Managing Complaints

Whether we like it or not complaints happen in business. No matter what policies or practices you have in place to ensure superb customer service, there will be times when you will have an upset or unsatisfied customer. How a business handles these instances are often what separate out the outstanding company from the merely satisfactory one.

Being in the business of dispute resolution theBetter Business Bureau (BBB) of Vancouver Island processes nearly 1500 customer complaints against businesses each year. In probably the majority of these complaints, communications have broken down between the business and the customer, resulting in the customer asking the BBB to help bring the matter to a resolution.

As a result we’ve become pretty good at managing disputes. The following are a few of our insights into complaint handling:

• Start with Trust. No matter what the situation if you are committed to behaving in a trustworthy, ethical manner your chances of reaching a reasonable resolution are greatly increased.
• Talk directly to the person - in person or on the telephone.
• Take it seriously.
• Deal with the problem right away.
• Establish the facts – stay focused on the issue.
• Do not allow a conversation to bring up past problems, other issues outside of the current problem.
• Ask questions to understand the other person’s perspective
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• Qualify your interpretation of the person’s perception of the issue
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• Stay cool – take a deep breath; sometimes sleep on it!
• Pursue the discussion in good faith.
• Ask for solutions.
• Try to reach a compromise
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• Consider negotiating a truce; you may have to give something “extra” to make up for the perceived problem.
• Think about the value of your time in dealing with the issue.