Experience proves that the good relationship between customer and company isn’t always long-lasting, since incidents can take place that weaken it and even end up breaking it and complaints are part of this system.
When a customer complaint happens, a situation arises that requires delicate treatment, as a way to provide a solution to the customer that doesn’t end with the lost of it, or even worse, with the ”word of mouth effect”and loss of prestige.
The received treatment of the complaints from the customer service centers, is going to be essential for it to be used as a precedent for customer loyalty, or the loss of value of the company against future customers and/or in the market.
We must never lose the point of view that a customer is a human being and, therefore, when we are faced with a complaint, human nature itself must be considered. In other words, they need to feel that they are listened to, and that their opinions, concerns or doubts are valued, giving them their deserved recognition. To do this, the responsible staff for managing this type of incident must have a large dose of tact, flexibility and reflection so that, in this way, we can make the client forget that such dissatisfaction has occurred.
The first essential and basic point to be considered by the company for the correct management of complaints is to provide contact channels for the customer to report incidents. This will serve as an opportunity to improve both services and products, carrying out successful marketing campaigns: both telephone and email customer service must be clearly reflected in all commercial communications.
- Connecting with the customer: prior to the conversation with the customer, it is necessary to plan the tools that are going to be used. That is, what words will we use so that the client feels that the agent listens to him and understands him and also, that he values his concerns, and that he empathizes with him.
- Understanding the problem and proposing solutions: Against the complaints of the customers, the continuous training of the staff in charge of dealing with them is very important. That is, employees must have all the resources available to be able to provide a variety of solutions to customers, thus giving them the option of choosing the one that best suits their needs. Only in this way, we avoid the deterioration of the company’s image. A conversation should never be closed without the complaint having been resolved.
- Compensation for inconvenience: For the most part, the customer who makes a complaint expects compensation for the inconvenience caused. But also, in reality it is the best way to solve incidents that happen due to complaints. That is, the unsatisfaction that has given rise to the complaint must be transformed into a solution with which the client wins, surprising him with an unexpected and favorable response to his interests and needs. There are a variety of options when it comes to achieving this objective, which also depends on the sector of the organization and the type of customer. In general, gift cards, discount vouchers, movie tickets, exclusive offers, etc. are sent by email or SMS, and in real time. In short, the customer must be compensated with gifts that can satisfy him, since strengthening him is as important as thanking him for helping to improve the organization.
To sum it all, we can conclude that the resolution of requests, complaints, claims and suggestions is also part of the trust that a company gives, and not only through good experiences. In short, the customer service center will be capable of transforming the majority of customer complaints into opportunities for improvement, facilitating the loyalty of contacts considered difficult through the creation of bonds of trust towards the company, between the agent and the customer.