Every company gets complaints

1. By
Maxwell Ranasinghe

2.  Case Study- Furious Customer
and the washing machine

3.  Any Product or service could fail
 Even the most admired brands have
experienced defects or short comings in their
products and services
 It could be a technological error or human
error
 What ever it is, it negatively impacts on
customer loyalty “ the dream of the marketer”

4.  If a marketer wants to retain
customers it should invest on
Service Recovery Strategies in the
same emphasis and importance
with other strategies

5. ◦ Understand the expectation of
customers
◦ Develop Customer Driven Service
Standards
◦ Let everybody knows about the Service
Standards
◦ Empower employees to take decisions
◦ Develop and establish a technique
that could handle customer
complaints

6.  The best way to find out
customer expectations is to put
you in the shoes of a customer
 All of us are customers of other
goods and services sellers
 Lets do an exercise
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7.  1. How many minutes that you expect to spend
when you go to your usual bank to deposit money
 2. When you meet with an accident and you call
insurance how quickly the assessor should arrive

a………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………

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8.  3. When you go to your usual grocery to buy
some groceries and fell short of money

a………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………..

b………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………….
 4. You complain that the washing machine
that you received after repairs gives the
same trouble within 2 days after repair.
 ………………………………………………………
…………………………………….
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9. 5. You complain that your electricity meter is
working fast ( defective)
6. You have just taken back the vehicle
from the garage that you gave it to tune
your engine. On your way back a fan
belts breaks.
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10.  Understanding( internal or external)
customer is not enough
 You have to have customer driven Service
Standards (SS)
 Customer defined SSs are designed to
translate your actions and behavior for the
expectations of customers.
 You should not allow anything to chance
and moods of your staff
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11. Specific- (time for routine jobs,
time per customer, when to bill,
packaging, how long it takes to issue an
estimate, acceptance of credit card, credit
limits, credit approvals, returning
procedure, guarantees, giving away
compliments, how long you will take to call
back a customer, how to greet and address
customers, dress code etc)
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12. Quantified-( Quickly,
soon in due course,
substantial amount, little is
not acceptable)
WITHIN 10 MINUTES, 3 DAYS,
10% , BY Rs. 200 )

13. Measurable – most of
the time, maximum
possible, try hard not
acceptable – Up to 90% of the
repairs will be done within 7
days, All customers should be
served hot food, all letters will
be delivered within 2 days

14. Service standards
should be for
Pre- Sales, With
Sales, After Sales

15.  Analyse what really customers
want how to greet and address customers,
dress that they would appreciate, time that they
would like to spend when they come to buy
goods, what packaging they like, how long they
would wait to receive a quotation/ estimate,
acceptance of credit card, credit limits, credit
approvals, delivery, returning procedure, what
kind of guarantees that they request,
compliments, how long a customer would like to
call back on a telephone inquiry,)
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16.  Have an idea of your capacity ( staff strength
and their willingness, courtesy level,
commitment, knowledge, technology,
space, your returning and guarantee policy,
dress code,, vehicles available for delivery
etc.)
 Suggest what you should do to please
customers
 Can you do what you suggest within your
current capacity ( will there be a gap?)

17.  Invest on training programs of employees
 Give special training in handling customers to
front liners
 Develop their listening and telephone skills
 Let them take quick decisions rather than
referring to many officers or divisions

18.  Once SSs are set out
◦ Publish within the company
◦ Let everybody know them very well
◦ Put into practice
◦ Monitor it
◦ Reward success
◦ Re-evaluate and upgrade
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19.  HEAR
 EMPATHISE
 APPOLOGISE
 TAKE RESPONSIBILITY ( Fix it)
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20.  Always think of the Life Time Value
 ( LTV) of a customer when complaints are
handled.
 Calculate the LTV of a person buying
groceries to the value of Rs. 10000 per
month
 Calculate the loss if a dissatisfied customer
spreads the story to 10 customers
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