The Real Score with Customer Complaints

Who likes receiving complaints? Owning a business makes you a perfectionist. You hate it when somebody complains about how your web design doesn’t seem to fit your business ideology, or how the delay of a product shipment has inconvenienced a customer from Maldives.

When you hear of clients ranting about these things, you get stressed out to the point of panicking. You begin to think how poor your service is, or how shameful it is that you were unable to meet their expectations. But hey, stop dwelling on misery. Instead of letting your worries overcome your sanity, why not learn from these criticisms?

Here’s a fact: customer complaints don’t necessarily speak of inefficiency. Since these are voiced out by clients, that means complaints reflect their point of view, and not necessarily of the business itself. Let’s take an example for the sake of discussion.

John buys a Lacoste shirt from an online store. Upon delivery, he noticed a couple of loose thread on the sleeves. Being meticulous in nature, he immediately dialed the online store’s hotline and complained about the merchandise. He makes a big deal out of it, even when there’s no physical defect on the merchandise.

Customers don’t like to get mad. Obviously, nobody wants to get mad. There’s always a reason why somebody complains. Again, people differ in terms of temperament and how they handle different situations.

Complaints often test the quality of your service. A good company knows how to handle customer complaints with grace. Whenever an issue arises, the management should be able to detect in which area they fall short of, and come up with ways to make up for it.

Criticisms are second chances. When somebody gives you a negative feedback, know that it’s his way of calling your attention and giving you the chance to set things right. That also means they care about your business.

Consumers only want one thing: an immediate solution to the problem. If you value your business, you must value what your clients feel and think. If you want to succeed in your venture, pay attention to what they have to say.