HANDLING

CUSTOMER
COMPLAINTS
Module 5: Examine customer complaints in relation to
customs and tax administration
 OBJECTIVE
S

 At the end of this training session, you will be able

to:
 Identify reasons why a complaint is a gift from
the customer to the service provider
 Note what to expect from customers when they
make
complaints
 Identify how to handle customer complaints
 Learn strategies to redeem yourself when you have
failed in providing the customer the level of
expected service
 CONTEN
T

 What is a Complaint?
 Identifying A Complaint As A Gift
 Steps For Handling Customer
Complaints
 Service Recovery Process
 Handling Difficult Customers
 SESSION
1
What is a
Complaint?
 What is a
Complaint?

 “An expression of dissatisfaction made to an

organization, related to its products or
services, or the complaints-handling process
itself, where a response or resolution is
explicitly or implicitly expected”

5
 Why do customers
complain?

 Their expectations have not been met!

 To release their anger
 To help improve the service
 Because of concern for others who also use
the service

6
 Why do customers
complain?
 What proportion of unhappy customers complain?
 Generally 9% to 37% of unhappy customers make
complaints to the firms.
 The rest never bother to complain
 Why don’t unhappy customers complain?
 They think it is not worth the time or effort.
 They further think that no one would be concerned about
their problem or solve it.
 They do not know where to go or what to do.

Each happy customer will tell at least six other people

 Most common
complaints...
 Wrong information
 Poor customer service
attitude
 Overpricing
 Lack of adequate information
 Delays
 Unresponsiveness of
service providers
 ….
 ……
 The customer is not always right
but...

 The customer is always the customer and this means

simply that solving the problem is often more important
than who is right.

 If you can solve their problem without blaming yourself

or others,
 you will reduce stress,
 everyone will feel better and
 you will be on your way to attaining
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
 SESSION
2
Identifying a Complaint as a
Gift
 Is a complaint a gift?
Why?
 Complaints are gift packages waiting to
be opened because they:
 Are given freely
 Are not solicited by the recipient
organization
 Are unexpected…they come as a surprise
(usually)
 Hold the key to happiness for the
recipient organization
 If they are well handled
1
 Is a complaint a gift?
Why?
 A complaint gives you:
 Free direct communication from the customer about
service failures, competitors offerings etc. without
the added cost of conducting a survey
 Readily available market research: they define
what customers want

1
 Is a complaint a gift?
Why?
 A complaint gives you the opportunity
to:
 Increase customer trust
 Build long term relationships-
 customers will use your services again if they
believe complaints are welcomed and addressed
 Rectify service failures
 Engage customers as advocates
 Is a complaint a gift?
Why?

If a customer is complaining, you are being given

a chance to retain that customer

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 The customer’s needs when
they complain

 The customer has 2 separate needs when

 complaining-
 needs relating to the
complaint needs as individuals
 Example
and 1
 Complaint – the product is not working as expected
 Underlying message – I don’t understand the new technology, I need help

 Example 2
 Complaint- I was disappointed with the service during my last visit
 Underlying message – I am testing the value you place on my loyalty to
your business

1
 The customer’s needs when
they complain

 Needs relating to the complaint

 To have their concern dealt with quickly, fairly and properly
 To be given what they have been denied and perhaps an
apology
 To have action taken to rectify a problem or address a
concern-
 a resultant process change

 Needs as individuals
 To be heard
 To be understood
 To be respected

16
 When the customer’s need
is met…

You automatically Engage your

Customer as your Advocate!

 Who is your advocate???

 A person who publicly supports
or recommends you
 Someone who speaks, or argues in
your favor

1
 SESSION
3
Steps for Handling
Customer
Complaints
How to Handle Customer
Complaints
 How do you react to customer complaints about the
way you do your work?
 Especially when you think you are doing your best???

 People react to customer complaints in different ways…

 Some
 Ignore complaints
 Become defensive
 Become angry or annoyed
 Are concerned about the loss of trade or the damage to
their professional reputation

19
How to Handle Customer
Complaints

 For others, it is
 A hindrance
 They just wish the customer would go away! Or
 They do not believe some or all of what the
customer is complaining about.

 These reactions are as a result of blame

being attributed to us or our organization.
 How to Handle Customer
Complaints

 In making complaints, some customers portray the

following characteristics
 Lack of gracious social skills to communicate properly
 Nervousness
 Harshness
 Very Emotional
 Lack understanding of you or your organization’s limitations
 Rudeness
 Unreasonableness

 We need to learn to expect such behaviour and

remember however that a complaint is evidence that, in
the customer’s
view, we have not met their expectations.

2
 How to Handle
Customer
Complaints
 Listen  Remember not to take
 Repeat it personally
 Apologise  Remain calm
 Acknowledge  Focus on the
 Explain problem and not
action person
 Thank  Turn unhappy people
into happy customers
 Follow up
How to Handle Customer
Complaints
 Address customers by name
 All communication should be in the first person.
 Use “I am sorry” not “we”
 Don’t make excuses or blame others in your
organization
 Give the customer your full attention and establish
eye contact
 Paraphrase their complaint in your own words to
determine whether you have correctly understood
the situation.
How to Handle Customer
Complaints

 If you don’t know the answer to their problem,

don’t lie.
 Call back when you say you will, even if for some
reason, you haven’t been able to obtain a
satisfactory answer by then
 Make the customer part of the solution
 not part of the problem
How to handle customer
complaints
 Don’t be defensive
 Be composed at all times
 Don’t take criticisms personally
 Offer an apology even if the disservice is not your fault
 Show empathy by using such phrases as: “I can
understand how you feel”, “I appreciate what you’re
saying.”
How to Handle Customer
Complaints

 Tell them what you can do…not what you can’t do

 Find out what it will take to turn their dissatisfaction
into satisfaction
 If they agree to that solution, act quickly before
they change their mind
 Follow up
 And remember: You can never win an argument with
a customer
 Steps for handling
complaints
At the organization’s level, there is the need for a complaint handling system
which
will involve the following steps as a minimum:
Acknowledg It is important that you acknowledge the receipt of all complaints,
e receipt of verbal or written. Preferably allocate a complaint reference
the
number and provide the customer with a contact point for
complaint
further correspondence.

Accurately record Make sure that your recorded version of the complaint matches
complaint exactly what the customer said. Also make sure that the complaint
information and record is accessible by any branch of the organization that the
make it
accessible
customer may contact.

Attach The company should attempt to resolve complaints on first contact,

timeframes but if this is not possible, then a complaint should be finalized
for resolution within a specific number of days eg. 30 days.
of complaint
 Steps for handling
complaints
Customers must
be informed
As soon as you realizes that they are unable to resolve a
about any complaint within the given timeframe, contact the customer,
delays in and inform advising him/ her of the delay and set a new
resolving a timeline
complaint
Make staff
aware of
The complaint handling procedures should be known to
complaint all employees and be part of regular training
handling
procedures

Inform Customers
Of Complaint
Posting your complaint handling procedures on your office
Handling premises is a good way to inform customers. Also these
Procedures procedures may be incorporated in the organisation’s
brochure
Find out what your customers
really think…

 HOW?
 THROUGH

 Surveys,
 focus groups,
 mystery shopping

 One complaint statistically represents 24 similar

ones
 SESSION
4
Strategies for Service
Recovery
 What is service
recovery

 Service recovery is how you remedy a failed

service encounter with a customer. In other
words,
 pull a customer from hell to heaven in the
shortest possible time.

 It involves:
 apologizing,
 solving the problem,
 compensating the customer with something of
value
 Service
recovery
 95% of customers who have a complaint that
was handled efficiently and promptly will not
only continue to do business but will become
even more loyal (Wharton Business School)

 So how do you make amends or appease

the customer?
 Through
 product replacements,
 good will gifts,
 free of charge services, etc…
 Some important
statistics

 Only 4% of dissatisfied customers complain. 96%

leave without any communication to the business
 Of the 96% who leave, 91% will never return
 A typical dissatisfied customer will tell 8 to 10
people about the issues with your business
 1 in 5 dissatisfied customers will tell 20 people about
the issues with your business
 It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for
one negative incident

33
 Some important
statistics

 7 out of 10 complaining customers will do business

with again you if you resolve the complaint in their
favour
 Of complaining customers, 95% will do business with
you again if you resolve the complaint at the first
contact
 On average, a satisfied complainer will tell 5 people
about their problem and how it was solved
 It costs 6 times more to attract new customers than
it does to retain current ones
 Customer loyalty is worth 10 times the price of a
single purchase “How to win and Keep Customers” – Michael LeBoeuf
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 SESSION
5
Handling Difficult
Customers
 Handling Difficult
Customers

 Who is a difficult customer?

 How do you handle such

people?
 Types of Difficult
Customers

 Angry  Sarcastic
 Nasty  Argumentative
 Demanding
 Critical
 Non-stop Talker
 Indecisive
 Why Are They
Difficult?

 They are often  They are difficult for

expressing a need but their own reasons –
chose an appropriate  not because of you
and impolite way to
communicate this need
Common Reasons For Being
Difficult

 tired or frustrated  don’t understand

 confused or  in bad mood
overwhelme  in a hurry
d  other
 defending reasons…..
their ego
 unfamiliar
with situation
 feel ignored
 under influence of
 How Do I Deal With Difficult
Customers?

 “this job would be very good if it weren’t for

the difficult people I have to deal with
everyday”

 Approach them professionally and

not personally
 Taking things personally can damage your
professional reputation
 Listen for the signals that you are taking things
personally
 How Do I Deal With Difficult
Customers?

 Check you customer service attitude

 Attitude is the key to success
 Attitude is your mental position on facts - or more
simply,
the way you view things
 How Do I Deal With
Difficult
Customers?
 Five points  your attitude affects
about attitude: everyone who comes in
 your attitude towards contact with you
customers influences  tone and body
your behaviour. You language
cannot always reflect your attitude
camouflage how you
 your attitude is not
feel
fixed. The attitude you
 your attitude choose to display is up
determines the level of to YOU
job satisfaction
 How Do I Deal With
Difficult
Customers?
 Remind yourself!  Reinforce this by
 This is my job and saying…
I’m going to do it  “I like the job, not
professionally because it’s easy, not
 If it were not for because there are no
these customers I difficult people, not
would not have a job because there are no
 Every time I solve a frustrations but because
problem I will feel people are part of any
better job and I can make
things easier by taking
things professionally
 Summar
y
 Be positive
 Take things professionally and not personally
 Aim for customer satisfaction, not just service
 Solve problems without blaming yourself or
others
 Remember attitudes are caught, not taught