Getting complaints about your services and products means that people care enough about you to complain. So, instead of getting frustrated, design an effective customer complaint management system and turn those negative feedbacks into positive.

If you are a business owner, there will always be people who are complaining about your services and products. That’s just how the world works. It’s not possible to make everyone happy. Of course, nobody wants to hear negative feedbacks. But as a business owner, you need to change your perception and start to see those complaints as a sign that people do care about you. Once you do that, you have to figure out how to turn those complaints into positive feedbacks so you can gain a lot of loyal customers. What you need is to design an effective customer complaint system. Here is why and how.

Why getting complaints is good?

Until the day the time travel is possible, time will remain as the most important irreversible asset of our life. Nobody really wants to waste it. If you encounter a customer who is complaining about your brand, it means that they still have hope. Because most customers don’t complain, they just leave and you never hear from them. So, if you hear a customer complaint, you shouldn’t get angry or frustrated. You should understand that you have a customer who needs to be persuaded and turned into a happy and loyal one.

Solving one complaint may save more

There is more to this. Almost no complaint is unique. If one customer has a certain negative feedback about your brand, it’s very likely that there are many others who are not happy either but don’t bother to take action. They are about to just leave. So, solving one complaint can save you more than one customer. Moreover, keeping those customers means that they won’t be going to your competitors.

Complaints may actually save you money

Companies invest a good amount of money in research and development (R&D) to find better ways to make profit. Feedbacks from people, no matter they are positive or negative, are very valuable information. And it’s free! Based on the current complaints about your products and services, you can make better decisions about which areas of your business to develop and expand. By doing so, you can optimize your R&D budget easily.

What does a good customer complaint management system look like?

A good and effective customer complaint management system has certain characteristics such as following:

1. It always starts with effective monitoring and listening

To be able to build an effective customer complaint management system, you need the best data possible. If you don’t know what people are complaining about, you can’t build a good strategy. So, you need to use a tool for social media monitoring and social media listening.

2. Better you listen, more you hear

Now that you know social media monitoring is an absolute essential, it might be wise to choose a tool that’s complex and professional enough. A tool that doesn’t force you to track the complaints manually and that informs you automatically about them will save you time and money in the long run.

3. Allows you to act as soon as possible

The tools that alarm you automatically don’t only prevent you from missing out some of the complaints, but they also allow you to act as fast as possible. We’re living in a digital age where everything happens so fast. You have to react to those complaints before your customer loses hope and switches to your competitor.

4. Allows you to choose the channel you engage with the customer

A good customer complaint management system allows you to choose amongst different channels when it comes to interacting with the customer. Some complaints are better solved privately over live chat. The others are better to be solved in front of public. If your system gives you plenty of options on this, you’re on the right track.

5. Allows you to delegate between team members

You will receive complaints no matter it’s your working hours or not. Most companies hire more than one person to handle customer services and these people work on shifts. An effective customer complaint management system allows the supervisor to delegate and assign complaints to the other team members.

Step-by-step Guide to A Good Customer Complaint Management System

Now that you know what type of tool you need to design an effective customer complaint management system, here is how to do it:

1. Listening is not enough. You need to understand.

People don’t always mean what they say. Especially on a public domain like social media. When you receive a complaint, try to make a sense out of it. What is the real problem that your customer is complaining about? Find the true answer to this and you’re halfway through gaining a loyal customer.

2. Don’t hesitate to apologize

If the customer is right about their complaint, apologize. If they are wrong, apologize too, this time for how they felt. Say you’re sorry that they had that problem. Ask your grandfather who owned a very little store in the corner back in 70’s, he’ll tell you that customer is always right. Nothing has changed on that area. After you say you’re sorry, tell them you’re willing to turn this negative experience into a positive one.

3. Fix their problem

Making promises is not enough, you have to deliver. You actually have to solve your customers’ problem. No apologizes or sweet words will make them happy if at the end of the conversation they end up with a broken product and no promises of refund, repayment or replacement.

4. Give away some gifts

Even if their problem is solved, your customers spent their precious time. Acknowledge this and tell them you do. Of course, you can’t give their time back, but a little discount or a small gift will make them so happy that they will almost be glad they had this negative experience. They will remember this engagement positively and remain loyal to your brand.

5. Remember to check in with them afterwards

This one will make a big difference. Most companies today do listen, apologize and fix the problem but not many of them remember to check in with the customer after some time. Solving the problem might prevent you losing a customer, but establishing a bound with them is how you gain a loyal one. Make them feel reached, heard, understood and valued, and they will be advertising to their friends on behalf of you.

Looking for a tool you’d like?

One of the best available tools for customer complaint management is Monitera. It has a management center where you can carry out your brand's social customer relations management (Social CRM) functions in a practical and secure manner.

You can request a demo and see if Monitera is the right tool for you and your company.