Handling customer complaints

No matter how perfect your employees, products or operations, there will come times when something goes wrong and you are confronted with a dissatisfied customer. Mistakes happen, but how you handle them will determine whether your customers come back or never return.

If you are the owner of a business, you understand the value of repeat business. However, will your minimum wage worker have the same finesse dealing with disgruntled customers in a manner that will encourage them to come back? If you have not provided any guidelines or training for employees, chances are you are losing a lot of business and you probably don’t even know it.

According to research by the Technical Assistance Research Programs (TARP), 26 out of 27 people who experience poor service do not complain because they feel that complaining will be a source of additional annoyance and a waste of time. A complaint is a statement about unmet expectations, and a customer’s response can range from minor dissatisfaction to anger. A recent experience at a local dental clinic can help illustrate how not to handle a customer complaint, and what other options are available to personnel.

The clinic lost Rik’s records and did not schedule one of our children with the rest of the family, even though her appointment had been confirmed several weeks earlier. We voiced our dissatisfaction, but nothing was done about it, and we really did not think much of it because we are used to this type of service on Saipan. However, when three family members got sores in their mouths shortly after being treated, we became upset and called the clinic. The front desk person was defensive and brushed us off by saying we could talk to a dentist. He probably did not document the complaint, nor tell anyone else about it. Janel went to the clinic to talk to the dentist, but she was off island. We did not pursue it further because we felt it would be a source of additional annoyance and nothing would be done about it.

The TARP research concluded that customers who do not complain are the least loyal, and those who do complain may become the most loyal IF the organization addresses their complaint—even if the complaint was not resolved to their liking! An organization actually has an excellent chance of increasing positive word-of-mouth if it does a good job handling a customer complaint.

How should the clinic have dealt with the situation when they first learned about it? According to Jack Mitchell in Hug Your Customers, they could have followed these five-step:

First, recognize it. Realize that there is a mistake so corrective action can be taken. Another person we talked to also experienced sores after going to the same clinic, but if the clinic does not recognize a possible problem, they will not do anything to change the situation.

Second, admit it or own it. Rather than become defensive, deny a problem, or blame it on someone or something else, recognize that you own the mistake. When the dental records and x-rays could not be found, no one admitted an error and there was no explanation. Rik was just summarily asked to fill out a new application, and nothing was done about the mistake in scheduling our daughter. They did not recognize it, nor admit an error.

Third, apologize. This should be done as soon as the mistake is recognized. The longer you wait, the more time a customer has to build up a grudge. If only one in 27 people make a complaint and the average person tells 12 other people, you should be grateful to hear the complaint because it means that there are about 300 people who had a similar problem or have heard about it (26 customers x 12 people they tell = 312). No one at the clinic apologized for anything.

Fourth, fix it. Do what it takes to make it right so that it becomes a win-win situation for everyone.

Fifth, give something extra. Make the customer feel like they’re part of the win is extra special by sending a personalized note, flowers, or a free extra something that will turn the dissatisfied customer into an advocate for your business.

Treat each complaint as a gift from a customer who is telling you something that other customers have not verbalized. Avoid becoming defensive or try to put the blame on someone or something else. Act promptly to recognize the problem, and ensure that the customer feels satisfied with the resolution. If a customer feels the problem is resolved satisfactorily, they may tell more people about the successful resolution to the problem than if they just received good service in the first place.

(Rik is a business instructor at NMC and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They can be contacted at: biz_results@yahoo.com)