Customer Complaints and Resolutions

Customer Complaints and Resolution

• Customer complaints provide opportunities to improve customer experience and prevent churn.
• No matter the industry, businesses will encounter customer complaints.
• Properly handling complaints can make or break the customer's journey.
• Preparing staff for scenarios with difficult or frustrated customers increases customer retention.

Costumer Complaints

• Customer complaints are negative feedback about a company's product, service, or support.
• Customers can submit feedback privately through surveys or emails.
• Public complaints can be made via social media, community forums, or online review sites.

Common Customer Complaints and Resolutions

Long Wait on Hold

• Average Time on Hold (ATH) is a key metric, especially for restaurants
• After about two minutes on hold, customers tend to hang up and 34% may not call back.
• Resolution: Apologize for wait times, aim for first call resolution, and consider hiring more staff to meet demand if hold times are long.

Unavailable or Out of Stock Product

• Product stockouts can lead to customer impatience and demands for updates or special orders
• Resolution: Staff should report stock issues to managers for escalation to sales and product management.
• Resolution: Assure customers the company is aware of their time-sensitive needs, encourage patience, and promise follow-up.

Repeating the Customer's Problem

• Customers dislike repeating their issues due to transfers or inattentive staff
• Resolution: Minimize customer transfers, and if a transfer is necessary, relay information internally.
• Long-term solution: Invest in help desk software for efficient service request management.

Uninterested Staff / Personnel

• Perceived lack of staff interest, regardless of the cause, can harm a business's reputation.
• Resolution: Provide above-and-beyond customer service and bend the rules if it can prevent customer churn.
• Reps should pay attention to their tone and body language.
• Management should investigate reported staff issues, provide staff opportunities to learn, and implement severe actions if problems persist.

Poor Product or Service

• Customer complaints arise when products break, food quality is substandard, or service is poor
• Sometimes customers misuse the product, or the product isn't the right fit for them
• Resolution: Educate customers on product use; for broken products, offer replacements and investigate the cause.
• For user errors, gently guide them to prevent future issues.

No First Call Resolution

• Customers expect issues to be solved during the first call.
• 67% of customer churn can be avoided if issues are resolved during initial contact.
• Resolution: Pursue a first call resolution.
• Note urgency of the case and handle time-sensitive needs immediately.
• If staff is unsure of the answer, follow up and explain the process for a faster resolution.

Lack of Follow Up

• Customers have different expectations for follow-up communication.
• Unclear response times may lead customers to think their case has been forgotten.
• Resolution: Clarify communication expectations and establish a system that balances staff workload and customer needs.
• Customer staff should be dedicated to customer needs.
• Updating too frequently will prolong solutions.

New Product or Feature Request

• Customers suggest new products or features if current offerings don't meet all needs.
• While some requests are helpful, most fulfill specific use-cases that don't apply to many
• Resolution: Direct requests to a self-service space, create a forum for product development team visibility, and engage with customers to improve products.

Categories of Guest Complaints in Hospitality

• Attitudinal: Related to staff attitude and behavior, like impoliteness or indifference.
• Unusual Complaints: External factors, such as weather or traffic.
• Food & Beverage Related: Concerning food quality or preparation.
• Service Related: Issues with the speed or correctness of service.
• Mechanical: Problems with equipment or amenities.
• Rooms Related: Concerns about the condition or features of the room.

Types of Complaining Customers

Aggressive Complainer

• Extroverted, controlling, practical, and decisive
• Avoid small talk, be direct, and offer options to make them feel in control.
• More focused on emotion than resolution, and are most difficult to please

Expressive Complainer

• Extroverted, sociable, and impulsive
• Respond to enthusiastic presentations and need to talk.
• Likely to complain openly on social media
• Respond quickly, publicly, and positively.

Passive Complainer

• Introverted, friendly, and indecisive
• Cannot be hurried, hate sales pressure, and need reassurance.
• Complain to everyone else but the actual business, depriving them of potential business.

Constructive Complainer

• Organized and critical perfectionists who can suffer from 'paralysis under analysis'
• Give plenty of detail and proof to win them over.
• Address their problem to management calmly and rationally, which makes them most beneficial.

Chronic Complainer

• Never satisfied and always find something wrong
• Must still be acknowledged, because they are repeat customers (in spite of their constant complaining) and will tell others about your helpfulness.

Customer Complaint Procedure - 7 Steps

• Provide customers with the opportunity to complain.
• Give customers full and undivided attention.
• Listen respectfully.
• Agree that a problem exists and never disagree or argue.
• Apologize.
• Resolve the complaint.
• Thank the customer for bringing the complaint to the company's attention.

10 Types of Difficult Customers and How to Handle Them

Indecisive Izzy

• Cannot make a decision, despite the amount of questions asked
• Acknowledge the indecision, identify the barrier to purchase, avoid being pushy, and offer facts and the best solution for their needs

Know-It-All Kevin

• Seems to know everything about business and is highly critical of recommendations.
• Be patient and attentive.
• Don't take anything personally, use clarifying statements, and introduce new ideas to show there's more to the product than they thought.

Aggressive Abigail

• Thinks her needs should be prioritized over others.
• Raise her voice and gets angry quickly
• Stay calm, and don't argue or respond with emotion
• Show that you understand her point of view and look for alternatives and offer solutions.

Impulsive Ivan

• Very motivated to buy, and may overlook details and have trouble concentrating.
• Be brief but specific and provide clear incentives.
• Once the customer determines what they want, act quickly and make the purchase easy for them.

Cautious Charlie

• Worried about making the right decision, vague, and asks a lot of questions
• Don't overexplain and show interest in his needs.
• Give simple and factual answers and offer real solutions to what he wants.

Talkative Tammy

• Tends to repeat herself, and may just be looking for human interaction.
• Listen carefully and paraphrase back what she says.
• Ask closed questions for a yes or no answer and narrow down what she wants.

Complaining Chad

• Amplifies the problem, if there even was one to begin with, and is hard to satisfy.
• Be attentive, and try to understand his point of view.
• Avoid excuses and give a sincere apology.

No Boundaries Nikki

• Will ignore schedule or time and expects quick answers to her many requests.
• Respond calmly and anticipate her questions.
• Set expectations and check in with her regularly.

Best Deal Barbara

• Very concerned about her budget, she'll compare prices and is often difficult to reason with
• Set clear expectations and ask for a budget range.
• Offer a list of options and highlight products at her price point.

Demanding Devin

• Knows what he wants, is entitled, and may demand something unable to be delivered.
• Be extra communicative and reassure him that you understand what he wants.
• Provide a compromise if possible and do the best you can to meet his expectations.

Complaint Resolution Guidelines

• Complaint resolution is where complaints are recognized, and the parties concerned agree on an acceptable end for the situation.

Accessibility

• Make it easy to solve issues by providing self-service options and being easy to connect with across channels to avoid more customer frustration.

Active Listening

• The best thing you can do for a dissatisfied customer is to actively listen and engage with them
• Ask clarifying questions, stay focused on their needs, and empathize with them.

Acknowledge Frustration

• Acknowledge frustration and validate feelings.
• Empathy is on of the most important customer service skills,
• Acknowledging their frustration will help them feel heard and appreciated.
• Reiterate issue for clarity and confirmation

First-Call Resolution

• Confirm understanding and approval from the customer by stating their issue back to them
• Resolve the issue. during the first call will increase customer satisfaction and reduce the load on the support team as a whole.
• Increased friction with multiple contact attempts

Plan of Action

• If unable to provide a solution on the first call, set expectations for what comes next.
• Let them know if they will hear back from the company, and how they would follow up
• What will be done in the meantime? (ex: "getting necessary information").
• Detail actions that are being taken based on their feedback (ex: "forwarding their concerns to the appropriate department").
• Provide a great experience to reduce the number of customers that may walk away upset.