Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Stats give evidence that a happy customer will tell 10 other people of their satisfaction. An unhappy customer will tell 20. Additionally, it's nine times more expensive to get a new customer than it is to sell to a current customer. And you recognize as well as I do that customers cast their vote with their feet! 

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With this is mind, it is important to have a strategy for managing customer complaints. The first thing is to do is to embrace them as gold. It has been proven that a customer that has a problem and then has the problem solved, is much more loyal than a customer that is in general satisfied, but has never really complained. Complaints must be viewed as opportunities.  

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Biz Help 24 offers these insights to guide you during this process:

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Even well run businesses will receive complaints at some point. 

Letters of complaint are generally used for bigger companies, particularly where there is a serious problem.   

Spoken word complaints are common, especially in retail businesses, and can be used for all types of complaint.  

Phone and email complaints are generally used for less serious complaints, but generally need to be dealt with more quickly than letter complaints.   

Complaints allow you to see the faults in your business and fix them.   

Customer who have a problem solved successfully are often more loyal than those who never had a problem in the first place!   

Customers who complain are much (up to 10 times) more likely to stay with your business than those who say nothing.  

Complaints can point to weaknesses in your staffing and systems, allowing you to help make improvements.   

Always listen politely to complaint, and offer as much help as possible. Always offer some form of solution, even if it is not exactly what the customer asked for.  

Remember that complaints are part of doing business. The fact that one of your customers takes the time to do it means that they have a desire to continue the relationship with you. How you handle that opportunity will determine the growth and success of your business!