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Common Customer Complaints and How to Fix Them

Omni-Channel Customer Engagement Article

Common Customer Complaints and How to Fix Them

 
January 18, 2016

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  By Michelle Amodio, TMCnet Contributor

Running a business that offers a product or service is going to yield some customer complaints. There are zero businesses in existence with a perfect customer experience track record, however, keeping complaints to a minimum is a good goal to have. In fact, there are some common complaints that are easily avoided if you know what measures to take, and the customer engagement experts at Aspect (News - Alert) Software have some insight to share with the rest of us on this matter.


It’s common knowledge that bad customer service will cost you; according to NewVoiceMedia (News - Alert), research suggests that poor customer service is costly to the tune of $41B per year. Eighty-nine percent have moved to other companies at least once in the last year due to poor customer service. Those are some staggering statistics. How can companies reduce those numbers? The answer is simple: tackle the most common customer complaints and fix them immediately.

According to research from eGain via Forrester (News - Alert), the most common pitfalls in customer service departments are obtaining different answers from different agents, when an agent is not knowledgeable in the customer’s specific issue, and not being able to find answers on a company’s website. These three complaints are easily remedied and can reduce customer frustration if the service department is properly armed.

For example, businesses can avoid giving different answers to problems by keeping good notes. If a customer calls into a contact center with a specific issue and calls back again, all agents on deck should keep proper records of the call using some kind of software solution. Take notes on all customer inquiries and interactions whenever possible. Share feedback with your supervisor so products and customer experiences can be improved upon, and so all of the information is streamlined and neither the customer nor agent are misinformed.

You can also avoid frustrating your customers by keeping your agents educated and trained. If a customer calls in with an issue, the last thing they want to hear is that the person on the other end of the call has no idea how to service them. Training that specifically targets areas of efficiency, competency, and customer service are essential. If a customer’s need is beyond the ability of an agent to handle, the agent needs to be trained to know how to use the system to escalate the issue or which department or person is most appropriate.

Maintaining an updated website can also mitigate customer complaints. These days, the savvy customer will likely to go the self-service route, either by way of website FAQs or community message boards, so when a customer must pick up the phone for assistance, they’re already frustrated before the call has even had a chance to begin. Having an easy-to-use website with information that is easily accessible will minimize calls of frustration entering the customer service center.

Honor your customers. You’d be surprised to learn that some business owners do not properly value customer relationships. Make the customer, no matter who she is, feel like they’re your number one priority, and you can do so by fixing the more common customer service complaints. Your customers will thank you in the long run.



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