Commendations and Complaints

Quick reference

• 00:05 When a customer sends a written commendation,
• 00:07 that's a very special correspondence.
• 00:10 Not just because it's a commendation and it makes you feel good, but
• 00:14 people are busy, and most people don't like to write.
• 00:17 And also because people believe they deserve good service anyway.
• 00:21 It takes something extra special for
• 00:23 them to carve out some time to let you know about it.
• 00:26 You exceeded their expectation on that occasion.
• 00:29 So, how should you respond?
• 00:32 Your response should indirectly encourage more of this kind of feedback.
• 00:36 Here's the formula.
• 00:37 One, you want to let them know how pleased you are to get the feedback.
• 00:42 Two, you should acknowledge that they took the time to tell you how they feel.
• 00:48 Three, specifically mention the action that made them happy.
• 00:51 And four, promise to share their comments with the staff members concerned.
• 00:57 Now, what about complaints?
• 00:59 They're are special category too.
• 01:01 We tend to get more of those than commendations, but
• 01:04 that's a feature of the human experience.
• 01:07 If someone does what's expected, then we don't give it a second thought.
• 01:11 But if they fall short of that expectation, that sits with us for
• 01:14 a longer time, and we're motivated to do something about it.
• 01:19 Remember, we mentioned earlier that feedback is a gift,
• 01:22 this is especially true for complaints.
• 01:25 That's because for every 100 dissatisfied customers,
• 01:28 only about four take the time to complain to the service provider.
• 01:33 This means that for every four complaints you have to respond to,
• 01:37 there are about 96 more out there who haven't told you,
• 01:40 but most of them won't come back and you'll have no idea why.
• 01:45 They'll also probably tell their family, friends or
• 01:48 social media contacts about the bad experience.
• 01:51 And that potentially influences the perception of people
• 01:54 who haven't even done business with your company.
• 01:58 So, when you do get a complaint,
• 02:00 you're getting a chance to fix something that maybe you didn't know is a problem,
• 02:04 or that may be a bigger problem than you realize.
• 02:08 Written complaints usually take the form of an email or a letter.
• 02:13 Sometimes, customers aren't even specific about what made them upset.
• 02:17 So, let's figure out how to respond to these complaints.
• 02:21 Responding to customer complaints involves the following elements, one, an apology.
• 02:27 Two, empathy or acknowledgement.
• 02:30 Three, if they weren't specific then we should be requesting details that
• 02:35 will help us to investigate the problem.
• 02:38 Four, we should explain why the problem happened without being defensive about it.
• 02:44 Five, our response should offer a solution.
• 02:47 Six, we should use positive language by focusing on what we can,
• 02:53 instead of what we can't do.
• 02:57 And seven, we should express appreciation for the feedback.
• 03:01 In responding to customer complaints, a warm and sincere tone is really important
• 03:07 and is usually conveyed with words like really, very, right away, sorry.
• 03:14 Customers prefer these everyday words in an apology because words and
• 03:19 phrases like absolutely, truly apologize, kindly,
• 03:23 they tend to sound scripted and less sincere.
• 03:27 And here's a golden tip, if it's practical,
• 03:30 offer to notify the customer when the issue is fixed.
• 03:34 And by all means, do follow up.
• 03:36 If you're not sure that you can deliver on that promise,
• 03:39 just do it without promising.
• 03:41 Because if you offer to follow up, but then you don't, that's another broken
• 03:45 promise, and it's just more ammunition for another complaint.
• 03:49 When you under promise and over deliver, you're far more likely to win over
• 03:54 a dissatisfied customer than if you break another promise.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.