Customer complaints are something that every business faces, no matter how good your products or customer service may be. All it takes is a slip-up or a poorly handled concern to lead to complaints or a product or service that isn’t quite up to par before a customer files a complaint.
While complaints can seem harmless, you should make sure you’re handling them properly in order to avoid frustration and resolve issues faster. Here, we’ve gathered the most common customer complaints you may face, and how you should handle them for the fastest and most effective resolutions.
Unable to Make Contact
As a customer, there’s nothing worse than not being able to make contact with a business when you need to. Whether it’s a lack of phone line, an email form that never gets responded to or live chats that are never online, customers can understandably get frustrated when there is no clear or quick way to get in touch with a business when they need it.
Listing clear contact information, as well as clear opening and closing times for phone lines and clear email response times are simple steps you can take to alleviate this stress. Additionally, setting up a live chat system that remains active during working hours, as well as social media accounts that clients can contact you on can really help to improve this and reduce frustration all-around.
Long Waits
Long waits, whether it’s a physical line in stores or long waits for email responses, long hold waits or long delivery times can all lead to frustrated customers and therefore, more complaints. Just as you are likely busy at work, customers and clients may also be busy in their day to day lives and don’t have time to sit on hold for hours at a time.
To reduce wait times, consider hiring staff designed specifically for customer communication and customer service, or offer a call-back service. You could operate this via a form online, where clients can enter their details in order to receive a call, or via an automated call response system that can take numbers and a name, from which you can call back when the operator is next free.
Unavailable Product
Stock management is important and we understand that items do go out of stock and can’t always be replenished straight away. Customers that are eager for a product, however, are likely to get frustrated the longer a product is inaccessible. Resolving this issue isn’t always as simple as opening up new lines of communication – in fact, your only resolution may be to keep in contact with clients to inform them of when a shipment of the product is likely to arrive at your facility. You could also offer email updates for customers to sign up for, which will alert them the second the product comes back in stock.
Poor Product
Breakages and construction issues do happen and this can lead to breakages or poor-quality products that might somehow make it through quality control. If your customers do come to you with a complaint about a broken or damaged product, having a clear and concise returns or refunds policy can help give peace of mind that you have their interests at heart.
In some cases, the product may not be broken – the client may simply not know how to use the product properly. Offering help and information both within the product and online can help to alleviate these kinds of complaints. FAQs, for example, can help with common issues that seem to crop up regularly.
Injury Or Illness
If your product or service has caused illness or injury to your client, you may find yourself facing a legal claim. While every care should be taken to ensure that your product or service doesn’t put your customer or their property at risk, in the rare occasion that it happens, you could need to pay compensation as a result. Public Liability Insurance offers financial protection for businesses in these cases, covering not only the compensation itself, but the legal fees to ensure your business remains on its feet following an accident.
Poor Service
Poor customer service is something no business should have in today’s world. Customers are more unforgiving than ever before when it comes to the service they receive, and businesses are under more pressure to offer top-tier customer service every time. Ensuring all of your employees have customer service training, especially those working in customer-facing positions, can help to reduce rudeness or inappropriate service. Polite handling of even difficult customers can help to diffuse a situation before it turns into a full complaint and help you retain customers in the long term.
No Resolution After First Call
We live in a fast-paced world and more often than not, customers won’t have the time to keep going over the same issue time and time again. For that reason, customers often expect a resolution to their issue within the first phone call to your business and if they don’t get this, they can become agitated and more likely to make a complaint.
There are situations where a first-call resolution simply isn’t possible, but expectation management and transparency can go a long way to ensuring customers get the service they need. Your employees should also be making notes on any cases or issues that come in so that steps aren’t repeated and time isn’t wasted if the client needs to be passed on to another team. You can also help to speed up the resolution process by cutting out the middle man completely – knowledge hubs and detailed FAQs can often resolve customer issues and questions without them even having to pick up their phones.
If you have any questions about Business Insurance and how it can help to protect your business against claims made by customers and clients, get in touch with Ashburnham Insurance on FREEPHONE 0800 1696137.