Are Your Customer Complaint Systems Rotten?

The phone rings. And rings. And rings some more. Oh no oh no oh no — how am I going to get this CD player fixed or replaced in time to dj my sister's wedding reception? Anticipation… At last the receiver has been picked up.

"Please hold," says Sour Sue. After several recorded advertisements about a blowout sale and Crazy Larry slashing prices, Sour Sue passes the distressed caller to a floor salesman who cracks bubblegum for mental stimulation and has no idea what the return policy is. The caller is passed on to a sales manager who doesn't see why the company should be responsible for any merchandise after it has left the store. After yells and flared tempers, the caller demands to speak to the owner who is all too happy to replace the faulty CD player.

The caller eventually gets a new CD player, but he vows never to use this store again. Faster than Sour Sue can say "please hold," he jumps on the Internet to spread the word at www.complaints.com. Up to ten thousand unhappy customers login to the site each day and spread the word about businesses that have not served them well and have dealt with their complaints even more poorly. If these thousands of customers are logging their complaints about your company, you could be losing money and credibility.

Handling customer complaints is a key to customer loyalty. The Harvard Business School estimates that a 5% increase in customer loyalty can increase profitability by 25-80%. With numbers like that, you can't afford to dismiss customers, even the most difficult ones.

When you get lemons, make lemonade. A customer complaint is the same. In the above scenario, the business owner still has lemons. Even though the customer ultimately got what he wanted, a working CD player, he left mad. Worse yet — he left mad enough to talk about it with other potential customers.

If the business owner does not take a hold of the situation, the business is doomed to a never-ending cycle of unhappiness and frustration: over-burdened team members who answer the phone, uninformed sales force, managers with a how-can't-I-help-you attitude and an owner cleaning up the mishaps, losing profits and gaining a bad reputation.

A smart owner will see this complaint as customer feedback and an opportunity to fix product failures, bridge service gaps and create better systems.

First, Diffuse the Situation

Offer immediate attention to unhappy customers. Nothing exacerbates an unhappy customer more than being put on hold or dealing with a person who does not have the power or interest to resolve the problem. Institute a two-ring policy. No phone call will ring more than two times. Make sure all team members are clear about what the return and exchange policies are, who is responsible for handling customer complaints and what steps are to be taken when a complaint arises.

Second, Make It Easy for Customers to Complain

That's right. Invite customer complaints. You not only get valuable feedback on how you can make customers happy and loyal. You can also douse the hopes of those rare but truly difficult customers who are burning to battle.

Easy ways to gather customer gripes are:

• Customer/client advisory boards
• Customer service hotlines
• Reply cards
• Point of service questionnaires
• Complaint boxes
• Product return departments
• Complaint section on your Web page

Third, Take a Step Back and Analyze the Bigger Problem

To get the most out of a difficult situation, look at the bigger picture:

• Make sure all complaints are kept in a log, filed away or entered in a database for review
• Set aside time in a team meeting to look at a recurring problem
• Choose team members to form a quality improvement team that identifies which recurring problem to analyze
• Analyze the root of the problem (Is it faulty merchandise, unreliable shipping, a glitch in internal processes?)
• Outline the steps to remedy the recurring problem
• Inform customers of the steps being taken to alleviate the problem
• Reward team members for resolving the issue

To learn more about getting the most from customer complaints, contact your business development specialist and ask them about customer/client advisory boards.

The Better Business Bureau offers this complaint-handling checklist:

• Are complaint-handling procedures clearly understood by all team members?
• Has a person been designated to supervise complaint-handling activity?
• Are there clear, written procedures for screening and logging, investigating, acknowledging, resolving, responding to, and following-up complaints?
• Is there a known procedure for referring unsettled complaints to a third-party?
• Do the procedures cover complaints by mail, by phone, online or in person?
• Have you considered installing a toll-free number or online complaint form to aid in customer service and complaint handling?
• Are there management controls to ensure that complaints are processed according to policy and procedures?
• Do the controls ensure prompt handling and settlement of complaints within a reasonable time frame?
• Are communications to customers handled in a helpful and courteous manner and can you ensure prompt and complete answers to customer questions?
• Has there been any analysis by management of past complaints to identify patterns, trends and causes?
• Does the manner of complaint handling represent the best interests of the company, as well as its customers?

Involving Your Team in Building Better Policies

Building customer complaint procedures and policies without team input amounts to tandem skydiving with no parachute. If you're truly working ON your business and not IN, your team members will most likely be the ones to deal with difficult customers and customer complaints. Their participation in designing, communicating and implementing the policies and procedures are critical to success. Here are some useful techniques for involving team members in the process.

• Let it out. Hold a meeting to address customer service. Set aside an entire hour for team members to moan and groan about their worst customer service experience. Write down your team's complaints about your customers. What drives them crazy? Let them know that in this meeting they have free-reign to say whatever they want and that it all stays in this room. At the end of the hour, let team members know that this is part of an ongoing process to enhance customer service. Set another meeting where you will look at everything that was written down during this venting process.
• Move on. At the second meeting, come prepared with a list of the issues identified from the venting meeting. Ask team members to identify what would have made these previously difficult situations better. Don't tell them. Have them tell you. At the end, identify what suggestions you and the team can implement to make their lives easier.
• A Bill of Rights for customers. Have your team split into small groups and brainstorm good and bad experiences as customers themselves. As customers, what do they feel entitled to? What is their role when working with your customers? What are your customers entitled to? Be sure they identify the right to be taken seriously, to be listened to and understood, to be respected, to receive immediate action and to receive assurance the problem won't happen again. Type the finalized list and distribute to team members to post in their workstations, post on your Web site, distribute to incoming team members upon hire, post in the break room and somewhere visible to your customers.
• A Bill of Rights for your team. Is the customer always right? Let your team know that customers are not always right but their perceptions are. Be clear that it is not an option to antagonize, ignore or aggravate customer complaints. However, you understand that there are difficult people. Identify with your team the appropriate place, time and avenue for venting their frustrations with customers. Be sure to address their right to safety, to have a job that rewards good customer service and to be taken seriously. Type your Bill of Rights up and distribute to current and incoming team members. Post it in the break room.

Do you have clear customer complaint policies, but find you're still handling too many complaints?

Then ask yourself why! Here are some common customer service breakdowns and quick questions that can give you insight into the wrench in your customer service system:

• Have you specified the chain of command for complaint handling?
• Has it been communicated to your team?
• Have you given authority to team members to resolve the problems?
• Does your team know enough about your products and services to effectively resolve customer questions and concerns?
• Does your team have access to the right resources to resolve customer complaints?
• Is it clear what the limits are for resolving customer complaints?

Contrary to popular customer service advice, it is ok to say no. Sometimes you have to say no because of the law, because you are out of stock, because there is no way you can possibly agree to threaten the life of the manufacturer who supplied your customer with a gadget that is informing the government of his/her every move. What do you do then?

Breathe. Then offer your customers some options. Customers have 6 basic needs at all times. This is especially true during trying times. Take stock of these needs when trying to come up with solutions:

• Friendliness
• Understanding and empathy
• Fairness
• Control
• Options and alternatives
• Information

If you really are pressed for a solution and are scrambling for an option with the customer staring in your face, get the customer involved in the solution. Establish that his/her first request is impossible and be sure to let him/her know why. Then ask what other options might work. Don't put the burden completely on the customer. Offer suggestions but keep him/her involved in the brainstorming process so s/he feels s/he has ownership and say in the final solution. This is the key to success.

Two ways to say no:

1. There is the service no. This is the no that skilled mothers use on children: "No you may not cut the cat's hair, but you can cut the hair on this stuffed animal."
2. The hard no is used for customers that request you to cause bodily injury to manufacturers, team members and the government plotting against them — customers who will not accept any other options.

One surefire way to set customers' ire afire:

The surefire way to send a customer spreading words that will burn your business to the ground is to over-promise and under-deliver. Never tell a customer you can resolve something you can't. Never substitute the agreed upon solution for another without consulting the customer (unless you can absolutely be certain you are over-delivering and providing awesome service, i.e. repairing a customer's car and throwing in a free car wash, future service or gift certificate).

Be sure to read each article with the mindset "how could this apply to our business." Thinking of it that way will guarantee that you get value. Better yet, take notes as you read and commit to having the ideas implemented by the time next month's edition arrives. Also, make copies for each team member. To really make sure something positive happens, work with your business development specialist to talk your team through the ideas and how to set a schedule for getting them implemented. We're here to help you get started.
Cody LeGrant McKinney, CPA, P.C.

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

— W.A. Ward

While every effort has been made to provide valuable, useful information in this publication, this firm and any related suppliers or associated companies accept no responsibility or any form of liability from reliance upon or use of its contents. Any suggestions should be considered carefully within your own particular circumstances, as they are intended as general information only.

At Cody LeGrant McKinney, CPA, P.C. we have the business development system and solutions that can be tailored to get results for you. To learn more about any of the ideas outlined here, and/or how to build the business you've always wanted, call Cody or Jamie at (828) 765-4400 before 5:00pm, Monday through Friday and receive 2 complimentary tickets, valued at $250 each to our next Business Development Workshop.