Service Engineers Research Team
Building Better Buildings. The SERTEAM advise the construction industry on all aspects of building design.

Improve your Business by Settling Customer Service Complaints

Generally speaking, a customer has to be pretty upset to contact a company and complain about a product or service. More often than not, the customer simply chides himself for making a bad choice and vows to never buy from the offending company again. So, when a consumer does call with a complaint, businesses should take heed because that customer likely represents dozens of others that did not have the time or the patience to complain.

How should a company handle a complaint? The most important thing is to deal with the issue as expeditiously as possible. Making the customer wait for a refund or a replacement will only make matters worse. Remember, the modern customer is not a helpless victim. He has ready access to the internet, where he can post negative reviews on your product and hurt your business.

Do not believe us? Just take a look at the Customer service complaints on some of the internet's largest review sites. These negative reviews can ruin a small company in short order. Of course, simply refunding a customer's money won't help the company all that much. In the end, complaints should be used to help you improve your product, service or operations. And paying people off won't do that!

So, what should a company do? First, solve the problem. If a customer complains that a particular product doesn't work, send him a replacement or refund his money. Then find out if the problem the customer complained about is a common one. If it is not, the product was probably defective, in which case there is nothing to worry about. But if the problem has been reported several times before, there may be an issue with the design.

Another popular strategy is to offer frustrated customers a special service or a coupon for a discount on their next purchase. This will let them know that you care about their business and it may even encourage them to return. At the very least, they will be less likely to write negative reviews about the company.