How do you respond when a customer complains about your product or service? Not every customer relationship can be saved but every company should have an intended outcome in mind.
Personally, I’ve always aimed to retain relationships that can be retained and ensure that, at the very least, unrecoverable customers leave saying that the company treated them well, even if the product or service didn’t meet their expectations.
The central issue here is respect. Customers who feel respected are far less likely to invest time in spreading their negative perceptions of your company or it’s offerings. Disrespect your customers and they may go out of their way to tell others to avoid your company and take their business to your competitors.
Recently, I had a series of very disappointing experiences with a local company. I canceled the service and sent an e-mail to the company’s owner. It wasn’t the friendliest e-mail but my intent was to let this person know that I was disappointed and, more importantly, why I was disappointed. I figured that, if I were the owner, I’d want to know. This was someone I knew from some work I had done with local community service groups so I expected to hear back from him.
To my great surprise, I heard nothing. Nothing from the company’s customer service team and nothing from the owner. I didn’t even receive a confirmation of my cancellation. I eventually saw a refund on my credit card statement but that was it. Oh yeah, then I got a recorded telemarketing call from the company a month later offering me a great deal for ‘new customers’.
So there’s a case study in how *not* to treat an unhappy customer. As a result of the way this company handled this situation, I tell everyone I know about my experience. I can guarantee I would have said little to anyone had the owner simply acknowledged my concerns and treated me with respect.
How does your company treat unhappy customers on their way out the door?
Tags: service
