Customer complaints are like medicine. Nobody likes them,
but they make us better. Actually, they are probably more
like preventative medicine because they provide advanced
warning about problems. Financial statements, in contrast,
provide a historical perspective. By the time problems
manifest in the financial statements, forget the medicine.
It’s time for emergency surgery.
Studies from the Technical Assistance Research Program*
in Arlington, VA suggest that the root cause of customer
complaints can be traced back to one of three areas:
individual employees, the company, or the customer, with 80%
of complaints traceable to the last two categories. By
listening carefully, we can identify opportunities for
training employees, improving products and services, and
educating customers.
Individual Employees
Business is becoming increasingly complex and fast-paced.
Customer service professionals have to know their product or
service, their company information, the technology that
supports it, and how to communicate all of this to savvy,
demanding customers. Even a small gap in knowledge or skill
could cause huge repercussions in terms of lost business.
When I first started my seminar business, I received a
few complaints about my individual skills as a speaker. Some
customers complained that they didn’t like my Philadelphia
accent, my hairstyle, the way I moved around the room, or
the pace of my delivery. After I cried for a few hours, I
decided to invest in voice lessons, an image consultant, and
a video camera. These have been some of the best investments
I have ever made. I never want to get in the way of my own
success. Companies should not let their employees’ lack of
knowledge or skill get in the way of their success.
The Company
More often, the culprit is the actual product or service
we provide. There may be an inherent flaw in the design.
There could be a glitch in the distribution channel that
causes dissatisfaction. Even if everything is perfect,
marketing pieces, advertising campaigns, and salespeople
could inflate value and create customer expectations that
are impossible to satisfy.
Recently, I was providing a service that involved a
series of facilitated sessions. I allowed the customer to
choose the dates of our sessions. Even though there were
very few sessions, they occurred over a long period of time
and the customer complained that the project took too long
to complete. I made reparations to the client and decided to
restructure the service and the pricing so that in the
future I would control the timing of sessions. Now sessions
always happen over a shorter period of time and the service
has a higher value and is more profitable. I have fixed the
delivery process of my service.
The Customer
As many of us have always suspected, customers actually
cause most of the problems they complain about. It’s not our
fault. It’s not our employees’ fault. It’s the customer’s
fault. Yet even here there is profit to be mined. Customer
education and innovation are the possible solutions.
I always send out a preprogram questionnaire to customers
in order to tailor their seminars. If customers have email,
I send the questionnaire via email. Recently, I had a
customer who did not know how to return the email
questionnaire to me with responses filled in. I sent back
brief instructions on how to work the email, which could be
classified here as customer education.
Afterwards, I started wondering if there could be a
better, easier, cleaner way to collect information, in other
words, innovate. From that complaint, I decided to create
hidden web pages on my website, customized to each customer
with their company logo and questionnaire. Customers just
click a link from an email, type their responses into a form
on the web page that appears, and hit a submit button. This
approach is much simpler and more impressive. I do this with
all of my customers now and advertise it in my marketing.
Summary
Customer complaints are never easy to hear. If we shift
from being defensive to opportunistic, complaints can be our
best friend. If we do not listen, rest assured, the
financial statement will communicate the news eventually.
Mary Sandro
