Are You Getting Enough Complaints?

Think about the last several times you had an experience less than spectacular. You left a business frustrated or hung up the phone more stressed than before you called. Unfortunately, all of us can remember several, probably in the past 48 hours.

Next, think about contacting the company management about your dissatisfaction. If you are like most people, you don’t bother to waste your time. I never do. Ouch! This happens all the time. We do it as customers, and our customers are doing it to us! If we are not making it easier for our customers to give feedback, then it is happening to us more than any of us realize. Our customers have better things to do with their time than hunt us down and complain. 

Give Permission, Make it Easy

There are several ways to give permission for our customers to communicate with us. Now I am not talking about satisfaction measurement devices that ask customers their level of satisfaction and how likely they are to refer. That is very vitally important—I spent an entire chapter on it in What’s the Secret? This is something totally different. I’m talking about giving your customers permission to communicate easily, in a non-threatening way; and not only giving them permission, but asking for their advice, their feedback, both positive and negative. Few companies ask their customers for praise, and lose the opportunity to celebrate and perpetuate that type of outstanding performance. However, very few companies have the courage to ask their customers for feedback if their experience was below what they were expecting.

How Accessible Are You?

Here’s a refreshing approach. When you shop for a car at Motorcars Honda/Toyota in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, you will notice a red phone in the middle of the showroom with a sign that reads: “Hotline to Owner Chuck Gile.” Customers know that if any issues arise, they have the power to talk to the top executive in the organization. That provides great peace of mind and a zero risk of doing business with a company. On top of that, the red phone sends a message to all employees, demonstrating the lengths Motorcars will go to make the customer happy.

Grillsmith Restaurant, a Tampa-based chain, posts a sign that says, “I want to hear from you” with the GM’s picture on it and all the contact information, including the cell phone number.

It is so simple. This is just marketing to your customer on everything: invoices, orders, at checkout, on the website, even in bathrooms.  Here are some examples of what companies have used:

• Please tell us about your experience.
• It is very important for us to know how we can be the best.
• We want your advice on how we can be better.
• Did we hit the mark today? Tell us.
• Did we miss? Tell us, please!
• Was someone a hero for you today? We want to recognize them.
• Were we the best part of your day? If you can’t answer yes, that is unacceptable to us. Please share with us why we were not.

Action Plan

How easy are you making it for your customers to share their experiences? Do you give them the impression you care, that you want to know, that exceptional experience is the only thing you will accept?  If you are not getting enough complaints, that may be telling you something.