So your customer complaints department is quiet

Rosy HOlt edited

Guest blog from Rosy Holt, managing director at Ticking All Boxes, which helps companies identify and resolve problems in their business.

So your customer complaints department is quiet, so quiet that it must prove that everything is swimming along beautifully and that everyone is delighted with the service and products you are offering, time to sit back and have a well-earned cup of tea don’t you think?   Umm well that really depends on your point of view.

Let’s look at it from another angle, say your customer service department is manic, the phones are ringing off the hook, the emails piling in and the letters arriving by the sack full, would you if you walked into that department think the whole business must be a disaster zone with an extremely high level of customer dissatisfaction?

Well that might indeed be the case, but equally it just might not be.  Let’s say you categorised the “complaints”, those that could be sorted quickly, one phone call, an email, a sincere apology, a voucher, a bunch of flowers or whatever it takes to reassure and keep not only a customer, but a happy customer.

A few complaints might need a bit longer and perhaps a few more might be more serious and in need of careful handling.  But if the majority of your work is taken with the first category while I agree something needs to be looked at and new processes put in place, it isn’t all doom and gloom.  So with the first category dealt with, you are then left with those few that are a little more challenging and something that every company needs to face at one time or another.  Even the best, most customer-focused business cannot keep everyone happy all the time – letters, emails and phone calls to customer relations departments are a fact of life.

My worry would therefore be if my customer relations department was quiet and if it was silent I would infact be extremely worried: was my business failing, was no one wanting to do business with me, were my customers too disillusioned to even complain, thinking we were beyond help and that complaining would do no good, was a waste of time, effort and money.

I personally really only complain when I feel something can be done to rectify the situation, or when I want compensation or a refund for faulty goods or service.  If I am on the receiving end of what I perceive to be bad service and I think it is purely one weak link I might let the company know, but if the whole business is full of people providing bad service personally I wouldn’t bother to complain as it is unlikely any one is at the level to do anything to improve anything on a permanent basis, on those occasions I vote with my feet and shop elsewhere.

So if someone phones or emails your customer services department with a comment, complaint or praise, yes people do write to thank companies for good service too, then perhaps they are only doing so because they believe in you, your business and your brand and feel your business is  worth them going out of their way for. If your customer relations department is silent take heed and start asking for feedback. Treat feedback as a gift because when it leaves my desk it is definitely sent as one.

This guest blog is from Rosy Holt, managing director of Ticking All Boxes, which helps companies identify and resolve problems.

Want to see your business through your clients’ eyes?  To find out more contact Rosy Holt – rosy@tickingallboxes.com or visit www.tickingallboxes.com.

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