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Digg it UP - Effective Ways to Handle Complaints and Keep Customers Happy
Lately, private label products have made a tremendous impact on the U.S. market, affecting almost everyone, from producers to retailers to consumers. Private label products are products whose name or brand solely belongs to a specific retailer (e.g. Wal-Mart and Marks & Spencer). Let’s say that you’re in a grocery store. At first you see all those gourmet sandwiches with brands that have long been familiar to you. Then you go to Marks & Spencer and lo and behold, now they’re selling the same type of sandwiches too!Private label products have grown significantly in Europe, especi
3) Empower your employees to fix problems. Few things are more irritating than being put on hold while someone finds a supervisor, the only one who is authorized to resolve customer complaints. Great companies empower everyone who deals with customers to solve problems. 4) Returned products are a silent form of complaint. If a customer returns a product, something is wrong. Your company needs to find out what happened. Were they confused about what to order? Was the product defective? Did their needs change? Was the product more expensive than they realized? Whatever the problem, you can only help them solve it if y
What are employee background check?From a simple employee background check to a full blown due diligence investigation the contents and type of check can vary widely. Most checks consist of at least the following elements:Criminal records search Employment verification Education verification Driving record Credit checkThe above elements will most likely be seen in your typical employee background check process. In a due diligence investigation many elements could be added from multi-jurisdictional civil searches to interviews with friends, f
After spending nearly a month on the phone, getting bounced from one department to another, our DSL service miraculously appeared! Several days later, I received a call from my provider, the first time they had called me. A recorded voice said that the provider hoped my service was working well, and to let them know if I had any questions about my service.
Maybe multi-billion dollar telecommunications companies can get away with mishandling customer complaints. Most businesses can’t. In fact, a recent study showed that the second most frequently stated reasons customers leave a company is that the company didn’t handle their complaints well. (The company’s disinterest in its customers came in first, but that’s the next article.)
Another study says that it costs five times more to reach a new customer that to keep a current one. So it makes sense that we can increase profits by keeping customers happy with better complaint handling. It’s never easy to hear that your shipping department messed up, or that one of your widgets is defective. But every complaint is a turning point for your company and that customer. Handle it right and the customer becomes one of your biggest fans, spreading the word about your superior customer service. Handle it badly and they may leave, and most likely they will tell everyone they know how terrible you are.
How can you turn customer complaints into an opportunity for your company to shine? Here are a few tips:
1) Fix the problem quickly. Often it doesn’t really matter that you get to the root of what happened, especially if it delays solving the problem for the customer. Find out what’s wrong, rectify it, then figure out what happened. Your customer will appreciate the customer-first approach.
2) Apologize without qualification. Never use “I’m sorry, but…” As in, “I’m sorry, but UPS must have broken it,” or, I’m sorry, but maybe you didn’t use the part correctly.” Most customers aren’t that concerned with the internal workings that caused a mistake. They want an apology and a solution. Your company should be prepared with both.
3) Empower your employees to fix problems. Few things are more irritating than being put on hold while someone finds a supervisor, the only one who is authorized to resolve customer complaints. Great companies empower everyone who deals with customers to solve problems. 4) Returned products are a silent form of complaint. If a customer returns a product, something is wrong. Your company needs to find out what happened. Were they confused about what to order? Was the product defective? Did their needs change? Was the product more expensive than they realized? Whatever the problem, you can only help them solve it if yo
Employees spend almost half of their lives in office. It is like a second home to them. However, the only difference remains in the fact that in maximum part of the working population in UK spends sitting in the office. And it is due to this fact, selecting the right kind of office furniture becomes an integral activity. Not only to provide the employees a good working condition, appropriate office furniture, like computer desks, also lends a touch of professionalism to the ambiance.An employee is a great resource. Not just the aptitude, but this resource also comes with the att
Maybe multi-billion dollar telecommunications companies can get away with mishandling customer complaints. Most businesses can’t. In fact, a recent study showed that the second most frequently stated reasons customers leave a company is that the company didn’t handle their complaints well. (The company’s disinterest in its customers came in first, but that’s the next article.)
Another study says that it costs five times more to reach a new customer that to keep a current one. So it makes sense that we can increase profits by keeping customers happy with better complaint handling. It’s never easy to hear that your shipping department messed up, or that one of your widgets is defective. But every complaint is a turning point for your company and that customer. Handle it right and the customer becomes one of your biggest fans, spreading the word about your superior customer service. Handle it badly and they may leave, and most likely they will tell everyone they know how terrible you are.
How can you turn customer complaints into an opportunity for your company to shine? Here are a few tips:
1) Fix the problem quickly. Often it doesn’t really matter that you get to the root of what happened, especially if it delays solving the problem for the customer. Find out what’s wrong, rectify it, then figure out what happened. Your customer will appreciate the customer-first approach.
2) Apologize without qualification. Never use “I’m sorry, but…” As in, “I’m sorry, but UPS must have broken it,” or, I’m sorry, but maybe you didn’t use the part correctly.” Most customers aren’t that concerned with the internal workings that caused a mistake. They want an apology and a solution. Your company should be prepared with both.
3) Empower your employees to fix problems. Few things are more irritating than being put on hold while someone finds a supervisor, the only one who is authorized to resolve customer complaints. Great companies empower everyone who deals with customers to solve problems. 4) Returned products are a silent form of complaint. If a customer returns a product, something is wrong. Your company needs to find out what happened. Were they confused about what to order? Was the product defective? Did their needs change? Was the product more expensive than they realized? Whatever the problem, you can only help them solve it if y
Have you ever had the client from hell? The one who has been with you for some time, maybe from the beginning, that every time you do a project for them they put you through so much grief that you feel like taking a flying leap from the top of a freeway overpass?Well my friend, DON'T JUMP - FIRE THAT CLIENT!It may sound like an unusual bit of advice, fire a client, but let's take a look at what a very difficult client does to our business.I know you are saying, but I make a lot of money from that guy - hang on there is an alternative.Yesterday I was working
Another study says that it costs five times more to reach a new customer that to keep a current one. So it makes sense that we can increase profits by keeping customers happy with better complaint handling. It’s never easy to hear that your shipping department messed up, or that one of your widgets is defective. But every complaint is a turning point for your company and that customer. Handle it right and the customer becomes one of your biggest fans, spreading the word about your superior customer service. Handle it badly and they may leave, and most likely they will tell everyone they know how terrible you are.
How can you turn customer complaints into an opportunity for your company to shine? Here are a few tips:
1) Fix the problem quickly. Often it doesn’t really matter that you get to the root of what happened, especially if it delays solving the problem for the customer. Find out what’s wrong, rectify it, then figure out what happened. Your customer will appreciate the customer-first approach.
2) Apologize without qualification. Never use “I’m sorry, but…” As in, “I’m sorry, but UPS must have broken it,” or, I’m sorry, but maybe you didn’t use the part correctly.” Most customers aren’t that concerned with the internal workings that caused a mistake. They want an apology and a solution. Your company should be prepared with both.
3) Empower your employees to fix problems. Few things are more irritating than being put on hold while someone finds a supervisor, the only one who is authorized to resolve customer complaints. Great companies empower everyone who deals with customers to solve problems. 4) Returned products are a silent form of complaint. If a customer returns a product, something is wrong. Your company needs to find out what happened. Were they confused about what to order? Was the product defective? Did their needs change? Was the product more expensive than they realized? Whatever the problem, you can only help them solve it if y
Drawing false conclusions from Return on Investment analysis can be embarrassing and it can be costly.Here’s an example from business in managing risk and calculating Return on Investment ROI:The management of company A wanted to decrease the cost of manufacturing a key product. This was in light of new technologies that had just become available.They have 60% of the available business with this product and their closest competitor, Company B, has 14% of the market.Company C has about 10%.The other 16% is held by several small companies that sell a su
1) Fix the problem quickly. Often it doesn’t really matter that you get to the root of what happened, especially if it delays solving the problem for the customer. Find out what’s wrong, rectify it, then figure out what happened. Your customer will appreciate the customer-first approach.
2) Apologize without qualification. Never use “I’m sorry, but…” As in, “I’m sorry, but UPS must have broken it,” or, I’m sorry, but maybe you didn’t use the part correctly.” Most customers aren’t that concerned with the internal workings that caused a mistake. They want an apology and a solution. Your company should be prepared with both.
3) Empower your employees to fix problems. Few things are more irritating than being put on hold while someone finds a supervisor, the only one who is authorized to resolve customer complaints. Great companies empower everyone who deals with customers to solve problems. 4) Returned products are a silent form of complaint. If a customer returns a product, something is wrong. Your company needs to find out what happened. Were they confused about what to order? Was the product defective? Did their needs change? Was the product more expensive than they realized? Whatever the problem, you can only help them solve it if y
Without clients we have no business. In too many companies however, the goal is grow the client base as fast as possible. Unfortunately, that may not be the smartest or most effective way of increasing the bottom line. A better goal than simply attracting new clients is to attract and then continually deepen client relationships.The more closely we get to know our clients, the better we can serve them. The better we serve them, the more likely they will spend more with us and the more probable it is that they will refer others.It is common knowledge that it is less expens
3) Empower your employees to fix problems. Few things are more irritating than being put on hold while someone finds a supervisor, the only one who is authorized to resolve customer complaints. Great companies empower everyone who deals with customers to solve problems. 4) Returned products are a silent form of complaint. If a customer returns a product, something is wrong. Your company needs to find out what happened. Were they confused about what to order? Was the product defective? Did their needs change? Was the product more expensive than they realized? Whatever the problem, you can only help them solve it if you find out what it is!
5) Encourage complaints. Many times, an unhappy customer doesn’t let you know. They may not want to hurt your feelings. They may feel that nothing good will come from complaining. Your company needs to make it clear that you want to hear when your customers aren’t happy. Make sure that all of your people tune in to hear even the slightest bit of dissatisfaction from your customers.
6) Develop a “no-fault” culture within your company. Your people will not want to solve a customer’s problem if they believe someone will be punished for making a mistake. Instead, adopt the attitude that accidents happen, and the company cares more about making customers happy than chastising people who make mistakes.
7) Follow up! It’s so easy to make sure the complaining customer is now satisfied. But very few companies take time to do it. A personal touch is best: a phone call, or a handwritten note will do wonders for your company’s reputation. I’m not a fan of pre-recorded phone messages. They seem really cold and distant to me. But, I’ll leave that up to you.
Taking care of an angry customer is not a lot of fun. But, it can be very profitable. Any company that implements these 7 tips will find that many of their biggest complainers turn into their most vocal fans!
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