This document provides guidance on handling customer complaints. It discusses identifying complaints as gifts that provide opportunities to improve service and retain customers. Key steps for handling complaints include listening actively, apologizing, acknowledging the problem, explaining actions, and following up. Complaints should be addressed promptly, respectfully, and with the goal of resolving the customer's underlying needs and concerns. Service recovery aims to turn unhappy customers into advocates by remedying failures efficiently and compensating customers.

1. HANDLING CUSTOMER
COMPLAINTS

2. OBJECTIVES
At the end of this training session, you will be able to:
Identify reasons why a complaint is a gift from the
customer to the service provider
Note what to expect from customers when they make
complaints
Identify how to handle customer complaints
Learn strategies to redeem yourself when you have
failed in providing the customer the level of expected
service

3. CONTENT
What is a Complaint?
Identifying A Complaint As A Gift
Steps For Handling Customer Complaints
Service Recovery Process
Handling Difficult Customers

4. SESSION 1
What is a Complaint?

5. What is a Complaint?
“An expression of dissatisfaction made to an
organization, related to its products or
services, or the complaints-handling process
itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly
or implicitly expected”
5

6. Why do customers complain?
Their expectations have not been met!
To release their anger
To help improve the service
Because of concern for others who also use the
service
6

7. Why do customers complain?
What proportion of unhappy customers complain?
Generally 9% to 37% of unhappy customers make complaints
to the firms.
The rest never bother to complain
Why don’t unhappy customers complain?
They think it is not worth the time or effort.
They further think that no one would be concerned about
their problem or solve it.
They do not know where to go or what to do.
Each happy customer will tell at least six other people

8. Most common complaints...
Wrong information
Poor customer service attitude
Overpricing
Lack of adequate information
Delays
Unresponsiveness of service
providers
….
……

9. The customer is not always right
but...
The customer is always the customer and this means simply
that solving the problem is often more important than who
is right.
If you can solve their problem without blaming yourself or
others,
you will reduce stress,
everyone will feel better and
you will be on your way to attaining CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION

10. SESSION 2
Identifying a Complaint as a Gift

11. Is a complaint a gift? Why?
Complaints are gift packages waiting to be
opened because they:
Are given freely
Are not solicited by the recipient organization
Are unexpected…they come as a surprise (usually)
Hold the key to happiness for the recipient
organization
If they are well handled
11

12. Is a complaint a gift? Why?
A complaint gives you:
Free direct communication from the customer about
service failures, competitors offerings etc. without the
added cost of conducting a survey
Readily available market research: they define what
customers want
12

13. Is a complaint a gift? Why?
A complaint gives you the opportunity to:
Increase customer trust
Build long term relationships-
customers will use your services again if they believe
complaints are welcomed and addressed
Rectify service failures
Engage customers as advocates

14. Is a complaint a gift? Why?
If a customer is complaining, you are being given a
chance to retain that customer
14

15. The customer’s needs when they
complain
The customer has 2 separate needs when complaining-
needs relating to the complaint
needs as individuals and
Example 1
Complaint – the product is not working as expected
Underlying message – I don’t understand the new technology, I need help
Example 2
Complaint- I was disappointed with the service during my last visit
Underlying message – I am testing the value you place on my loyalty to your
business
15

16. The customer’s needs when they
complain
Needs relating to the complaint
To have their concern dealt with quickly, fairly and properly
To be given what they have been denied and perhaps an apology
To have action taken to rectify a problem or address a concern-
a resultant process change
Needs as individuals
To be heard
To be understood
To be respected
16

17. When the customer’s need is
met…
You automatically Engage your Customer
as your Advocate!
Who is your advocate???
A person who publicly supports or
recommends you
Someone who speaks, or argues in your
favor
17

18. SESSION 3
Steps for Handling Customer
Complaints

19. How to Handle Customer Complaints
How do you react to customer complaints about the way
you do your work?
Especially when you think you are doing your best???
People react to customer complaints in different ways…
Some
Ignore complaints
Become defensive
Become angry or annoyed
Are concerned about the loss of trade or the damage to their
professional reputation
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20. How to Handle Customer Complaints
For others, it is
A hindrance
They just wish the customer would go away! Or
They do not believe some or all of what the customer
is complaining about.
These reactions are as a result of blame being
attributed to us or our organization.

21. How to Handle Customer
Complaints
In making complaints, some customers portray the following
characteristics
Lack of gracious social skills to communicate properly
Nervousness
Harshness
Very Emotional
Lack understanding of you or your organization’s limitations
Rudeness
Unreasonableness
We need to learn to expect such behaviour and remember
however that a complaint is evidence that, in the customer’s
view, we have not met their expectations.
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22. How to Handle Customer
Complaints
Listen Remember not to take it
Repeat personally
Apologise Remain calm
Acknowledge Focus on the problem
Explain action and not person
Thank Turn unhappy people into
happy customers
Follow up

23. How to Handle Customer Complaints
Address customers by name
All communication should be in the first person.
Use “I am sorry” not “we”
Don’t make excuses or blame others in your organization
Give the customer your full attention and establish eye
contact
Paraphrase their complaint in your own words to
determine whether you have correctly understood the
situation.

24. How to Handle Customer Complaints
If you don’t know the answer to their problem, don’t
lie.
Call back when you say you will, even if for some
reason, you haven’t been able to obtain a satisfactory
answer by then
Make the customer part of the solution
not part of the problem

25. How to handle customer complaints
Don’t be defensive
Be composed at all times
Don’t take criticisms personally
Offer an apology even if the disservice is not your fault
Show empathy by using such phrases as: “I can understand
how you feel”, “I appreciate what you’re saying.”

26. How to Handle Customer Complaints
Tell them what you can do…not what you can’t do
Find out what it will take to turn their dissatisfaction into
satisfaction
If they agree to that solution, act quickly before they
change their mind
Follow up
And remember: You can never win an argument with a
customer

27. Steps for handling complaints
At the organization’s level, there is the need for a complaint handling system which
will involve the following steps as a minimum:
Acknowledge It is important that you acknowledge the receipt of all
receipt of the complaints, verbal or written. Preferably allocate a complaint reference
complaint number and provide the customer with a contact point for further
correspondence.
Accurately record Make sure that your recorded version of the complaint matches exactly
complaint what the customer said. Also make sure that the complaint record is
information and accessible by any branch of the organization that the customer may
make it accessible
contact.
Attach The company should attempt to resolve complaints on first
timeframes for contact, but if this is not possible, then a complaint should be finalized
resolution of within a specific number of days eg. 30 days.
complaint

28. Steps for handling complaints
Customers must
be informed
As soon as you realizes that they are unable to resolve a
about any delays complaint within the given timeframe, contact the
in resolving a customer, and inform advising him/ her of the delay and set a
complaint new timeline
Make staff aware
of complaint
The complaint handling procedures should be known to all
handling employees and be part of regular training
procedures
Inform Customers
Of Complaint
Posting your complaint handling procedures on your office
Handling premises is a good way to inform customers. Also these
Procedures procedures may be incorporated in the organisation’s brochure

29. Find out what your customers really
think…
HOW?
THROUGH
Surveys,
focus groups,
mystery shopping
One complaint statistically represents 24 similar ones

30. SESSION 4
Strategies for Service Recovery

31. What is service recovery
Service recovery is how you remedy a failed service
encounter with a customer. In other words,
pull a customer from hell to heaven in the shortest
possible time.
It involves:
apologizing,
solving the problem,
compensating the customer with something of value

32. Service recovery
95% of customers who have a complaint that was
handled efficiently and promptly will not only
continue to do business but will become even
more loyal (Wharton Business School)
So how do you make amends or appease the
customer?
Through
product replacements,
good will gifts,
free of charge services, etc…

33. Some important statistics
Only 4% of dissatisfied customers complain. 96% leave
without any communication to the business
Of the 96% who leave, 91% will never return
A typical dissatisfied customer will tell 8 to 10 people
about the issues with your business
1 in 5 dissatisfied customers will tell 20 people about the
issues with your business
It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one
negative incident
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34. Some important statistics
7 out of 10 complaining customers will do business with
again you if you resolve the complaint in their favour
Of complaining customers, 95% will do business with you
again if you resolve the complaint at the first contact
On average, a satisfied complainer will tell 5 people about
their problem and how it was solved
It costs 6 times more to attract new customers than it
does to retain current ones
Customer loyalty is worth 10 times the price of a single
purchase “How to win and Keep Customers” – Michael LeBoeuf
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35. SESSION 5
Handling Difficult Customers

36. Handling Difficult Customers
Who is a difficult customer?
How do you handle such people?

37. Types of Difficult Customers
Angry Sarcastic
Nasty Argumentative
Demanding
Critical
Non-stop Talker
Indecisive

38. Why Are They Difficult?
They are often expressing They are difficult for their
a need but chose an own reasons –
appropriate and impolite not because of you
way to communicate this
need

39. Common Reasons For Being Difficult
tired or frustrated don’t understand
confused or in bad mood
overwhelmed in a hurry
defending their ego other reasons…..
unfamiliar with situation
feel ignored
under influence of drink
or drugs

40. How Do I Deal With Difficult
Customers?
“this job would be very good if it weren’t for the
difficult people I have to deal with everyday”
Approach them professionally and not
personally
Taking things personally can damage your professional
reputation
Listen for the signals that you are taking things
personally

41. How Do I Deal With Difficult
Customers?
Check you customer service attitude
Attitude is the key to success
Attitude is your mental position on facts - or more
simply, the way you view things

42. How Do I Deal With Difficult
Customers?
Five points about your attitude affects
attitude: everyone who comes in
your attitude towards contact with you
customers influences tone and body language
your behaviour. You reflect your attitude
cannot always
your attitude is not fixed.
camouflage how you feel
The attitude you choose
your attitude determines to display is up to YOU
the level of job
satisfaction

43. How Do I Deal With Difficult
Customers?
Remind yourself! Reinforce this by saying…
This is my job and I’m “I like the job, not
going to do it because it’s easy, not
professionally because there are no
If it were not for these difficult people, not
customers I would not because there are no
have a job frustrations but because
Every time I solve a people are part of any job
problem I will feel better and I can make things
easier by taking things
professionally

44. Summary
Be positive
Take things professionally and not personally
Aim for customer satisfaction, not just service
Solve problems without blaming yourself or others
Remember attitudes are caught, not taught