How to handle customer complaints?

Customer complaints, whether coming from profitable or unprofitable customers, is something universal to all consumer businesses, which can concern any department of a firm. The better replacement for customer complaints is customer feedback, which no sane organization can ignore, in fact all organizations depend upon it to judge their own performance and to improve, simple as truth. Handling complains can become very unprofitable, and the art of handling the complains and unprofitably that comes along it is one of the basics of marketing know-how. One of world's top marketers, John Quelch, offers some guidelines "for expediting the complaint process and keeping customers happy":

• "Understand the full context. Try to understand as much as you can about the complaint. The more information you have, the easier it is to determine the root of the dissatisfaction.
• Propose a resolution. Know what would make the situation better for your customer and propose ways you can solve the problem.
• Show respect. Complaining customers are often upset. Train employees receiving complaints to be empathetic and to reframe the harsh criticism they may receive into constructive feedback."*

From this guidelines it's clear that no matter if the customer burst with anger, the employee(r) should return the rudeness not with rudeness but with smile and respect. I have seen this many times when an angry customer or person would talk rudely to my father, and how he won their hearts, forming deep, enduring relations with them. It all happens in a spur of a moment, and those few seconds are crucial. When we keep in our sub-conscious mind that context needs to be understood at all costs, our reactions would be better, making us more and more empathetic towards our customers.

(* From Management Tip of the day, DECEMBER 2, 2009.)

Another Management Tip: 4 Ways to Get Your Cold-Call Email Read

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Everyone concerned with management should subscribe to Harvard Business School's management tip of the day. Precise, effective, up to the point, and very pertinent. Read it for yourself.

4 Ways to Get Your Cold-Call Email Read

"Email is the primary mode of first contact these days. But many cold-call emails go without a reply. Whether you are reaching out about a job, a sales inquiry, or just making a networking contact, here are four ways to get the response you want:

1. Personalize it. Don't send a generic email all about yourself. Focus on what you and the recipient have in common. Mention the group you found her through on LinkedIn or something specific you know and admire about her company.
2. Demonstrate value. What do you have to offer the recipient? Be upfront about what you can give her and why she should respond.
3. Include a call to action. Tell her what it is you want her to do: email you back, reach out to set up a call, or forward your email to someone else. (Remember what Ma'm Shomial taught us? :)
4. Keep it clear. As with all email, make it clear, articulate, typo-free, and to the point."