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Unfortunately, the strategy of blaming policies does not work for customers because it does nothing to resolve the customer's problems. Nor does it stop customers from blaming the employees. Even if employees indicate they do not agree with the "policies" that are stopping them from satisfying customers, most customers find it difficult to separate employee behavior from company policies. The father of modern attribution theory, Fritz Heider, notes that most of us attribute blame to individuals, rather than the circumstances surrounding product or service failure. For example, if a service provider says, "I know this sounds ridiculous, but I need..." customers will think, "If it's ridiculous, then why are you enforcing it?" Complaining customers tend to blame the service provider when things go wrong, regardless of the cause or circumstances. And who likes to be on the immediate receiving end of blaming behavior, even if it is not being overtly expressed?
To consider complaints as gifts, we first have to accept the notion that customers always have a right to complain--even when we think their complaints are stupid, unreasonable, or cause inconveniences. Vermont's fishing rod and tackle producer, Orvis, Inc., puts it this way: "The customer is always right even if you damn well know he is wrong." Stew Leonard's, the supermarket chain in Connecticut, has two often cited rules carved on six-foot-high granite panels: "Rule 1: The customer is always right. Rule 2: If the customer is ever wrong, reread Rule 1." We suggest that part of the buying agreement customers make is that if they do not like what they purchased, if it does not meet their needs, if it is substandard, or if they have changed their mind, they are buying the right to say something about this.
In order for us to treat complaints as gifts, we need to achieve a complete shift in perception and attitude about the role of complaints in modern business relationships. This requires separating the message of the complaint from the emotion of being blamed, which in turn, means understanding the dynamics of disappointed people and rethinking how complaints can help us to achieve our business goals.
Complaining Customers Are Still Customers
Customers who take time to complain still have some confidence in the organization. "Customers who complain, after all, are still customers." In most cases, it is less of a hassle just to take their business to the competition, so those who do complain are showing some degree of loyalty.
Ask Raytek, Inc., if complaints are a gift. This company initiated a quality control program in 1986, three years after cutting its work force in half and eliminating unprofitable products. Many customers had complained about poor product quality, late shipping dates, and incorrect invoices. Raytek set up a system, discussed in detail later in this book, to learn something from every returned product. As a result, Raytek greatly reduced costly customer returns of its products.
Ask the Savings Bank of Manchester, Connecticut, if complaints are a gift. Customer complaints helped the bank identify the area where a concentration of fraudulent activity was taking place. As a result, criminals who were using a phony automated teller machine (ATM) station to get customers' account numbers and empty their bank accounts were arrested.
Ask Wayne-Dalton, manufacturer of doors and security grilles, if complaints are a gift. The company switched to a new packaging system after customers complained about damaged doors. The customers themselves were damaging the doors, but they were still complaining. The new, more expensive wrap reduced complaints. The big news, however, is that the new packaging system ultimately resulted in a net reduction of costs for Wayne-Dalton.
Ask QuickPark, Inc., a company that manages parking lots in several cities across the U.S., if complaints are a gift. By paying attention to customers who complained that it took too much time to process cars as they left their lots, QuickPark instituted several changes that expedited the processing of exiting cars--pleasing customers and saving QuickPark nearly $500,000 annually.
Ask Frigidaire Co. if complaints are a gift. Frigidaire adopted a form packaging system that promptly diminished customer complaints about damaged parts. Frigidaire further benefited in that the packaging system simplified packing activity tenfold and saved space in its factory.
Ask the ready-to-assemble furniture industry if complaints are a gift. By listening to customers and developing technology for quicker assembly and pre-assembly, retailers report fewer complaints from customers and, most importantly, fewer returns of merchandise.
Put Yourself In The Customer's Shoes
See complaints through the eyes of the customer and you have a better chance of viewing complaints as a gift. Imagine that whatever the customer is complaining about has just happened to you. What would you be thinking and feeling? How would you react? What would you expect from this organization? What would it take to make you happy? What response would be necessary for you to walk away from this encounter and feel good about your complaint and the company?
Are there customers who try to rip the company off? No doubt there are. But companies cannot treat all customers as if they were thieves in order to protect themselves against the few who are. It is estimated that approximately 1 to 1 1/2 percent of customers will systematically try to cheat. Most companies factor this kind of behavior in as part of the cost of doing business. And if someone does try to take advantage of the company through exaggerated claims, chances are that other customers who witness this interaction will be impressed that the service provider did not make the customer feel guilty even though he or she rightfully could have done so. This will leave these onlookers feeling more comfortable about expressing their own dissatisfactions.
An Asian airline recently conducted customer-service training for its complaint department. It hired a consultant who suggested that when a passenger takes the trouble to write an angry letter of complaint about service received, the airline should send a discount certificate for that person's next flight. The airline staff were aghast. "But people will take advantage of us. They will write complaint letters just to get the certificate."
The consultant asked the company to look at the situation from the perspective of customers who have genuine complaints. First, the general public will never know of the policy of the airline to send discount certificates, so the fear of hordes of passengers writing in on false pretexts for certificates is groundless. Second, if you send discount certificates, people are likely to use them, which means that they will become customers again. The airline then has a chance to provide good service, make it up to these passengers, and retain them as loyal customers.
The moment individuals or companies give any hint that they view complainers with suspicion, customers will fight back. Or even worse, they may go away angry and not say anything to the company but tell everyone else they know--when the company has no chance to defend itself.
Some individuals lack gracious social skills and may appear inappropriate when they complain. They get nervous and may seem harsh, angry, or even stupid. The service provider must learn to focus on the content of the complaint and not on the way the complaint is delivered. This is asking a lot of service providers, but if they can see complaints as gifts, then it really does not matter how the gifts are wrapped.
A man in Spokane, Washington, recently made the news with his complaint. Shabbily dressed, he visited his bank, cashed a check, and then asked the bank to validate his fifty-cent parking ticket. This was a service the bank provided. The teller looked him over and decided that she was not going to do this. She told the man that his particular transaction did not qualify for the free parking. The customer complained about the arbitrary decision and asked to see the teller's supervisor. The teller walked over to her supervisor, and they both looked this man up and down in a disparaging manner and again told him that the free parking would not apply to him. He then asked to withdraw all his money from the bank. It turns out he had close to a million dollars in the bank in a simple interest-bearing account! He took the money down the street to a competing bank and deposited it there. The bank, to its credit, said that after this incident it was reviewing its customer service standards.
Case Study: British Airways Caresses Its Customers
During Margaret Thatcher's term in office, the British government decided to privatize several key British companies. British Airways (BA) was identified as one to be sold publicly. In those days BA was so inefficient and had such a bad reputation for customer service that the government decided something needed to be done to enhance BA's value before the stock was available for public purchase.
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