Bearing with customers can be, at times, like walking through a valley full of thorns. This has been proven to be even more challenging during the Coronavirus period. During these trials, it’s important to know how you can successfully communicate with your customers. Empathy over the years has been a well-known helpful element that can be used to reduce tense occasions or solve customers’ problems altogether.
That’s why in this article we’ll be covering five major issues that lead to customer complaints and how they can be solved. This way, we’ll be highlighting the importance of good communication to every successful company and how poor communication can ruin customer relationships. So, grab a seat because, by the time you’re done reading, you’ll be informed with great ideas that’ll solve related communication problems.
1. Poor Resolution Hurts Customer Reviews
It’s important to have an organizational guide who can direct every case of a customer with an issue. It’s also beneficial for a company to have a general manual for customer service agents to refer to in case of situations where customers can be hard to reason with.
Relative to this, before proceeding the agent needs to identify the problem at hand and then implement rules from the manual. Every agent should learn this aspect of helping customers through good communication because this way, a customer will be calmer and more cooperative.
2. Customer Data Mismanagement Breeds Complaints
Customers find it best if the organization can access their previous transactional history and personal details. Studies have shown that the standard to which a customer’s data can be used by the company to give a quick solution is directly correlated with how customers perceive their experience with your company.
Relative to this, not gathering customer information as well as not using gathered information correctly can be damaging to how clients view your company’s help. Ensure that you’re asking the necessary questions and using information gathered accordingly to provide maximum support.
3. Scripted Communication Leading to Customer Complaints
Customers value originality and hate heavily scripted services. Many organizations, however, stray into using scripted messages in communicating with clients. Partially, it’s used because it’s easier for organizations to respond to many customer complaints within a short period. It’s also used because organizations rarely trust their employees’ decisions in solving customers’ problems. That’s why they give them scripted messages to send to clients.
Concerning this, as a company, you need to trust your employees in their abilities and in their desire to be of assistance to both the company and customers. Furthermore, you need to motivate them and inspire them to trust in themselves and to be creative.
4. Unprofessionalism Driving Customer Complaints at Costco
Costco, a popular retailer known for low prices and bulk products, has been criticized for its lack of professionalism in customer service. Customers have reported long wait times, unhelpful staff, poor communication, and a strict return policy. Costco’s focus on efficiency and cost-saving measures may come at the expense of providing top-notch customer service.
How a customer service employee approaches a customer, and their attitude towards them is very important. The quality of interaction between an agent and a customer is of great contribution to how a customer perceives your organization. Poor relation between customer service agents and clients bears many other problems like dissatisfaction which can lead to customer complaints. A bad attitude towards customers shows unprofessionalism which can create a negative image of your company to customers.
5. Resolving Complaints Demands Good Teamwork
Some of the more complicated problems are brought by a customer’s second interaction. It may occur that the customer was well-served during the first one, but once the problem escalates and they get in touch with another team member during the second experience, they get dissatisfied.
The need to explain a problem a second time or in other situations give different solutions, can dent your client’s trust and increase customer complaints. About this, ensure that your employees are united and offer an excellent experience to the clients. Every team member needs to work in coordination, supporting each other. Unify your team by inspiring them to give their best while serving clients.
Conclusion
In any organization, customer service plays an important role and it’s often ignored. Companies fail to understand that communicating with clients is more than just answering questions and solving issues. It’s more about creating a good customer experience and nurturing loyalty and long-term bonds. There’s much work ahead to be done to clear all of the above-mentioned problems and boost your chances of giving the best customer experience.
About the Author:
Christine James believes that every customer has a voice. She is the Community Manager at HissingKitty.com (a customer complaints website) and loves talking to customers on social media about their challenges with Fortune 500 companies. Her work has been published in Huffington Post, Inc., SocialMediaToday, and Thought Catalog. Follow her on Twitter.
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