It takes time and effort for our customers to complain. Our customers could easily walk away from our businesses. And, according to the statistics, 52% of the people that are unhappy with your services won’t tell you about it. You won’t hear about what went wrong or even get the chance to make it right. That customer is lost.
It is usually your most loyal and best customers who take the time to complain. They have a vested interest in you getting it right the next time. So, be grateful to those that bring the problems to your attention. Others who don’t complain don’t expect to do business with you again.
When someone complains, it’s usually not the first time the issue has happened. It is probably not an isolated incident and many others have probably had a similar unpleasant experience. No matter the medium they use to complain;letter, email, in person, phone,social media etc., you need to appreciate their comments as free information about what it’s like to deal with your organisation. Think of complaints as a warning sign that something big may be brewing.
Think of the complaints as opportunities. Those that do take the time and effort to complain are way more likely to do business with you again if you handle the complaint well and fix it rather than those that don’t bother to complain.
What the stats are saying
73% of people will tell you if they are dissatisfied
48% of the most serious problems are sales and delivery related
52% of those who don’t complain believed it wouldn’t help to contact you
66% of those who complain are not satisfied with the way their complaint was handled
90% of those who are dissatisfied will not purchase from you again
Each dissatisfiedcustomeris likely to tell 9 others of their bad experience.
You can continue to keep your customers and maintain business, when you have an effective complaint handling policy and trained staff who handle complaints well.
