How to turn customer complaints into opportunities

It’s common for companies to deal with customer complaints from time to time – it’s simply part of running a business. But while every company shares this experience, what differs drastically is how these complaints are handled – and it’s safe to say some do it much better than others.

In the UK, problems and service failures cost organisations £7.3 billion per month. However, what many businesses don’t realise is that a complaint is an opportunity to really understand your customers – and you can turn this understanding into valuable changes that will help your business grow in the long term. From enhanced customer retention to data-driven decisions and a strengthened brand reputation, let’s explore the benefits of turning customer complaints into opportunities.

Why is it important to turn complaints into opportunities?

• Customer complaints help gather useful data. 63% of UK customers have had a bad experience with at least one brand in the recent past. However, every customer complaint gives you valuable data about their experience with your brand – and when pieced together, this data gives you a picture of your customer base as a whole. You can use this data to make changes and improvements grounded in real evidence, which will have a positive impact on transforming outcomes.

• Customer complaints are opportunities for building customer loyalty. With over 73% of customers stating that an easy resolution to their complaints is the thing that impacts their satisfaction with brands the most, it’s clear that investing in your complaints handling process is key to investing in customer loyalty. When a customer has a good experience and quick resolution, they’re more likely to choose your brand again – so it really pays to take complaints seriously.

• Customer complaints are opportunities to deliver good service. Rather than looking at complaints as a negative, it’s important to see a complaint as an opportunity to deliver good service. Good service takes on a number of forms depending on the situation, but this can look like fast response times, quicker resolutions and asking the right questions at the right time – as well as spotting and supporting vulnerable customers throughout their journey. Read our complete guide to complaint handling for more on this.

Now it’s time to take a look at our best practice tips for handling customer complaints and feedback – and the opportunities that each of these tips present to your business.

Best practice tip 1: Use omnichannel feedback collection systems

An omnichannel collections strategy is a holistic approach that brings together a range of communication channels to meet customers where they are most comfortable – and this strategy is equally as effective when gathering feedback. Collecting feedback from different channels makes your customers feel heard within the channel they prefer – and it means you may be more likely to gather positive feedback, too.

The opportunity: Integrate tech into complaints handling

Partnering with a name like Sigma Connected for complaints handling enables you to get complaint management powered by analytics. We integrate MI into our process to provide you with valuable customer insight – helping you anticipate market shifts and adjust your strategy on an ongoing basis.

Best practice tip 2: Ask the right questions

When a customer has a complaint, one of the most important things to do is to make them feel listened to and heard. And doing this relies on asking the right questions to get to the bottom of the problem – as well as adding value to the interaction and the customer as a whole. This is a skill in itself, and relies on having well-trained customer service teams.

The opportunity: Get inspiration

Once you get to the bottom of a problem and work towards a resolution for your customer, the journey doesn’t end there. There’s a real opportunity to treat every piece of feedback as a source of inspiration for new products and/or services that have your customer at the centre. This is why you should always look to turn customer complaints into opportunities[RF1]  and chances to better your service offering overall.

Best practice tip 3: Segment feedback by customer type

A key component of effective complaints handling is to first identify the type of customer you are dealing with. Some customers worry more about complaining, while others may be in regular contact with your customer service teams. This is an important detail for devising a complaints handling strategy – as is identifying vulnerable customers as soon as possible.

The opportunity: Refine your USP and build value

Segmenting your customers and building a picture of your broader customer base can help you refine your USP into something that really speaks to this customer base. In addition, providing excellent service across all customer types will contribute to your reputation as a business being strengthened. 

In fact, this kind of analytical and optimisation work has been found to increase customer retention by 8% on average, as well as attracting new customers. Sales rose by an average of 30% – although some businesses reported up to a 500% improvement. Either way: it’s clear that targeting pays off.

Best practice tip 4: Keep the human touch in your customer service

Making a customer feel cared for is vital for establishing a connection throughout any feedback or complaints situation – and is proven to have a positive impact on the customer experience. The human element is all about prioritising the importance of human beings in customer service – acting with empathy and providing personalised service to customers.

At Sigma Connected, we prioritise the human element to ensure the customers of all the businesses we work with have great interactions, built on helpful, empathetic advice. We can help with outsourced services, or work to train your teams in delivering the service we’re known for.

The opportunity: Create engagement opportunities

When an energy company client first introduced a chatbot into their customer service, they noticed some customers weren’t getting their queries answered – and were starting to fall through the cracks. So they enlisted Sigma Connected to help.

Very simply, we gave customers an opportunity to engage in a different way – by adding a ‘request a call back’ option to the chatbot. Over the next year, we handled an average of 1,300 calls per month from customers who would have otherwise reached a service dead end – all within 3 hours of them using the chatbot. The result? Happy, engaged customers who had a positive experience with the brand.

Best practice tip 5: Provide updates on actions and follow up complaints

Not every complaint can be solved immediately, but that doesn’t mean you should let communication slip. Customers simply want help and clarification, so responding promptly and acknowledging their situation is the most important step in handling a complaint. Then, ongoing communication to keep them updated with the progress of your solution shows them that they aren’t being forgotten about. Finally, when you have found and presented a solution, gathering feedback about their experience is key for applying learnings for future interactions.

The opportunity: Attract new customers

Once you have feedback about your customers’ complaints experiences, you can use these testimonials to build your brand’s presence and attract new customers. Customers don’t expect brands to be perfect, but they want to know that if they do have a problem, that it will be taken seriously. That’s why these real complaint experiences are valuable for sharing the human side of your brand.

Trust Sigma Connected to turn feedback into opportunities

As we’ve explored, complaints don’t have to be a huge negative for companies if they’re dealt with effectively.

After all, only 10% of business leaders feel the organisations in their own sectors are consistently excellent at meeting customers’ central needs. For the other 90%, this should be seen as an opportunity to overtake the competition, and stand out from the crowd as a business that handles complaints, the right way.

It also helps to have an expert complaints handling company by your side. At Sigma Connected, we’re all about the human-first approach in complaint management – providing a number of services to transform complaints outcomes. We can help you tackle:

• Longer than average wait times: we work to reduce the time a customer spends on hold to ensure less hang-ups happen.
• Minimising call transferring: getting your customer to the right department as soon as possible.
• Improving your omnichannel presence: ensuring your customers can get the support they need on the platform they prefer.

Above all, we work on a 1:1 basis with your business to ensure your customers get the experience they deserve – and that your team feels supported and uplifted to always deliver the best possible service, no matter the situation.

To find out more about our expertise in complaints handling, and to see how we can support you next, get in touch today.

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