1. Look at complaints as opportunities Customer complaints are never easy to deal with. When you’ve put your heart and soul into establishing and running your business, it’s easy to take negative feedback personally. Many of us regard negative comments as criticism of our efforts; however, if you can get over this and start looking at complaints differently, you’ll be halfway towards turning them into sales. To look at complaints more objectively, try to think about it from the customer’s point of view. The client only sees things from the outside and isn’t aware of your internal procedures or what goes on behind the scenes. If you can start to change your attitude towards complaints, your business will benefit in many ways. You’ll start to:
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Uncover issues you didnt know existed
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Resolve problems which could be frustrating other customers
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Convince customers not to go elsewhere
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Gain an insight into which other products/services your customers want
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Turn unhappy customers into happy ones who are prepared to recommend you to others.
2. Make it easy for customers to complain There are three main reasons why customers don’t register complaints; they think it’s not worth their time, they don’t know who to complain to, or they don’t think complaining will help. Making it easy for customers to complain will enable you to gather the valuable information you need to start turning complaints into sales. To minimise customers’ frustration, you need to make the following information clear on your website, or at other key contact points:
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How customers can get in touch with you
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Where and how they can make a complaint
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Who is responsible for dealing with complaints
Create a customer complaints policy to ensure any complaints you receive are dealt with efficiently. It’s important to think about the different types of complaints; they can come in a variety of forms, including letters, email, face to face and phone calls and social media.
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