10.1.1 Some facts about customers
Research by Lovelock (1994), Gerson (1992) and Morgan (1989) suggests that:
- Only 4% of customers ever complain, some simply suffer in silence, while most simply go elsewhere
- It is 6 times more expensive to find a new customer than to keep the current one.
- People stop dealing with a particular business because:
- 1% die
- 3% move away
- 5% seek alternatives or develop other business interests
- 9% begin doing business with the competition
- 14% are dissatisfied with the product or service
- 68% are dissatisfied with the treatment they receive
- Between 54-70 % who complain will nevertheless continue to be customers if their complaint is resolved to their satisfaction
- Happy customers or ones that have their complaints resolved will tell three to five people.
- One study revealed that one unhappy customer told eleven other people, who in turn told 5 other people (a negative word on chain of 1+11+55 = 67 people).
The above points indicate that as a service provider you need to ask some key questions.
If only 4% of customers complain, is this good for business? What does this mean for my organisation?
Why don't customers complain?
Who does complain and when?
What do I do about complaints? What does my organisation do about complaints? Do we "follow through".
What should I (and the organisation) do to elicit further information from customers who otherwise may not have passed on their dissatisfaction?
If only 4% of dissatisfied customers complain, clearly this means that you should be constantly aware of how to obtain feedback from the "silent" group. We will cover this in a separate section of this chapter.
Each happy customer will tell other people. It's simply human nature. Think about the last time you received poor service. How many people did you tell? When you last received good service, how many people did your tell? Probably it is more likely that you told more people, with enthusiasm , about the poor service.
By the end of this chapter you should clearly recognise the importance of feedback when it comes to improving service. I am now very conscious about letting service providers know that I am pleased with their service. I hope that such feedback "makes their day".
Viewing a complaint as an opportunity is a positive attempt to handle the situation. Seeing complaints in this manner is not always easy. View your customer as providing you with the opportunity to put things right. This includes your relationship with your internal customer also.
The basis for the following was a similar experience by this writer:
- A customer contacts the customer service section of a large international courier, asking where her packages are. The packages should have arrived on the previous Friday. It is now the following Tuesday morning. The reason that the packages are late is because of a clerical oversight. The packages were not marked "Air courier-urgent" and the material has been sitting in a container, rather than going by an express airmail service.
The following conversation occurs:
Customer service operator: (answering the telephone) Customer service.
Caller: Good morning, my name is Jane Watson. I am calling from Tasmania . I am attempting to locate several boxes that should have arrived last Friday. The package is very important which is why we used an international courier service. We needed them to be here no later that last Friday.
CSO: Company name.
Caller: Er ... my company or the company that was sending the packages to me?
CSO: Your company name.
Caller: Australian Maritime College.
CSO: Address.
Caller: Newnham Drive , Launceston , Tasmania , 7250.
CSO: What's the consignment note number?
Caller: I'm sorry, I don't know. I did not ask the company to supply me with the consignment note number.
CSO: That's how we track things. Have you called the company? They might be able to tell you what went wrong .
Caller: Yes, I have. They had the goods ready to courier last Tuesday and your company collected the packages from them on that day, so they have passed into your hands. That is why I am contacting you. The delivery is under your control now .
CSO: Hold the line while I check the computer. [The tone of voice by this time suggests "I am putting up with this customer" ...]
After a period the CSO, comes back ...
CSO: Ah, yes, I see the problem. The packages were not marked overnight. They'll be in some container on the way or sitting at the Melbourne depot.
After a period of silence ...
Caller: Right, well, where do we go from here? We desperately required those goods last Friday. We are going to disappoint a number of our customers and it will cost us in terms of reputation and financial loss.
CSO: Ahh...What do you want me to do? I can t get them out of the container. [The tone is getting snappier by now.]
Caller: Please, could you be more specific about when they will arrive. At least then, I can offer my customers some sort of explanation and reassurance as to when they will be able to expect them?
CSO: Hmm. Hold the line. I'll try to find out.
After being put on hold for what seems like ages ...
CSO: We can get the package to you by Thursday.
Caller: We have several delivery times and some of my customers are going to want something more definite ... ?
CSO: No, I can't. That's the best I can do. I can't help you any more than that.
What was done well and what was done poorly? You will be able to think through how this could have been handled much more effectively and efficiently? How would you have wished to be treated in such situation? How would you "recover"?
Back Page