Think for a moment about your company’s most valuable customers. What characteristics, put a customer on that list? The amount of revenue attributed to that customer? Ease of working with him or her?
Someone who just pays the bills and doesn’t ask for anything extra? Someone who sends you new business, gives you great reviews, and talks you up on social media?
Think for a moment about your company’s most valuable customers. What characteristics, put a customer on that list? The amount of revenue attributed to that customer? Ease of working with him or her?
Someone who just pays the bills and doesn’t ask for anything extra? Someone who sends you new business, gives you great reviews, and talks you up on social media?
There is, of course, value in each of those characteristics.
But, there’s one important area in which none of those great customers can help you: they don’t help you improve your business and make it appealing to a wider range of prospects.
Complainers Have a Message for You
Of course, some customers are just impossible to please. Some enjoy complaining. Some expect a $50 solution to a $1,000 problem. But, don’t be too quick to assume that the dissatisfied customer is simply unreasonable and write him off. Hear out those complaints and be open to what you can learn from them.
Of course, the most straightforward type of complaint has a straightforward message.
For example, a customer may say that your product didn’t last as long as he’d expected or that your representative wasn’t helpful on the telephone.
When you hear that type of complaint, it’s relatively easy and intuitive to assess the validity of the complaint and decide whether or not you need to make changes.
But, more subtle messages can be just as important. Looking Beyond the Surface of the Complaint.
If a customer pays you $100 and expects 30 hours of service from you, it’s easy to write that person off as unreasonable and move on. If three customers are similarly dissatisfied, it’s time to assess where you’re going wrong.
With that repetition, the question becomes not “is what they expect reasonably?” but “what is triggering these unrealistic expectations?”
It’s possible, of course, that you just got a run of entitled, difficult-to-please clients. But, don’t be too quick to assume they’re the problem. If multiple customers have similar unrealistic expectations, it may be time to reassess your marketing and your intake process.
Did your advertising oversell your product or service? Did the initial contact person within your organization fail to set realistic expectations?
Of course, this is just one example, but the concept holds across a wide variety of issues. So does the solution. When you’re hearing from customers with a similar complaint, stop and assess, beginning with these questions:
- Is this expectation realistic?
- If the expectation was realistic, did we fail to fulfill it?
- If we failed to fulfill it, what went wrong?
- If we didn’t fail to fulfill it, why does the customer feel dissatisfied?
- If it wasn’t realistic, what could we have done differently to set realistic expectations?
What sector of our market is likely to have similar concerns? That is just maybe one complaint you never have to hear again.