Why is He Unhappy? The Secret of the Complaining Customer
Posted by Meredith Estep on Thu, Dec 29, 2011 @ 11:46 AM
Nobody likes to deal with a complaining customer. These angry, frustrated clients suck the life out of even the most positive customer service representatives from time to time. One of the reasons complaining customers are so challenging may have to do with the fact that we don’t take the time to think about why they are voicing their displeasure. By understanding why customers become unhappy, customer service teams may be able to nip complaints in the bud or even reduce them completely. We have five reasons why customers complain and what you can do to minimize the problem.
Customer Has To Wait Too Long For Service
Whether it is in person or on the phone, long waits serve to frustrate customers. If your CSRs cannot answer calls by the third ring or help customers in your office within a matter of minutes, you are understaffed. It is time to find ways to make customer service more efficient or hire and train additional customer service reps to handle the extra load.
Customer’s Expectations Are Not Met
Customers expect certain things from a business – fast, accurate service, products that actually work and friendly staff to talk to. When these expectations are not met in any of these areas, the result can be a complaining customer. To remedy the situation, be sure staff is properly trained to handle transactions efficiently and to interact with customers in a courteous fashion. When a product does not meet expectations, have a liberal return policy in place for customers who are not satisfied with their purchase.
Customer Doesn't Believe Promises Are Being Kept
If a company tells a customer it will do something for him by a certain date, the job better be done. If it is not, customer service reps should be proactive in keeping customers abreast of the changing situation, so clients don’t feel as though they are slipping through the corporate crack. A company that keeps its word is a company that keeps its customers.
Customer Thinks Company Doesn't Care About His Concerns
Indifference and apathy can transform a happy customer into a complaining customer in no time. Customer service is all about empathy – seeing the situation from the customer’s point of view and understanding his frustration when things don’t go quite right. Sometimes a complaining customer simply wants to know that someone in your company genuinely cares about his concerns and wants to resolve them.
Customer Feels He Is Treated Rudely
Snotty attitudes and CSRs that ignore customers when they come in and omission of common courtesies like “please” and “thank you” can really yank a customer’s chain. In fact, a customer that believes he is treated rudely will be much quicker to complain about a situation than one who receives courteous service from the get-go. A pleasant, courteous demeanor from CSRs may effectively keep complaining customers at bay.
Complaining customers can be problematic for a customer service team, but understanding why customers get unhappy can go a long way in avoiding many of those complaints in the first place. Tackling problems before they arise may be the most effective way for maintaining a higher level of service and reducing the number of disgruntled customers you see on a daily basis.
- Meredith Estep