Customer Complaints: Deal With Them, Don't Just Delete Them

Recently, I had a complaint with a late fee from my gym (automatic credit card processing issue), so I posted a request for assistance on their facebook page. When I went back there to check the resolution, having heard nothing from them online or in RL, I noticed that my post had been deleted. No resolution offered. Simply "poof" gone.

So, of course I reposted it. And added a handy tip about social media strategies ... but this got me to thinking.

We rarely remember moments when we've been provided efficient service, since we expect that we will be treated fairly and that most things will go well. Sad but true that we simply don't take the time to appreciate when things go right, or don't even think about it (until we get a customer satisfaction survey.)

What we remember is how we are treated – or mistreated – when things go wrong.

Meaning: Your opportunity to create a loyal customer and promoter – or an unwilling hostage and detractor (or a lost customer and detractor) – often starts when they bring you a problem to help them solve. You might even have caused this problem and all they are asking is for you to undo the damage.

Most companies seem to see complaints as issues to be resolved (and assign low-level, disempowered staff accordingly), not opportunities to reward customers for their patronage and create long-term loyalty.

Many, many years ago, we ordered a product from Home Improvements and it arrived with a chip in it. Perfectly functional, but it had a slight chip. We called them up and they said they would ship another one out immediately. We asked how we should return the chipped one and the CSR said, "Either throw it away or put it in a place where no one will see it and now you have two." (Which made sense for the item.)

I've told this story a number of times and, I expect, this simple and inexpensive act on their part has earned them at least a small handful of new customers over the years. And it cost them nothing. In fact, I expect it saved them money.

So... how do you handle complaints? Do you simply deal with them? Do you delete them? Or do you use them as rare opportunitites to show customers that you value their loyalty.

WWED? = What Would an Entrepreneur Do?

A number of month's back I wrote "WWED?" on a post-it note to help stimulate discussion with a partner at a law firm. I stuck that note to my bulletin board and find myself pointing to it day after day – as well as using it to help fuel my own decision making.

Many people use the I/U process (Important/Urgent) to help focus their time and effort (as do I), but I am not sure this helps decide what you should do. Or how you should act.

"WWED?" delivers instant clarity.

A few times, I have done nothing more than point to the post-it note to help my client get over the decision-making 'hump.'

So... What would an entrepreneur do?

I doubt there is a comprehensive list or even an action plan for decision-making entrepreneur-style, but I do think there are some ground rules.

1) Make decisions. Stop waiting for others to force your hand. If you need to be nagged to move forward, you are either being guilted into a bad course of action or you are not an entrepreneur.

2) Lead by example. Leave a wake, not a memo. Enough said.

3) Pick up the phone. E-mail is great for sharing details, but not for having decisive and brief discussions, providing solutions or delivering bad news (and eating crow.) Or better still, make a personal appearance.

4) Trust your people. Even if you did not choose them. And even if they are your superiors. Let them know that you don't always expect success, but you always expect sweat, urgency, and immediate heads-up when a problem occurs. And you expect them to learn when they fail.

5) Rise the tide. Too many people think that entrepreneurs are looking to hobble their competitors. Anyone who believes this is not an entrepreneur. So-called competitors are often the best collaborators and, even as adversaries, provide later insights you won't get if you ostracize them.

6) Find time to think. Entrepreneurs are doers, but, even more so, they are thinkers. They carve off time, close their door, walk to lunch instead of taking a cab, draw on napkins, etc. ... all to figure stuff out vs. checking stuff off.

… and the list goes on.

But the point is this:

Regardless of your role at your organization, you can create a mental box of your ownership. You can determine the part of the business you control and from which you can create value for all the boats in the lock, not just your own dingy.

That is, if this were "You LLC," how would you act? What decisions would you make? What would you stop doing?

You would never say, "It's only company money." Or blame others for your failure. Or wait for outside forces to force your hand. Or goof off on Facebook because no one is watching. Or show up at 9:00 am sharp every day since that's when your job starts. Or do value-less things because others assigned them... Etc. ... Etc.

To end:

Next time you are face with a decision, no matter how seemingly small, ask yourself, "WWED?"

What is a Promoter and how do I make more of them?

In February, I wrote a blog post entitled: Stop Networking! You Already Know Enough People. While you don't see comments here at Blogger, I continually receive notes and in-person queries, many of which are basically the following question:

"OK, so how do I monetize my 'large enough' network?"

Good question. Strike that. Great and possibly, the best question.

First of all, there are three types of people in your network:

1) Promoters and prospects

2) Time sucks

3) Friends and family

Separate your network into the three categories as above.

If they fall into category 1… keep them on the list.

If they fall into category 2… take them off your list and DO NOT SPEND ANOTHER SECOND ON THEM. You will never get that time back. This is why you have so many people on your list and, adding up the hours spent on them will only make you cry. I suggest you throw away the rear view mirror and move forward.

If they fall into category 3… take them off your networking list and put them on your holiday card/BBQ invite list.

Your list should now only have promoters on it and should be, at most, 5% of the original size.

"OK, so how do I figure out who my promoters are?"

Assess them against the three attributes, starting with the first one.

1) Access.

They hang around people who could be your clients. If they do not have access to your prospect network, they can never be promoters and will only ever be time sucks. In other words: If they are on your networking list and they do not pass the "access test" then take them off your networking list. Send them e-blasts, perhaps, but not lunch invitations.

|> I've watched a lot of football over the years, and I have never seen someone in the stands throw a receiver a touchdown pass. Nor have I seen someone in the audience get an assist for a hockey or soccer goal. <|

2) Interest.

They believe you can help their network and want to help you. You can test this by providing them with a referral or an introduction to a promoter of their own and seeing if they return the favor. If they live at the end of a cul-de-sac... take them off your list. Or, you can ask for a specific referral and see how they react. Better, though, to start by helping them and see if they pay-this-forward, even if it's not to you.

3) Understanding.

They appreciate the value you can provide to their network. Note: I did not say they understand what you do, definitely not how you do it, or why you are so special. In many cases, (cough cough...approaching 100% of all cases), the only thing that makes you special is they are willing to refer you to their clients.

Prospect: "What sets you apart from the 500 other people who seemingly do what you do?"

You: "I'm in the room with you right now and they aren't."

Odds are, there are dozens or hundreds of people who do what you do and only your mother thinks you are special. (Or at least you hope she does.) Please do not waste any time trying to explain what you do or what sets you apart. Even if they could understand, which they can't, they don't care. They only care that you can help their network. Better to tell them when you can help. ... but that's a blog post for another day.

Next up:

> Triggers and USPs

> The LinkedIn trick for finding the real promoters in your network … and what you can do to find them if you aren't using LinkedIn. (Read: You like doing things the hard, old-fashioned way.)

November Fast Five – Marketing Ideas You Might Have Missed

Here is the November Fast Five, as published in the Association for Accounting Marketing's "AAMMinute." It includes articles on "mocial" and "favicons" as well as a collection of marketing tributes to Steve Jobs.

Enjoy.

Have an unhappy client? Here's a moment of clarity.

UNHAPPY. CLIENT.

Which of these two words do you want to change?

If you don't quickly change one, the client will make the choice and he/she will almost always change the second word.

I've heard it said you should pick one, but that's both untrue and short sighted. Even if you decide not to keep them as a client, which sometimes is the right choice for the company and the client, you should try hard to not let them go away unhappy. Unhappy ex-clients are not much better than unhappy clients. Some would argue they're worse. (I won't.)

Just because they are an unhappy client, doesn't mean they are unhappy with you or believe your company provides bad products or service. They might simply be a square peg in a round hole.

Try to keep them as clients, if it makes sense. If it doesn't make sense to keep them as clients, then still try to fix whatever it is that's making them unhappy.

This way, when they go away, they won't go away mad.

While you're trying to figure out how to make that happen, you can listen to this Blondie song from Parallel Lines.

The Two Most Damaging Words at a Professional Services Firm

Let's rip the bandaid right off...

The two most damaging words for a professional services firm are:

"My client."

I've actually heard an engagement lead chastise another senior firm member for talking to 'his' client at a social event. The other person was not talking about business, she was just making polite conversation. Even had she been talking business, the lead was hurting his firm and the client by creating this wall.

Why do engagement leads want to discourage access to their clients?

This is their "book of business" (three words that are also harmful to a professional services firm) and they are worried that the other people will, somehow, damage the relationship and, ultimately, the client will leave.

There is no fear the other person will steal the client, since most firms have this part of the compensation well structured.

Playing the odds game, they fear scorched earth, which is very unlikely, and yet do not appreciate the value of having a deeper relationship that leads to more value for both sides and, likely, more sales and referrals. Crazy!

Why should the engagement lead encourage access to their clients?

The value your firm provides to clients includes creating relationships and bringing ideas beyond what the engagement lead brings to the table. Also (see above) these discussions can lead to uncovering new requirements at the client's company ... and hence more business. Call it 'greater wallet share', since the company is likely currently using other firms, possibly competitors, to service these needs.

Why should firms encourage (read: structure and compel) this access?

One word: depth. If the engagement partner gets hit by a bus, wins the lottery or is recruited by a competitive firm you have another point of contact. Also, the other person (or people, since I suggest at least three connections) will be able to see loyalty issues that a single person might miss or, let's be blunt, not bring to the firm leaders' attentions.

Two words: more business. See above.

In short:

If you hear "my client" come from an engagement lead or salesperson (for those of you at a product company), this should be a signpost that the client is being underserved and is less likely to be loyal. Meet with the engagement lead to add more service depth (I recommend creating a 3x3x3* map) at that organization.

Greater client satisfaction and increased revenue will follow.

*More on the 3x3x3 model at a later date.

Drive and 10 Easy Ways to Improve your Website

A (somewhat) Mini-Review of Drive.

Keep meaning to write a review for the book Drive - The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink, but have not yet gotten to it. So, here's a mini review:

• Raman Chadha, the Executive Director & Clinical Professor of DePaul University's Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, turned me on to it. If you knew Raman, this would be reason enough to read it.

• It uses quantitative data and studies to support its ideas, not anecdotal ideas. (It's not a another insipid business parable, thank God!) Another good reason.

• I have often thought the carrot&stick approach was either ineffective or outdated and this book provides a strong argument to that effect. Again, using studies for comparison.

• My biggest problem with carrot and stick is that it provides rewards (or rapped knuckles) at the end of the process, which is often at the end of a fiscal year. Yes, I know you can reward/punish sooner, but this is still too late for marketing and business development. "He failed, so we will ding his annual bonus." "But I want him to do better now, not feel pain at the end of the year." (Also, too many bosses let them off the hook at the end of the year or the people do not think it'll stick, so they bet on not actually having to pay for their failure.)

• A carrot or a stick provides a "cost" for action or inaction. Too many people will pay this cost. And this cost is variable, since people value money differently. What I like about Drive is that it explores this "failure payment" idea.

• My last issue with carrot & stick motivation is the amount of effort is takes to create and track that effort vs. creating and tracking the desired process and outcome.

• Drive explores just how much money motivates action. And how much people "game" the system to get the money without actually performing the desired action. Certainly not performing it in any sustainable manner. More importantly, it goes down the path of what you can (and should) do instead.

In short: if any of this makes you curious ... read Drive, the book.

Ten Easy Ways to Improve Your Website And Bring in More Customers.

Co-wrote this article with WSI. Pretty basic stuff, but that was the intended audience. I welcome any comments.