Every business owner knows the power reviews have over your reputation.
What your customers say about your business can have a huge impact on your sales and successes.
While you may not be able to change what the complaints are about when they come in, you are able to control how you handle them.
Here are the best ways to utilise customer complaints to improve your brand’s reputation...
Show The Customer You Care
Bad reviews or feedback are inevitable for businesses.
Everyone makes mistakes and there are always areas for improvement and usually, the complainant is just a victim of these circumstances.
By responding sympathetically to their feedback, listening to what they have to say and apologising for the inconvenience, you may even be able to retain the complainant as a customer.
Make Sure The Right People Know
If someone complains and the people within that department aren’t aware of the feedback, nothing will be done to rectify the situation.
To avoid this, a company-wide and integrated system should be used to manage the complaints and get them to the people that need to hear them.
When everyone is on the same page and information is easily accessible, things can get done quickly.
Implement Solutions
Sometimes, complaints are about one off mistakes that are (usually) easily avoidable.
However, customer complaints can hint at systemic issues that may be affecting other customers as well...
These are the ones that need a closer look.
Of course, most companies don’t have time for root cause analysis so it often is put to the side. That’s why Complaints Pro® has built root cause analysis to find, analyse and fix any systemic issues that are detected in the complaints received.
Be Transparent
If you get bad comments on your Facebook post or a bad review on Google, your reputation will only be further harmed if you delete them.
Instead, make sure you respond to the feedback so that other potential customers can see how you handle it.
Additionally, whether you are dealing with a complaint in or out of the public eye, make sure you demonstrate to the customer what you have done to rectify their concern.
Whether that means:
- Making changes within your business
- Offering a discount or freebie
- Apologising sincerely and taking the feedback on board for future situations
These things go a long way in showing the customer that you actually care about what they have to say and that you are willing to change how you operate to better their experience.
Need Assistance?
Working off spreadsheets and disjointed systems can be a huge hindrance to effectively managing customer complaints.
At Causia®, we understand the power of complaints and the value for your business if you handle them well.
To streamline your systems, our cloud-based and industry specific software has you covered.
Book a demo to try out Complaints Pro® today.
