Dealing with customer complaints is probably the least pleasant of jobs for managers. But it’s also one of the most important. It can improve customer retention and gives the company a reputation for providing top service. In an age when anyone can do a Google search and search for comments people make about their experience with your company in blogs, readers’ forums and in social media, it becomes absolutely critical for every printer.
Printers should provide employees dealing directly with customers the power and flexibility to immediately resolve the issue.
[Related: Printers need to get real about customer service]
So what to do? Experts say the first thing is just shut up and listen. Let people vent – they need to do it if they’ve had a bad experience. And deal with it by asking open-ended questions, the types of questions that require more than a yes or a no. Questions like what happened, how did that make you feel, what was that like, what would you want us to do about this? Ditch the formalities and be prepared to bend the rules to help the aggrieved customer. Avoid over-compensating and offer “fair and reasonable” solutions. Follow up and respond in writing and finally, monitor customers’ conversations on the web.
The key here is to listen to the customer carefully and let them finish. What’s important here is not to take it personally, the customer is upset about the service or product, nothing else. It is therefore important not to get defensive. Repeat back what you are hearing to show that you have listened. The business owner has to ask questions to get as much information as possible. They also have to try to put themselves in the customer’s shoes. What the customer wants is someone who can empathize with their situation. Another strategy is to apologise without blaming. Instead of blaming a person or department, the best approach is to say “I’m sorry that happened. Let’s see how we can fix it.” The printer should then ask the customer what they feel would be the best solution. It is always a good idea to come up with at least two possible solutions. That in effect turns the printer into a partner to solve the customer’s problems. Do they want a repair, a replacement, a refund or an apology? Also, research indicates that customers prefer the person they are speaking with to solve the problem. They get frustrated if it’s flick-passed to someone else. That has to be taken into account.
Smart companies will also have a complaints officer. Their job is to make the complaints process as easy as possible for customers. They have to respond within 48 hours. They also have to follow up to see if customers were satisfied. Review complaints monthly or quarterly to establish any trends, or obvious things you can change or improve and use the complaint records to check how well and quickly staff have handled complaints.
Where appropriate, there should also be follow up to ensure the problem has been resolved and the customer is satisfied.
There is no getting around customer complaints. The trick is to use processes that would review what went wrong and turn the challenges into something constructive.
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