Complaints … The Missed Opportunities

According to researchers the three industries that get the most complaints from consumers are retailing, budget airlines and Telecom providers. We can relate to the last one as we are in the process of having a dispute with our own provider. They billed us for an unknown $1,500 and we then contacted them to ask what it was about,they said they would get back to us within 48 hours. Of course they did not and we have now received an overdue letter for the amount. This highlights how important complaints are to any business and the basic lessons we often forget. In 2011 a complaint travels faster than every before,as of course does the good news. What you need is a system to ensure that your complaints procedure works for you. So back to four basic rules; Have a system that records complaints to enable everyone in your team to follow the chain of communications Deal with the complaint within the agreed time frame that you have set Ensure all the team look on complaints as a gift that allows you to learn from the experience Make sure the customer is more than satisfied so they will become advocates for your business. Complaints are an ideal opportunity to build advocates for your business,if you get ti wrong they can spread the message just as quickly