We tend to react negatively to customer complaints. Business owners like you are doing your best to deliver quality under great pressure, both internally from challenges of running a business every day, to external pressures of competition, taxes, and changing workplace laws. But a complaint received from a customer means something beyond an unsatisfying experience. It is a signal that the customer isn't giving up on you. At least not yet, perhaps. It's all in how you handle it.
In Scott Stratten's The Book of Business Awesome, he recalls an experience at a Phoenix Suns basketball game, where he ended up in a seat behind a support pole in the middle of his view. It was blocking his view of half the court! he had to lean awkwardly into the aisle to watch the action. He mentions that he usually gives the business a chance when he has a complaint, but he didn't want to have to hunt down customer service, and even if he did, they would probably not do anything.
So what did he do? He sent out a tweet with a mention of the Phoenix Suns account. What he says next, in regards to the nature of complaints, is worth quoting:
Please understand, I wasn't happy but I also wasn't upset enough to storm out and demand my money back. I was a static customer, they had my purchase, and I had chosen them and given them my business. I would have watched the game and left, having a mediocre experience. This is where most customers sit, in static mode. They are just there, not overly pleased, not overly angry. They just exist.
Letting them sit there is the wrong mentality for brands to take. We shouldn't be looking at how many customers we have but it how many ecstatic customers we have.' Static customers come and go very easily, not angry enough to tell you why they're upset - and not happy enough to have any loyalty. When we do things to shift them into being ecstatic, loyalty increases.
Ecstatic customers are also more willing to tell you when they become upset, giving you an opportunity to keep them from leaving. Instead of a revolving door of static customers, create ecstatic ones and they'll bring people in the door for you.
So how did it end for Scott? - The Suns replied to his tweet, the VP of Digital came to his seat and escorted him to a luxury suite where he watched the rest of the game. They were running a promotion at the time, and taking random fans on Twitter to the suite. Scott's large Twitter following played a part, but this is just an example of blowing away expectations when receiving a complaint and turning a complainer into a cheerleader for your business.
Of course, we all can't give away luxury suites to random customers, but with a little creativity we can do that something extra that will give that customer a story to tell about how your business is special. And tell it they will.
Looking for a new way to give customers a voice to make your business rock?
Check out Talk to the Manager.