Complaints Are Good For Business

We may not like handling complaints, particularly if we have a customer screaming at us like a demented banshee. However, there is a certain satisfaction in being able to remain calm and professional and being able to turn around a bad situation.

Successful organisations encourage unhappy customers to complain and make sure that their people are trained to handle complaints well. This is because they know that complaints are good for their business.

There has been a lot of research into this subject and it all points to the fact that most unhappy customers do not bother to complain. This may seem to be a good thing as it leads to a quiet life. However, the problem is that these people simply take their business elsewhere. In fact, as many as 95% of complaining customers take this approach. This means that only about 1 in 20 bother to complain. Can we really afford to lose the other 19?

This would be a pity because most of the problems that make people unhappy can be resolved easily. Yet you are never given the chance to put the situation right. It is also a shame because good complaint handling leads to customer loyalty. Research suggests that most customers whose complaints are dealt with quickly and well become loyal customers returning again and again.

Complaints are also important because they may be the only way you can ever find out that there is a problem with your products and services and the general health of the business. Only by becoming aware of these problems it is then possible to put them right for the future and consequently to improve the business.

This all suggests that rather than discouraging people from complaining we should be publicising our complaints procedures. We also need to have a system for recording all complaints so that we can quickly spot any trends that need attention. It is also vital that we don’t neglect staff training. After all, we do need to make sure that the complaints we receive are handled well. We don’t want to make a bad situation even worse.

This article was written by Karl Halliwell who is one of the course designers for Trainer Bubble training resources. Visit Trainer Bubble today to find out more about our complaint handling course materials.