HANDLING CUSTOMER

COMPLAINTS
 OBJECTIVES
• At the end of this training session, you will be
able to:
– Identify reasons why a complaint is a gift from the
customer to the service provider
– Note what to expect from customers when they
make complaints
– Identify how to handle customer complaints
– Learn strategies to redeem yourself when you
have failed in providing the customer the level of
expected service
What is Customer
Handling?
• It’s the most vital part of business cycle.
• It includes Understanding Customer Needs,
Fulfilling their requirements, Regular
interaction with clients, Execute best service.
• “ Less Promise, More Delivery….”
 Customer Relationship
Traditional Marketing Customer Handling

Goal: Expand customer base, Goal: Establish a profitable,

increase market share by long-term, one-to-one
mass marketing relationship with customers;
understanding their needs,
preferences, expectations
Product oriented view Customer oriented view

Mass marketing / mass Mass customization, one-to-one

production marketing
Standardization of customer Customer-supplier relationship
needs
Transactional relationship Relational approach
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Importance of Customer
Handling
• Helps in customer retention.
• Always be in the customer’s mind.
• Increase customer loyalty.
• Better price negotiation.
• Improves repeated business from the clients.
You can’t buy your way out of
something you behaved your
way into

©
TH
M
Busi
nes
s
Sim
How to do Customer
Handling
The Magic Formula
Deliver excellent basics
+
Build strong relationships
+
Create competitive differentiation
=
Excellent customer experiences
=
Achieve business goals
Relationships and desired
behaviours
• Get inside the mind of the customer – use the data, tools and processes
available. Deliver insight.
• Drive desired behaviours – move the attention or discussion to where
you want it to be
• Build strong relationships – make the customer feel good and look good.
Become an ally not a supplier.
 CONTENT
• What is a Complaint?
• Identifying A Complaint As A Gift
• Steps For Handling Customer Complaints
• Service Recovery Process
• Handling Difficult Customers
SESSION 1

WHAT IS A COMPLAINT?
What is a Complaint?

• “An expression of dissatisfaction made to an

organization, related to its products or services, or
the complaints-handling process itself, where a
response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly
expected”

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 Why do customers
complain?

• Their expectations have not been met!

• To release their anger
• To help improve the service
• Because of concern for others who also use the service

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Why do customers
complain?

• What proportion of unhappy customers

complain?
– Generally 9% to 37% of unhappy customers make
complaints to the firms.
– The rest never bother to complain
• Why don’t unhappy customers complain?
– They think it is not worth the time or effort.
– They further think that no one would be concerned
about their problem or solve it.
– They do not know where to go or what to do.
Each happy customer will tell at least six other people
Most common
complaints...

• Wrong information
• Poor customer service attitude
• Overpricing
• Lack of adequate information
• Delays
• Unresponsiveness of service
providers
The customer is not always
right but...
• The customer is always the customer and this means simply
that solving the problem is often more important than who is
right.
• If you can solve their problem without blaming yourself or
others,
– you will reduce stress,
– everyone will feel better and
– you will be on your way to attaining CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION
IDENTIFYING A COMPLAINT AS A
GIFT
 Is a complaint a gift?
Why?

• Complaints are gift packages waiting to be opened

because they:
– Are given freely
– Are not solicited by the recipient organization
– Are unexpected…they come as a surprise (usually)
– Hold the key to happiness for the recipient
organization
• If they are well handled

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 Is a complaint a gift?
Why?

• A complaint gives you:

– Free direct communication from the customer about
service failures, competitors offerings etc. without the
added cost of conducting a survey
– Readily available market research: they define what
customers want

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Is a complaint a gift?
Why?
– A complaint gives you the opportunity to:
• Increase customer trust
• Build long term relationships-
– customers will use your services again if they
believe complaints are welcomed and
addressed
• Rectify service failures
• Engage customers as advocates
Is a complaint a gift?
Why?

If a customer is complaining, you are being given a

chance to retain that customer

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 The customer’s needs when
they complain
• The customer has 2 separate needs when complaining-
– needs relating to the complaint
– needs as individuals and

• Example 1
– Complaint – the product is not working as expected
– Underlying message – I don’t understand the new technology, I need
help

• Example 2
– Complaint- I was disappointed with the service during my last visit
– Underlying message – I am testing the value you place on my loyalty
to your business

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The customer’s needs when
they complain

• Needs relating to the complaint

– To have their concern dealt with quickly, fairly and properly
– To be given what they have been denied and perhaps an apology
– To have action taken to rectify a problem or address a concern-
• a resultant process change

• Needs as individuals
– To be heard
– To be understood
– To be respected

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 When the customer’s need
is met…

You automatically Engage your Customer as

your Advocate!

• Who is your advocate???

– A person who publicly supports or
recommends you
– Someone who speaks, or argues in
your favor
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STEPS FOR HANDLING CUSTOMER
COMPLAINTS
How to Handle Customer
Complaints

• How do you react to customer complaints about the way

you do your work?
– Especially when you think you are doing your best???

• People react to customer complaints in

different ways…
– Some
• Ignore complaints
• Become defensive
• Become angry or annoyed
• Are concerned about the loss of trade or the damage to their
professional reputation

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How to Handle Customer
Complaints

• For others, it is
– A hindrance
• They just wish the customer would go away! Or
– They do not believe some or all of what the
customer is complaining about.

• These reactions are as a result of blame

being attributed to us or our
organization.
How to Handle Customer
Complaints

• In making complaints, some customers portray the following

characteristics
– Lack of gracious social skills to communicate properly
– Nervousness
– Harshness
– Very Emotional
– Lack understanding of you or your organization’s limitations
– Rudeness
– Unreasonableness

• We need to learn to expect such behaviour and remember however that

a complaint is evidence that, in the customer’s view, we have not met
their expectations.

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 How to Handle Customer
Complaints

• Listen • Remember not to take

• Repeat it personally
• Apologise • Remain calm
• Acknowledge • Focus on the problem
• Explain action and not person
• Thank • Turn unhappy people
into happy customers
• Follow up
How to Handle Customer
Complaints

• Address customers by name

• All communication should be in the first person.
– Use “I am sorry” not “we”
• Don’t make excuses or blame others in your
organization
• Give the customer your full attention and
establish eye contact
• Paraphrase their complaint in your own words to
determine whether you have correctly
understood the situation.
How to Handle Customer
Complaints

• If you don’t know the answer to their

problem, don’t lie.
• Call back when you say you will, even if
for some reason, you haven’t been able
to obtain a satisfactory answer by then
• Make the customer part of the solution
– not part of the problem
How to handle customer
complaints

• Don’t be defensive
• Be composed at all times
• Don’t take criticisms personally
• Offer an apology even if the disservice is not
your fault
• Show empathy by using such phrases as: “I
can understand how you feel”, “I appreciate
what you’re saying.”
How to Handle Customer
Complaints

• Tell them what you can do…not what you can’t

do
• Find out what it will take to turn their
dissatisfaction into satisfaction
• If they agree to that solution, act quickly
before they change their mind
• Follow up
• And remember: You can never win an
argument with a customer
Steps for handling
complaints
At the organization’s level, there is the need for a complaint handling system which
will involve the following steps as a minimum:
Acknowledge It is important that you acknowledge the receipt of all complaints, verbal
receipt of the or written. Preferably allocate a complaint reference number and provide
complaint the customer with a contact point for further correspondence.

Accurately record Make sure that your recorded version of the complaint matches exactly
complaint what the customer said. Also make sure that the complaint record is
information and accessible by any branch of the organization that the customer may
make it accessible
contact.

Attach timeframes The company should attempt to resolve complaints on first contact, but if
for resolution of this is not possible, then a complaint should be finalized within a specific
complaint number of days eg. 30 days.
 Steps for handling
complaints

Customers must As soon as you realizes that they are unable to resolve a complaint
be informed
about any delays
within the given timeframe, contact the customer, and inform
in resolving a advising him/ her of the delay and set a new timeline
complaint
Make staff aware The complaint handling procedures should be known to all
of complaint
handling
employees and be part of regular training
procedures

Inform Posting your complaint handling procedures on your office

Customers Of
Complaint
premises is a good way to inform customers. Also these
Handling procedures may be incorporated in the organisation’s brochure
Procedures
 Find out what your customers
really think…
• HOW?
– THROUGH

• Surveys,
• focus groups,
• mystery shopping

• One complaint statistically represents 24

similar ones
STRATEGIES FOR SERVICE
RECOVERY
What is service recovery
• Service recovery is how you remedy a failed
service encounter with a customer. In other
words,
– pull a customer from hell to heaven in the
shortest possible time.

– It involves:
• apologizing,
• solving the problem,
• compensating the customer with something of value
Service recovery
• 95% of customers who have a complaint that was
handled efficiently and promptly will not only
continue to do business but will become even more
loyal (Wharton Business School)

• So how do you make amends or appease the

customer?
– Through
• product replacements,
• good will gifts,
• free of charge services, etc…
 Some important statistics

• Only 4% of dissatisfied customers complain. 96% leave

without any communication to the business
• Of the 96% who leave, 91% will never return
• A typical dissatisfied customer will tell 8 to 10 people about
the issues with your business
• 1 in 5 dissatisfied customers will tell 20 people about the
issues with your business
• It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one
negative incident

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 Some important statistics

• 7 out of 10 complaining customers will do business with

again you if you resolve the complaint in their favour
• Of complaining customers, 95% will do business with you
again if you resolve the complaint at the first contact
• On average, a satisfied complainer will tell 5 people about
their problem and how it was solved
• It costs 6 times more to attract new customers than it does
to retain current ones
• Customer loyalty is worth 10 times the price of a single
purchase “How to win and Keep Customers” – Michael LeBoeuf

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SESSION 5

HANDLING DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS

Handling Difficult Customers

• Who is a difficult customer?

• How do you handle such people?

Types of Difficult
Customers
• Angry • Sarcastic
• Nasty • Argumentative
• Demanding
• Critical
• Non-stop Talker
• Indecisive
Why Are They Difficult?
• They are often • They are difficult for
expressing a need but their own reasons –
chose an appropriate – not because of you
and impolite way to
communicate this need
Common Reasons For
Being Difficult
• tired or frustrated • don’t understand
• confused or • in bad mood
overwhelmed • in a hurry
• defending their ego • other reasons…..
• unfamiliar with
situation
• feel ignored
• under influence of drink
or drugs
How Do I Deal With Difficult
Customers?
• “this job would be very good if it weren’t for
the difficult people I have to deal with
everyday”

• Approach them professionally and not personally

– Taking things personally can damage your professional
reputation
– Listen for the signals that you are taking things personally
How Do I Deal With Difficult
Customers?
• Check you customer service attitude
– Attitude is the key to success
• Attitude is your mental position on facts - or more
simply, the way you view things
 How Do I Deal With Difficult
Customers?

• Five points about – your attitude affects

attitude: everyone who comes
– your attitude towards in contact with you
customers influences – tone and body
your behaviour. You language reflect your
cannot always attitude
camouflage how you – your attitude is not
feel fixed. The attitude you
– your attitude choose to display is up
determines the level of to YOU
job satisfaction
 How Do I Deal With Difficult
Customers?
• Remind yourself!
– This is my job and I’m
going to do it
professionally
– If it were not for these
customers I would not
have a job
– Every time I solve a
problem I will feel better
• Reinforce this by
saying…
– “I like the job, not
because it’s easy, not
because there are no
difficult people, not
because there are no
frustrations but because
people are part of any
job and I can make things
easier by taking things
professionally
 Summary

• Be positive
• Take things professionally and not personally
• Aim for customer satisfaction, not just service
• Solve problems without blaming yourself or
others
• Remember attitudes are caught, not taught
Thank you for your valuable time