Consumer Complaints! When! (to complain) How! (to resolve) Part II

Last week (Part I) of this two part article dealt mainly from the consumer standpoint of when and how to complain! We addressed the three major elements of an effective complaint. The three elements were proper timing, complaining to the right person and having all the specifics of the complaint in proper order. Complaints by consumers are in most cases thought of complaints about the service received when making a purchase of a product or service. It is of equal importance to make a complaint when the product or service received is not what one was lead to believe or the delivered service or product is faulty. In these instances, it may be more advisable to direct your complaint to the manufacturer of the product as opposed to the distributor or retailer as companies that are on the manufacturing end are more sensitive to satisfying the customer directly to uphold the good name or “brand integrity” of the product or service!

The personnel handling a product complaint or service at the venue where purchased may be more lackadaisical and simply attempt to pacify the consumer by stating that they will notify the manufacturer and thank the consumer for their concern and taking time to notify them, but the manufacturer will respond to them and alas, nothing happens. Nothing happens simply because the concern offering the product or service has not taken the initiative to pass on the complaint!

In the case of proper actions to resolve complaints, from the position of the business offering a service or retailer offering the product, there are a few preventative measures to correct complaints of a service nature on the spot or actions to take once a complaint is issued after the point of purchase.
The “C.O.T.S.” (correction on the spot) preventatives can be very effective and easy to implement. The first and most obvious is to train all cashier, management personnel and anyone that comes face to face with the consumer to ask the following:
a. “Did you find everything OK?”
b. “Who took care of you and were you satisfied with their service?” (this may require the service personnel to wear name tags or introduce themselves when servicing customers!)
c. “We appreciate hearing from our customers, please check your receipt for our customer care phone number and or our customer care website to tell us of your experience!” (this simply requires both of those tools to be enacted and the contact number and website name printed on the receipt!)

In those situations where a customer is visibly upset and in the view of other consumers and personnel:
a. The person interacting with the customer should address their concerns, or refer them to management by formal introduction.
B. The “rule of thumb” for handling complaints consistently enforced is “the customer is always right,” and rule number two is “refer to rule number one!” Arguments with customers can never be won! Only the business or store loses in these arguments!
c. Surveys prove that if handled properly and expediently, customer complaints of unsatisfactory service or products can be turned into a positive resulting in continued patronage of a store or product in 90% of the time! This is astounding considering that unresolved complaints are communicated by the offended person to 15 to 20 people! Satisfied customers will communicate positively to only 4 to 5 people. It is obvious, therefore why complaints must be resolved to the customer's satisfaction!
d. Websites or “hot lines” must have a complete awareness of personnel that interact with customers! The goal of these “customer care” media lines are to put a positive spin on them by passing on and possibly rewarding personnel when comments of customer praise and satisfaction are communicated! The “tools” mentioned become motivation for the personnel or even the producer of the products to strive for perfection resulting in ultimate customer satisfaction!

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Randy Snyder is a regular contributor to Salesheads. He loves feedback from readers and vows to answer all inquiries. He can be reached at (828 625 4932) or rsnyder921@att.net.