Why Customer Complaints are Good For Your Business

May 5, 2006

Many new home business owners believe that customer complaints are something to be avoided, or dreaded even. but you don’t need to feel like that. If you want your home based business to have lots have happy, repeat customers, then customer complaints are something you should welcome.

Have you ever eaten a bad or mediocre meal in a restaurant and not bothered to complain to anyone? Did the waiter come round and ask if everything was ok, yet you still said no?

You won’t be the last person to do that. And I’m betting you didn’t return to that restaurant, or recommend it to your friends.

Now, would you rather this happened in your own home business, or would you prefer it if your customer told you what the problem was so that you could put it right? It would be nice if they did the latter wouldn’t it? Welcoming complaints and dealing with them quickly, is the best way to retain existing customers and gain new ones.

Trouble is, how do you encourage your customers to let you know when something is wrong, so that you are able to put it right? After all, what’s to stop them from just saying “yes”, like many of us do when a waiter asks if everything is ok?

Often it’s best to ask them as soon as you have provided the product or service, or several times, if it is an ongoing project and ask specific questions.

In the case of the restaurant, had the waiter asked more specific questions, you may have been more honest in your reply. For instance, instead of asking if everything was ok, which encourages a yes or no answer, he could have asked more specific questions, to encourage open answers. For example, how was your meal? Which part of your meal did you like most/least?

If we encourage customers to give open ended answers instead of a yes, or no, they’re more likely to see that your concern is genuine.

And if they do have a problem and you do what you can to put it right immediately - even if it means giving a refund or discount, the customer is more likely to give you another chance.

At worst, even if the customer does still tell people that you screwed up, there’s a good chance she’ll also tell them what you did to put things right. At best, you could wind up with a happy customer, and the possibility of referrals too.

[?]