D’GNOME UNDERCOVER
The real value of customer complaints
when things go wrong. It is your unique opportunity. After all, it’s your customer complaining to you. If you don’t to fix their problem your competitor will gladly oblige. And it needn’t cost you big bucks. Sure, maybe offer a credit but often it’s the gesture that counts more: they’ll remember the gift saying sorry long after they forget the monetary credit. Maybe an excavator blew a hydraulic hose: pick up a pizza on your way to fix it. Perhaps someone cocked up with a double booking? See what you can hire from a friendly competitor and throw in a six-pack of beer from the fridge to go with the apology. It’s about moving the customer experience all the way from ‘Highly pissed off’’ to “Wow!” on the satisfaction scale. It’s very simple to do, but not many people do it.
B
reakdowns and the resulting customer complaints are a reality in our industry. Frankly, they are a pain in the arse, and no one likes unhappy customers. Invariably the breakdown occurs at the customers work site, at the furthest place from the depot, at the worst possible time. You can try your best, buying the best gear and carrying out meticulous maintenance but unfortunately breakdowns are a statistical reality. From the customers perspective it’s a real disruption, regardless of whether it’s a trade customer or a DIY weekend warrior. They probably had their mind focused on the task and suddenly feel rather annoyed at their inability to finish the job. The normal hire centre mind set is to replace the gear or make amends and restore normality. But shouldn’t it be more? D’Gnome started his first job last
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- HIANZ HIRE & RENTAL 2021
century, in a mechanics garage, pushing a broom and cleaning up after the mechanic. The owner of the garage had a unique philosophy about customer complaints: A customer complaint is actually a unique opportunity to thrill them with service. They often arrive on your doorstep, steaming- at a minus 10 on the pissedoff scale and wanting retribution. The standard approach is to fix the problem and send them off on their way, feeling neutral at best. Wouldn’t it be great, reckoned the old salt, to show your true worth and send them off feeling thrilled with the service, and telling all their friends about how wonderful you are. Almost 50 years on the old buggar is still right. Customer complaints are a massive opportunity to prove your worth, to thrill the customer with service and respond exceptionally
Not surprisingly most of your staff hate dealing with angry customers. Giving your staff the authority to resolve a problem (perhaps within a monetary limit of $100) removes the hassle and makes everyone happy. Your customer’s problem gets resolved super-quickly and the staff members feels much happier cos they solved the problem. Besides, wouldn’t you rather work for a company that fronted up and addressed customer problems, rather than an organisation that begrudgingly argued about a refund. We all want to avoid breakdowns and customer complaints. We also want to keep everyone on the team happy. While a customer complaint might present itself as being unpleasant and frustrating, it’s actually a massive opportunity to prove your worth to your customer and your team. ■ D’Gnome is a undercover character, quietly operating in the hire industry and listening to what’s going on.
