Why do customers tell others about their dissatisfaction with our service and not us? How can we fix a problem if we don't know about it?
Leah Fisher, from TMI New Zealand, responds:
Research says that most people don't complain, they just change supplier and often they will tell others about
their dissatisfaction.
A national survey conducted last year by TMI into customer complaint behaviour shows that less than a third of people will complain to the company they have the problem with.
Customers don't complain for a range of reasons. Mainly:
* They don't think their complaint is welcomed or encouraged.
* They don't think anything will be done anyway, so why bother?
* There is no obvious channel to complain through and service providers don't encourage feedback.
* They are concerned how they will be treated if they complain.
Businesses can do several things to encourage customers to provide feedback.
The first, and most critical, is to see complaints not as criticism or something negative to be avoided but as a genuine opportunity to be helpful and another chance to win customer loyalty.
If we think positively about complaints and see them as important to the business, we are less likely to react negatively when we receive them.
Be clear about how complaints should be handled, how they are recorded, who responds to the customer and how quickly.
Research indicates that most customers who complain on the telephone or in person want resolution the same day, while the expected response time for written complaints is one week.
Staff also need to tell customers where and how they can complain.
* For further information contact Leah Fisher at TMI on 376 4123; email Leah@tmi.co.nz
TMI New Zealand
* Send Mentor questions to: ellen_read@nzherald.co.nz. Answers will be given by Business in the Community's Business Mentor Programme.
