Your Service Stinks

In today’s world, it’s hard to go a day without someone complaining about the service that he/she received.

People these days are also very short with their responses and they often go to the extreme to show their displeasure.

As a company representative you have several options. These are the typical responses I have seen lately.

Ignore the person’s complaints and write it off as an anomaly
This type of approach indicates that the company knows more than the client and the representative feels the company would be better off without this type of client. Be careful using this technique. It could lead to many clients being turned off to your products/services if these people talk about their experience with other customers.

Try to give some type of value in return to satisfy their displeasure

This approach is used way too often. People generally complain about the same issues and the company does not want to address the real issue and is more concerned about making sure the consumer goes away with something of value like an additional coupon, discount or free item. This approach never addresses the “real” issue and people may take advantage of this type of action or not come back because they question the type of service that they are receiving because their complaints are not being acted on.

Listen to their concern, try to take the emotion out of the complaint and write document their concern

This approach is the best approach in my opinion. It really looks at the complaint and really tries to find the “root cause” of the issue. People, naturally want a voice and want to know that someone is listening to their concerns. In the past, there was a phrase, “the customer is always right”. I don’t particularly like this phrase because it is not true. However, a more appropriate pharse would be the following, “the customer should always have the right to voice their concern”. If you do not let customers voice their concerns, you could be missing out on a lot of vital information.

Documenting Client Complaints

It is really critical to document client feedback, both positive and negative. I have found great value in understanding the client experience and this type of information is not provided by clients on a regular basis. Client complaints should also be documented and followed up on to see how the issue can be resolved. Some issues cannot be resolved right away, but it helps to document the concern and see if it happens to occur again in the future. This information really helps improve service overall and helps

I have also found through this experience that people are willing to talk about their complaints if they know someone is listening. If you are in charge of the customer experience at your company, make sure you are not ignoring your client complaints and consider reviewing these complaints on a regular basis. The information will speak volumes about your services and the clients that you serve.

Picture Source: ThinkInterval.com

Your Service Stinks