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Conventional wisdom holds that there are 25 to 50 customers with problems for every one who actually complains, making every complaint actually received only the tip of a very large iceberg. Assuming that every dissatisfied customer tells 20 others, you may well be turning away 500 to 1,000 customers for every one complaint that you are aware of. You read this correctly: For every one dissatisfied customer you know about, you could be losing over 500 potential customers. Can you afford those numbers? I didnt think so.
It gets even worse: Over half of the customers who contact your customer service department never report their most serious problems. Why? Because they believe that voicing their complaints wont do any good. Welcome to the age of trained helplessness, where customers no longer even give you a chance to rectify a problem. The damage is still being done, but business owners are becoming less and less aware of it.
What are customers unhappy about? The bulk of their complaints are increasingly focusing on so-called standard operating procedures such as endless sales and marketing pitches. The never-ending barrage has trained customers to stop complaining and accept these situations as part of the status quo. Dont believe me? When is the last time you enjoyed a good meal and adequate personal space aboard an airliner? My guess is that you maintained a stoic silence and took comfort from the fact that you landed safely. Do you ever have customers standing in line or otherwise waiting for assistance? If so, consider hiring more staff. The added cost of paying these employees will probably more than pay for itself in happy customers.
Heres a really depressing statistic: For every complaint about your standard business practices that you are aware of, there could be 30 to 50 unhappy people out there. Multiply that by 20 and youve got 600 to 1,000 people who may be less likely to do business with you. The implication is clear: More than a few businesses are quite literally their own worst enemies. Think about these numbers versus the effort that must be expended to make one new person aware of your company and lead them to buying from you and youll see that your worst competitors best efforts cant hold a candle to the damage you might be doing yourself.
The most shocking part about these numbers is that they are, if anything, conservative. Research has uncovered ratios as high as 2,000 unhappy customers for every known complaint! Wow.
Had enough bad news? I hope so, because the good news is that these numbers represent an amazingly potent opportunity for your business to differentiate itself from the herd with little more than innovation, dedication, and an extremely reasonable investment.
Got a standard business practice or policy that might be irking some customers? Read my column Re-serve Your Rights. Email me Anthony@coachanthony.com and Ill be pleased to send you a copy.
Here are some very easy ways to buck the growing trend of trained helplessness and put the opportunity this phenomenon represents to work for your company:
- Train your employees to check in with your customers by asking questions like Are you happy with your experience here today?
- If a customer complains about one of your standard policies or procedures, be prepared to explain the rationale behind it.
- Listen for thinly veiled complaints such as I was standing in line forever or Customer Service never called me back. Comments like this will often get inserted into a conversation and are easily overlooked if youre not listening for them.
- The moment you receive a complaint, be sure to listen to what your customer has to say and ask them what you can do to make things right. You will be amazed at how trifling the fix usually is. Asking the customer how you can solve the problem empowers the customer, shows them that you genuinely care, and will usually cost less than any offer you might make.
- Make sure customers know that you take their satisfaction seriously. Solicit complaints and feedback in as many ways as possible. Tell your customers that you can only solve the problems you know about.
- Jump on, follow up with, and resolve every single complaint you get, no matter how petty it might seem.
Is doing all this easy, or is it easy? Many businesses today are looking for ways to cut their customer service to the bone and beyond. Bless those foolish, short-sighted penny pinchers, for they have created a tremendous opportunity for you.
Many (if not most) complaints surrounding standard practices focus around marketing. In my next article, Ill show you why this represents a double opportunity for your business.
It gets even worse: Over half of the customers who contact your customer service department never report their most serious problems. Why? Because they believe that voicing their complaints wont do any good. Welcome to the age of trained helplessness, where customers no longer even give you a chance to rectify a problem. The damage is still being done, but business owners are becoming less and less aware of it.
What are customers unhappy about? The bulk of their complaints are increasingly focusing on so-called standard operating procedures such as endless sales and marketing pitches. The never-ending barrage has trained customers to stop complaining and accept these situations as part of the status quo. Dont believe me? When is the last time you enjoyed a good meal and adequate personal space aboard an airliner? My guess is that you maintained a stoic silence and took comfort from the fact that you landed safely. Do you ever have customers standing in line or otherwise waiting for assistance? If so, consider hiring more staff. The added cost of paying these employees will probably more than pay for itself in happy customers.
Heres a really depressing statistic: For every complaint about your standard business practices that you are aware of, there could be 30 to 50 unhappy people out there. Multiply that by 20 and youve got 600 to 1,000 people who may be less likely to do business with you. The implication is clear: More than a few businesses are quite literally their own worst enemies. Think about these numbers versus the effort that must be expended to make one new person aware of your company and lead them to buying from you and youll see that your worst competitors best efforts cant hold a candle to the damage you might be doing yourself.
The most shocking part about these numbers is that they are, if anything, conservative. Research has uncovered ratios as high as 2,000 unhappy customers for every known complaint! Wow.
Had enough bad news? I hope so, because the good news is that these numbers represent an amazingly potent opportunity for your business to differentiate itself from the herd with little more than innovation, dedication, and an extremely reasonable investment.
Got a standard business practice or policy that might be irking some customers? Read my column Re-serve Your Rights. Email me Anthony@coachanthony.com and Ill be pleased to send you a copy.
Here are some very easy ways to buck the growing trend of trained helplessness and put the opportunity this phenomenon represents to work for your company:
- Train your employees to check in with your customers by asking questions like Are you happy with your experience here today?
- If a customer complains about one of your standard policies or procedures, be prepared to explain the rationale behind it.
- Listen for thinly veiled complaints such as I was standing in line forever or Customer Service never called me back. Comments like this will often get inserted into a conversation and are easily overlooked if youre not listening for them.
- The moment you receive a complaint, be sure to listen to what your customer has to say and ask them what you can do to make things right. You will be amazed at how trifling the fix usually is. Asking the customer how you can solve the problem empowers the customer, shows them that you genuinely care, and will usually cost less than any offer you might make.
- Make sure customers know that you take their satisfaction seriously. Solicit complaints and feedback in as many ways as possible. Tell your customers that you can only solve the problems you know about.
- Jump on, follow up with, and resolve every single complaint you get, no matter how petty it might seem.
Is doing all this easy, or is it easy? Many businesses today are looking for ways to cut their customer service to the bone and beyond. Bless those foolish, short-sighted penny pinchers, for they have created a tremendous opportunity for you.
Many (if not most) complaints surrounding standard practices focus around marketing. In my next article, Ill show you why this represents a double opportunity for your business.