3 Things Customers Hate More than the Real Problem

When a customer interaction goes wrong, it’s an opportunity to build trust through resolution. If you make the real problem worse with any of these three things customers hate more, your relationship might just be over.

Don’t Compound Customer Complaints – Avoid These 3 Things Customers Hate More

No one wants to make a customer unhappy but dealing with customer complaints is part of business life. The good news is that most customers don’t expect your business to be perfect. In fact, according to an Aspect Customer Experience Survey, 76 percent say they view customer service as the true test of how much a business values them, and 65 percent say they “feel good” about the company when they can solve the problem on their own.

In other words, a customer complaint is an opportunity for your company to show that customer how important they really are to you. Get it right, and you’ve likely won them over for the long term and earned positive word of mouth in the process. Get it wrong – especially in these three critical areas – and you might be kissing the relationship goodbye.

The sad fact is that many businesses are getting it wrong. The same Aspect Cloud Solutions survey found that one in three consumers would rather clean a toilet than speak to someone in customer service, and three out of four would prefer options that allow them to solve product/service issues on their own.

The three things customers hate more than the problem that caused them to lodge a complaint in the first place may well be the same reasons customers say they would rather roll up their sleeves and clean the john than speak with someone in customer service.

 

3 Things Customers Hate More than What They Complained About to Begin With

Many customers who lodge complaints are already apprehensive about approaching your company and explaining what’s wrong. Many are already worried that they’re going to be stuck with whatever is unwanted or not working as expected. If your customer care compounds frustration by failing in any one of these three ways, you could be making the problem much, much worse.

1. Customers Hate Getting the Runaround

72 percent of consumers said what they hated most about interacting with customer service wasn’t the problem itself, but having to explain the problem to multiple people.

You can solve this problem by making it easy for customers to complain. Make it obvious in-store, on your website and even on your social profiles “who” they should speak to and how they can do so. The faster a customer complaint gets to the person who can resolve the problem, the better.

Try this: Draw up a map showing the route – and all the stops – where a customer complaint might come in and how it would travel to get to the point where it can actually be resolved. Eliminate as many of the points in between as possible!

2. Customers Hate Dealing with Unpleasant Reps

67 percent of consumers said that what ruined their brand experience wasn’t the problem itself, but the fact that they had to deal with someone unpleasant.

Do you rate your customer care staff based on how many cases they shuffle through in an hour or how many of those cases create happy outcomes?

Try this: Have all staff in customer-facing roles participate in role-playing exercises every month or every quarter where they act the part of an unhappy customer. Bring in a team building expert or consultant who can coach your team in how customers feel when they have to report a problem and the type of customer service rep responses or attitudes that make the problem worse.

3. Customers Hate Waiting

65 percent of consumers said it wasn’t the problem itself that damaged their relationship with a brand, but simply that it took too long to resolve the problem.

Delays can drive customer frustration to new heights and make them feel like they aren’t important to your business.

Try this: Hire a secret customer service shopper to get feedback about your issue resolution and return process. Make them start from the same “point” a customer would, in having to return to your business, look up contact information, scour your website to try to find out how to initiate a return or report a problem with a product or service. Find out where the process is most likely to break down or delays are likely to occur and shore up communications so that customers are informed by phone, text or email on a regular basis so they know a solution is on its way, and when to expect it.

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3 Reasons Why These 3 Things Customers Hate Most Matter

Analysis of a Zendesk/Dimensional Research study on marketingland.com explains very clearly why these three things customers hate most about dealing with customer service actually matters.

1. 90 percent of customers are influenced by online reviews.

Reviews – they’re everywhere! You’ll find reviews, stars and ratings everywhere you turn from online search results to social media, product pages and review sites like Yelp. Nine out of ten are influenced and only 13 percent of consumers say they would buy from a business with only 2 out of 5 stars.

2. 95 percent of consumers tell people about negative customer service experiences.

And that’s the low end. 98 percent of B2B buyers, 99 percent of Gen Xers and 100 percent of consumers with a household income of more than $150k will tell other people about a bad customer service interaction.

3. 87 percent of consumers tell people about positive customer service experiences.

When you “wow” customers with problem resolution, you win loyalty and word of mouth referrals. 87 percent of all consumers, 89 percent of B2B buyers, 95 percent of Gen Xers and 99 percent of those with incomes over $150k will tell other people about a good customer service interaction.