It shouldn’t be hard work for your customers to complain. They are helping you to improve, so make it easy for them to get a message to you.
 |
| Contributor Jon Swanson. |
Contributor Jon Swanson worked hard to complain constructively to two companies. He heard back from one, but not the other. He finally wrote about his customer service experiences, then shared that post until he finally heard from the second company.
“It’s a brand I care about,” Jon said.
And that’s the whole point. Most of your complainers complain because they care.
Do you treat them that way?
New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.
- About the Author
- Latest by this Author
Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
Head, meet nail. By making it easy for customers to complain, you’re making it easier to fix the problem and to turn an unhappy customer into a happy customer.
I think that a lot of small business owners are afraid to put themselves out on social media for fear that a horde of dissatisfied trolls are going to come out of the woodwork and bash the brand. The reality is that you will get a few people who are unhappy, and it’s a great opportunity not only to turn their stories around, but to show everyone else that you’re genuine, have integrity, and care enough to make everything right. This will build a lot of trust and make the next potential customer feel much more secure about doing business with you.
Jason, you’re right on target. These are your future fans. Treat them that way.
I witnessed the coolest thing at a McDonald’s drive-thru two days ago. On the window it said something like, “We aim for great quality, service, and cleanliness. If you feel we’re falling short, please let us know.” Then it listed the manager’s full name and a local phone number. And the service was friendlier than I’ve ever seen. Not sure if that came down from corporate or not, but it’s brilliant for McDonald’s… as long as they mean it.
That’s called being accountable. If the manager is not “on site” then being able to call him is the next best thing. Forget comment cards. If something is wrong it needs to be fixed right now. Immediate feedback is what you want. As a manager it allows you to react.
I tell business owners this all of the time. Customers are going to complain somewhere. Most of them aren’t out to hurt your reputation. If you give them a venue to complain to you, they’ll do it there first before going to ripoffreport or similar sites.
We dealt with the make-it-easy-to-complain issue on our jewelry website by putting a form on every page titled “Help us improve this page.” It asks for your comment and email address but you can also give us your phone number or mention what style you’re referring to.
I get notified of comments by email as they happen, so I can address issues quickly.
Good points above about immediacy. We all want to get it fixed now!
Charleen, that’s a great idea and good practice to have it on every single page.