers are likely finding it difficult to make their complaints.

What to do when you get complaints:

  • Thank the customers for their feedback.
  • Avoid getting defensive or making excuses (some complaints will hurt). Remember that the complaining customer is only helping you to improve your business.
  • Fix the problem. It is not enough to get complaints, what do you actually do with them? Address the necessary issues highlighted in the complaint & give the customer feedback when it is done. This proves to the customer that taking the time to make the complaint was worthwhile.
  • Learn from the feedback. Use the feedback to identify areas of weakness in your operating model, or products & services, then take proactive steps towards improvement.
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While it is important that your post-sales service experience is great, it is also critical to ensure that your organization is not discouraging complaints from customers (and employees).  Complaints are valuable feedback which reveals when & where your business might have failed to live up to expectation. 

Kelechi Okeke
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