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It may be counter-intuitive, but I believe customer complaints are good for business. Now, need I remind you that no one has ever complained about my work. However, I have a very close friend that I work alongside, and he has had a few customer complaints. My, I mean his, ego was momentarily bruised, but I reassured him (or her, as I have tens of friends) that customer complaints are actually a good thing. If a customer didn’t care, they would not bother complaining.
Let’s break it down. When a project problem occurs, the customer’s confidence hangs in the balance. I promise you that you can make matters much better or much worse depending upon what happens next. Most companies, especially large corporations, tend to make things worse. I have a history with the U.S. airline industry. From recent experience, I had an issue that the airline did not address or encourage anyone from the airline to resolve the problem. They threw the issue (saved seating) right back on me during boarding. My fellow passengers and I were told “to solve it on our own” because it was against their corporate policy to solve seating disputes. True story. This is a textbook tactic of how NOT to engender customer loyalty.
Another issue that comes up is that employees do not have the authority to resolve the issue(s) immediately. I have been fortunate in my past two companies. My partners always gave me the latitude to fix issues on the spot and backed me up if the CFO came calling with malice in his eyes. It is worth discussing with your management. Most of the time, the customer service issues tend to be small in the beginning but fester exponentially with time and indifference. Active and honest dialog with your project team and sponsor help knock down these issues quickly and resolve them to everyone’s satisfaction. Sure, it may cost a little upfront, but if you are solely coin-operated (like my previous CFO), it is seven times more expensive to acquire a new customer than retain one.[1]
There is a counter to my thesis of happy customer = happy bottom line, especially about retaining them. A thought-provoking article in the Harvard Business Review stated that customer service is so bad right now because it is profitable to not solve the issue, especially in business areas with little competition.[2] That may be true pre-COVID-19, but probably not as much so now. One of my favorite movies is Jerry McGuire, and Jerry famously said, “We live in a cynical world. A cynical world. And we work in a business of tough competitors.”[3] Chef Boyardee is that true in my line of work and I wager most businesses in the COVID-19 era. Every customer counts. I have noticed that even the most disinterested companies, like my airline friends, are trying harder to be nice, acknowledge my discontent, and attempting to put the joy back in my cold, cold heart.
I will break it down. I believe a customer complaint will go down one of three ways as shown below.
- Scenario One: A customer complains, the company listens, and the customer is satisfied with the outcome. I have lodged complaints with service industries in the past. While they did not, or could not, completely fix the issue, they took the appropriate steps to satisfy me. Sometimes all it took was hearing my pain and passing my feedback up the hierarchy. Other times, it was free stuff. I am a sucker for free stuff. However, like a lot of formerly cheesed off but now satisfied customers, I became an apostle for their company, letting everyone I know (all ten of them) about their superior customer service.
- Scenario Two: Customer complains, the company listens but does not reach a satisfactory conclusion with the customer. My usual reason for dissatisfaction is awful “corporate speak” boilerplate such as “XYZ Company values your opinion and is sorry we fell short of your expectations. We welcome the opportunity to provide better service next time.” They are mindlessly sent and never acknowledge or offer to fix the complaint. Don’t be this guy or gal. Drop everything. Actively listen to the complaint and try your best to fix it. I have found that this takes the temperature down quite a bit, even if you cannot make the customer completely satisfied. The good part is that you know what needs to be fixed and have an opportunity to fix it.
- Scenario Three: The customer does not complain and silently remains unsatisfied. This is the most dangerous scenario because you are trundling along, unconsciously ignorant of how much trouble you are really in. Customers that do not complain directly to the company, flamethrower that company in social media. Consumers have an unprecedented volume and voice in today’s connected world. Be smarter than the average bear, Yogi. Listen to your customers, acknowledge their discontent, and have the conversation to solve the issue. If you don’t, they may rip you a new breathing hole on Yelp or LinkedIn before you knew anything was wrong.
This seems like a good idea to repeat: the worst thing you can do is prevent a customer from complaining directly to you. Take the temperature of the room down with active listening and do not provoke a confrontation. Make it easy to complain, respond quickly and sincerely, and have a resolution process. That is what I always tell my coworker. You know, the screwball that gets all the customer complaints. If you have customers complaining about slow shipping, processing, etc. the LTA team is here to help you optimize and improve your business processes and operations.
[1] Wheelhouse Advisors, “Five Reasons Why Customer Retention is Better Than Customer Acquisition,” March 27, 2015, available online http://www.wheelhouseadvisors.net/5-reasons-why-customer-retention-is-better-than-customer-acquisition/ [May 19, 2020].
[2] Dukes, Anthony and Zhu, Yi, “Why Is Customer Service So Bad? Because It’s Profitable,” Harvard Business Review, Feb 28, 2019, available online https://hbr.org/2019/02/why-is-customer-service-so-bad-because-its-profitable, [April 29, 2020].
[3] Jerry McGuire, the very instant before he gets the girl…