Complaints, complaints, complaints!

Joel Comm just wrote a post about dealing with complaints.
While I thought his post touched on some good points, it seemed to me that it missed a few nuances to the story.
I posted a comment, which I’m also printing here.

(You can see Joel’s original post here.)

1) First and foremost, every complaint is an OPPORTUNITY in disguise. For two reasons:

a) Here you have a person who is engaging with you personally, in a conversation - at a more intimate level than just the transaction. It’s your opportunity to shine! You can show them how much you care. Anomalies and mistakes happen. Things go wrong. But HOW you deal with it is a measure of you and your business. (I recently had an experience with HP, trying to buy a power cord on their site. Sigh. The way they dealt with it showed me that they care, but: they don’t get it | they’re robots |they’re clueless | all of the above? which was sad. They could have handled it right and I would have been singing their praises to the high winds on social media!

b) When a complaint happens on a public forum (such as a blog or even more public, twitter and the like, then here’s an opportunity to show the public how YOU act. You can’t control how the complainant will behave (read:rant), but you can show the world that you’re a professional, that you care, and that you’re pursuing it as best you can toward a positive outcome. And EVERY piece of dialog is SEO, exposure and buzz.

2) Complaints come in different flavors and shapes. It’s important to identify which.

a) It could be that the user is actually trying to give you good feedback (in their eyes at least), and regardless of the tone, they’re honestly trying to be helpful or to educate you. Even if you disagree w/them, you can listen and nod.

b) It could be that something you’ve done has impacted their life. Find out what, and the extent of the impact, and what you can do about it.

c) It could be that they just want you to listen. Don’t argue! Just accept their point of view, without necessarily agreeing with it. People want to be heard.

d) It could be that they’re missing essential data and their complaint is a mix of frustration with a request for guidance. Soothe the first with a few comforting words, then address the second from your usual mentor persona. You’ll gain a fan!

Anyway, I hope this is helpful/useful.

Got a comment? (or a complaint? LOL) Please reply below.

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Mike CJ March 18th, 2009 5:21 pm :
It’s true! I did a big research project years ago for a major European car manufacturer, and we found that people who had a serious problem with their car, which was handled efficientally and professionally, actually had a higher level of satisfaction than those who had never had a problem. How bizarre is that?