It is said within the restaurant industry, guests visit a restaurant for the food but they return for the customer service. With this being said, it is baffling that there are thousands of businesses who lack great customer service. Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of being in business if your customers don’t feel welcome or attended to or want to return? A negative ‘word of mouth’ or recommendation spreads farther and wider than a positive one.
Effective Resolution of Customer Complaints
Often times, it is not how you treat customers during a great transaction that is remembered, rather how you deal with negative customer experiences or complaints and your ability to resolve issues that arise, that ensure a customer will return to your store, restaurant or place of business and recommend you to others.
If you are visiting a restaurant and the waiter is rude, the last thing a customer wants to hear is that the waiter is your best server and no one has ever had a problem with them before.
Accept Responsibility
Accepting responsibility, an apology and a promise to address the issue, goes a long way towards ensuring your customer feels valued and appreciated and will make them want to return. Complaints dealt with effectively lead to improved service, better training for employees, higher retention of staff and repeat customers.
There are several ways to rectify bad customer service, apart from ensuring it doesn’t happen in the first place. The most vital asset to any business is their customers. Without them, there is no business and no revenue or wages coming in.
When you first open a new business, you strive to be the best in the business and provide exceptional customer service. As time goes by, it is often overlooked or taken for granted when the routine has set in and people become complacent with the day to day functioning of the business or as the business expands.
It is more profitable for a company to retain customers than to acquire new ones.
Did you know that 80% of your sales usually come from 20% of your customers? It is repeat customers who are paying your wages and keeping your business open.
Small business owners need to think BIG and Big Businesses need to think Small. This is a concept that can improve customer service for all businesses, from ‘mom & pop’ type of establishments to large corporations. Customer Service should be paramount regardless of the size of the company. Large businesses invest in sophisticated technology and database programs or call centers to handle customer complaints and inquiries, yet it is often the front line staff that customers would prefer to receive resolution from. If you have a bad experience in a store, you want it rectified immediately; you don’t want to wait till you get home to lodge a complaint at a call center.
Stores and businesses today are so big the sales staff may not even know you are in the store or may have a problem. Customer loyalty disappears as customers slip away to shop elsewhere or online rather than flag down a sales associate to lodge a complaint.
One of the best ways of keeping customer satisfaction in check is to include customer surveys on the receipt. While not all customers will take the time to complete the survey, many do and are not afraid to be honest in their opinions of their experience at your establishment. If you include an incentive for that same customer to return, a discount off their next visit, customers are more likely to fill in the survey and return regardless of their experience because they feel valued and heard.
You cannot fix the problem if you don’t know it exists.
While complaints may be aggravating to business owners who are working long hours for little reward, they should be welcomed as a means of improving your business and service.
Don’t always assume you know what the customer wants. Sometimes an apology will suffice, other times it may be necessary to offer a refund or exchange for a product or for a restaurant to purchase a meal on behalf of the customer. All customers are different but they all have a common need to be acknowledged, valued and respected.
5 Key Points
- Acknowledge there is a problem
- Take Responsibility for it
- Apologize
- Address the issue
- Feedback & follow-up with the Customer if possible
I do believe in karma, what goes around comes around. I have seen so many businesses that have treated me poorly or exhibited bad customer service who have gone out of business months or years later.
I travelled on a domestic airline when I first arrived in the USA. My international flight had been delayed, I had allowed over 3 hours transit time, yet despite my best efforts, the connecting flight left me with mere minutes to catch the last flight of the day. The ground staff saw me running out of breath with a heavy suitcase and was about to close the doors. They could clearly see me coming and knew I was trying to catch that flight, even after explaining I had travelled 15 hours and my delay was due to an international connecting flight, they were unsympathetic to my tale. Reluctantly they agreed to let me board the plane but were extremely rude in the process.
I travelled several times after this and refused to fly with this airline. I flew with another airline who was extremely courteous and helpful and I recommended the second airline to everyone I met. Two years later, the first airline went out of business and all of the ground crew who were rude and unhelpful to me lost their jobs.
I had a similar experience when I visited a fine dining restaurant one winter and wore a new warm expensive designer-made leather jacket. I was told in no uncertain terms I had the wrong venue and I should leave. They looked me up and down and were clearly disapproving of my jacket (which was quite acceptable attire in other cities and towns I had worn it to previously) looking at me like I was going to rob the place. It wasn’t until my friends arrived, that the staff agreed to let me in. My tip that evening was as abysmal as the reception I had received. I have been known to tip up to 30% for excellent food and service before. It was very much to their loss and detriment. I never returned and told my tale to anyone who asked me about the restaurant. Three years later, this very restaurant went out of business and closed its doors. The very staff that refused to serve me was out of a job.
I do believe how you treat others whether you are in business or not, does come back to you. Businesses have a lot more to lose than customers if they do not treat people with respect. They can lose their whole livelihoods.
Similarly I have heard of customers who have won the lotto and left hundred or thousand dollar tips at diners and restaurants around the country who have consistently provided them with great customer service. It does happen.
With the internet and social media networking, businesses cannot afford to have bad exposure online from disgruntled customers destroying their reputation. Deal with complaints, don’t ignore them.
Great customer service doesn’t cost much, but goes a very long way to ensuring your customers are happy, your customers recommend you to others and your business survives.
Kathy Duff - Published Writer, Photographer, Award Winning Songwriter, Artist & Designer... learning to be my best self and helping others with the ...
