What You Need to Know About Customer Complaints
Transcript:
Hi! Welcome to this week’s episode and our topic today is something every business owner has had to deal with—customer complaints. And if you haven’t had to deal with a complaint yet, don’t worry, it’s coming. Complaints and bills are just part of entrepreneurship. But I learned something recently from a LinkedIn Learning video that I never thought about. I can’t remember who it was (I watch a lot of online training) but he said that there are two types of complaints—invalid and valid. Bam! I felt like I had been hit between the eyes.
Of course, there are two complaint types. We’ve all heard invalid complaints about stuff that either didn’t happen so people can get out of paying their bill or maybe they’re just jerks and want to complain because that’s their idea of fun. And unless you’re perfect, we’ve all had valid complaints where we dropped the ball, missed a deadline, or made a mistake. That’s not what struck me as a revelation! What struck me as a revelation was that the instructor said that the first step in dealing with complaints is to determine whether it’s valid or invalid because HOW you handle the complaint starts with identifying what type it is!
After I heard that, I looked back at times in my business where I had to deal with complaints and realized that it’s not always that easy to discern whether it’s valid or invalid. Here are two examples I used in a recent training I developed on this idea. Tell me if this is valid or invalid.
We bought a new car and paid the insurance payment of our old car as well so it could be removed and we could pay for the only car we had which was the new. Went in the next month to pay our insurance to be told we had to pay for the old car again which we don't even have....all because it was up to us to say to have it removed (which we did our first visit with new car). Over all we enjoyed going through this company but had to switch because this, and also the attitude given by the woman helping us. We are now going through GEICO who also got us a better rate!
What do you think? I’ll wait…ok, this one is valid. Let me point out a couple of things.
The statement, “Over all we enjoyed going through this company but had to switch…” tells me that this isn’t a vindictive complaint. This person thoroughly enjoyed doing business with this company. But a lack of communication or maybe they didn’t hear “forced” this customer to go elsewhere.
The story seems to be valid. Why was it up to them to say to have the old car removed when they did say that when they went to get the new car insured. Of course, this is their story, and we don’t have the other side. But this is their perspective and if correct, is definitely valid.
Here’s the next example. Tell me what you think.
I rented the conference room this size to have room for all of my guests, but not as many showed up. Also, I didn't use all of the hours I rented but was still charged the same amount. I'll never use this place again.
This has actually happened to me. I’ve managed an event venue since 2012. Here’s why this is an invalid complaint. When a guest books my venue, I always tell them to chose how many hours they need carefully because they won’t get a discount for any unused hours because it’s impossible to book the room on such short notice. And I have nothing to do with how many people show up.
Sometimes the lines aren’t clear on whether valid or invalid. The motive behind the complaint is a huge clue on whether valid or invalid.
Motives
Invalid. They want something for free or a huge discount. In my conference room example, that is what they wanted, and I wouldn’t give it.
Valid. They want a problem or concern acknowledged and addressed. Now their perception of what happened and even the concern might not be correct, but that doesn’t matter as much as you validating them as a valuable customer that deserves a listening ear and communication to address the issue.
How to respond to valid complaints
Apologize
Listen to understand
Explain how you will handle the situation
Communicate how you will follow up
And then follow up!
One of the worst things is to try to express a problem with someone and the other person is HEARING what you’re saying! Or they pretend to listen and then give you a script.
When your customer is giving you a complaint, look beyond the eternal problem and go to the internal problem—frustration, inconvenience, feeling unimportant, worry. If you solve their internal problems well, you’ll have an even more loyal customer than before!
And, finally, treat follow-up as sacred. Put date and time in the calendar to follow up. Not doing so is another nail in the coffin and a message that you do not value your customer.
How to respond to invalid complaints
Treat as if valid meaning you listen
Redirect and reframe meaning you agree but reframe it and then direct to another company
Review the customer’s history or start recording it for the future
Don’t give away free stuff
You always, always want to listen unless they are being abusive and unreasonable. Kick them out if that’s the case. Let’s say someone eats at a higher end restaurant and then complains about the prices after eating the entire meal because they want a deep discount or a free meal. The redirect and reframe is something like, “Yes, our meal prices are more expensive due to the expertise required for our entrees. However, So-And-So’s has great food and prices that might fit within your budget.”
And, please, don’t give away stuff just to get them out of your hair. This is a big temptation for business owners because we want this person and his invalid complaint to go away. But the entire motive behind the invalid complaint was to get something for free. And doing so perpetuates the problem.
An unexpected surprise
In September of 2020, we refinanced our house. There were several things that could have been avoided through better communication. It was enough to warrant a conversation with a supervisor.
The supervisor was great. She listened. Asked questions. And promised to pass on our experience to others in management to try to help it not happen to others.
A couple of weeks letter, I get a card in the mail with a $25 gift card as a thank you for sharing! I was stunned. I’ve never received a thank you much less a gift for telling someone all the mistakes they made. Lol!
An unexpected thank you card, letter, gift, or phone call after to thank them again can go a long way! And where I had decided to never use that company again, I will gladly do more business with them just because of that unexpected surprise.
