Complaints and how to deal with them
It has often been said that customer complaints are the best thing that can happen to a company and its marketing efforts. This is because without complaints there is no real way of knowing your customers needs. Having a complaint to deal with could thus be seen as a blessing. There are usually a couple of key areas that are highlighted as having problems via the evidence of customer complaints.
One area in which the complaint could throw up issues is that of the company itself. If the product or service that the company offers is not up to scratch, a complaint could quite easily highlight this. There could be a major problem with the design or processes that you offer. If this is the case and it comes through on a complaint, treat it as a positive thing. This will allow you to move quickly to improve on the issue.
Another area is that of employees. Many people hate looking at themselves as being the problem, it is against our human nature. However, some complainants will make it quite clear that they don’t like the way they were spoken to when a sale was taking place, for example, or that they weren’t spoken to at all. As part of your marketing efforts, you should be jumping on these kinds of complaints and looking at how your company presents itself through the staff. If it is negative, change it, and quickly.
The way to deal with complaints is to make it obvious that you want to deal with them. Make it part of your marketing strategy to have a robust complaints procedure, where every complaint is dealt with personally by a real human being. If you work online and are used to dealing with tickets for example, have the replies personalized, and written fresh every time if you can. This just adds to the experience.
Then deal with the complaint quickly and effectively. If marketing is the presentation of your entire company to the customer, then getting the complaint dealt with efficiently is part of your marketing tools.Don’t let them linger, because your reputation is on the line.