When things go wrong, it is better if customers choose to complain directly to you, rather than switching to a competitor or taking to social media to let the world know about their negative consumption experiences. This presentation discusses the 3 most common barriers stopping an unhappy customer from complaining directly to you.

1. What stops customers
complaining (to you)
@canhoto
www.anacanhoto.com
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

2. My name is Ana Canhoto.
I am a marketing
academic, teaching and
researching the role of
digital technology and
digital information on
customer management –
for instance, to develop
better customer insight, or
to improve customer
service.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

3. You wish customers had only good things to
say about your company.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

4. You wish customers had only good things to
say about your company.
But, sometimes, things will go wrong, and
customers complain.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

5. You wish customers had only good things to
say about your company.
But, sometimes, things will go wrong, and
customers complain. They talk about you
on their social media updates.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

6. You wish customers had only good things to
say about your company.
But, sometimes, things will go wrong, and
customers complain. They talk about you
on their social media updates. They write
blog posts.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

7. You wish customers had only good things to
say about your company.
But, sometimes, things will go wrong, and
customers complain. They talk about you
on their social media updates. They write
blog posts. Some even make videos.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

8. You wish customers had only good things to
say about your company.
But, sometimes, things will go wrong, and
customers complain. They talk about you
on their social media updates. They write
blog posts. Some even make videos.
And the worst part is that these comments
will stay online, influencing future
customers, long after the initial problem has
been solved.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

9. When something goes wrong, you
really want customers to complain
directly to you.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

10. When something goes wrong, you
really want customers to complain
directly to you.
So… what’s stopping them?
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

11. I am going to show you the
3 most common barriers
stopping customers from
complaining directly to you.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

12. READY?
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

13. First, put yourself in your customer’s
shoes. Your customer is frustrated
because:
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

14. First, put yourself in your customer’s
shoes. Your customer is frustrated
because:
- s/he got the wrong product,
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

15. First, put yourself in your customer’s
shoes. Your customer is frustrated
because:
- s/he got the wrong product,
- it took too long for that meal to
arrive,
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

16. First, put yourself in your customer’s
shoes. Your customer is frustrated
because:
- s/he got the wrong product,
- it took too long for that meal to
arrive,
- or that gadget broke down, already.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

17. Why would they put themselves
through the hassle of filling out a long
and complicated form, calling an
expensive number or waiting for the
relevant manager to be available?
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

18. Why would they put themselves
through the hassle of filling out a long
and complicated form, calling an
expensive number or waiting for the
relevant manager to be available?
This is the first barrier…
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

19. Complaining is
unpleasant
Dissatisfied customers will not
contact you if complaining is, frankly,
a pain.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

20. Complaining is
unpleasant
Dissatisfied customers will not
contact you if complaining is, frankly,
a pain.
So, take the first step. Reach out to
your customer.© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

21. Ask them whether they are
happy with their purchase, use
feedback cards, subscribe to a
customer feedback service,
etc…
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

22. Ask them whether they are
happy with their purchase, use
feedback cards, subscribe to a
customer feedback service,
etc…
Just make sure that you are
asking the right questions, or the
feedback received will be
useless. © Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

23. Complaining is
complicated
Customers need to have clarity about
where and how to log their complaint.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

24. Complaining is
complicated
Customers need to have clarity about
where and how to log their complaint.
So, let them know how to reach you.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

25. Have the contact details
clearly displayed in your
website, your social media
channels, and your product
packaging.
Also…
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

26. FAQs pages on your website
can be helpful and cost effective.
But they can also be very
frustrating.
Make it really easy for
customers to find the contacts to
your customer support team via
the search box in your website.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

27. Complaining is subjective
Not all consumption experiences
are the same and, so, not all
customers complain for the same
reason.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

28. Complaining is subjective
Not all consumption experiences
are the same and, so, not all
customers complain for the same
reason.
Research shows that the reason for
complaining influences how
customers complain. So, you need
to have multiple ways of capturing
complaints
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

29. Dissatisfied customers may
contact you for one of two
reasons:
• to get compensation, or
• to vent their frustration.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

30. Customers seeking
compensation prefer interactive
channels such as:
• Face-to-face
• Telephone
• Web-chats
• Or other forms of direct
interaction with you.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

31. Conversely, customers who
want to express their frustration
prefer remote channels like:
• Letters
• E-mails
• Or feedback cards.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

32. Let’s recall what we
discussed.
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015

33. These are the 3 barriers stopping
unhappy customers from complaining to
you, directly:
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015
Barrier So…
It prolongs an
unpleasant experience.
You need to take the first step.
They don’t know where
or how to reach you.
Make it super easy to find you.
Your channels do not
meet their needs or
preferences.
Provide interactive channels for
customers seeking compensation,
and remote channels for
customers wishing to vent their
frustration.

34. Want to know more?
Join the discussion at:
• www.anacanhoto.com
• @canhoto
© Ana Isabel Canhoto 2015