The New Rules Of Customer Complaints Management

Companies in the business of dealing with people know how important customer complaints management is – after all, there are very few companies that do not interact with customers on some level; even if there is no direct interaction.

The rules have changed a lot over the past few years, and they are changing even more just about each and every month. What worked in the early part of the 2000s will not work in 2013 – consumers have a far greater soapbox now for one thing, and the way that we communicate in general has also changed greatly.

Customer Complaints in the Era of Technology

What exactly are the ‘new rules’ that need to be considered for our current era, and what should companies be doing to adhere to best practices on complaints management? Here are some important things to keep in mind…

• Customers are no longer limited to posted letters, limited email and telephone calls. Now, they have all of those channels, as well as personal blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, consumer feedback websites, forums AND word of mouth. Worse still, feedback posted online that mentions your company will show up in internet search results when people are searching for your business online.

• Customers are more likely to report on a bad experience than a good one. What this means is that even though the past 150 customers who have purchased your wildly popular gizmo via your snazzy online store are thrilled, not all of them will be shouting your praise to the world. The one or two customers who were not too happy about that gizmo (or your store, or even your delivery process) are another story. Those are the ones who will tell everyone they can just how terrible your company, products and store are – often, on multiple channels for good measure.

• Customers can not only become happy again, they can even become your number one fans. This is however, provided that you deal with their complaints properly. Complaints should not be seen as a bad thing for starters – this is a chance to improve your services and goods for the better. For another thing, the way that problems are addressed makes a lot more difference than the actual issue in many cases. In order to effectively address the complaint, you first need to catch it early, escalate it properly and route it to the right person though.

As you can see, the rules continue to change pretty much all the time. What doesn’t change however is the fact that response time and reaction are both vital when it comes to making a bad situation into a good one.

Automating the complaints process with a good software tool is one way to improve your overall systems. You may also want to think about other tools such as competency testing for employees who deal directly with customers. Product reviews and preventative measures such as customer surveys, and also making sure that customers can easily air their views should be top of mind too.

At the end of the day you see, it is far easier to handle a small upset soon after it happens, than risk dealing with the public relations disasters that can (and do) happen overnight when customer complaints are left unchecked. Quite an easy choice really when you think about it that way.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source

Christopher Stainow is actively involved in the streamlining of business quality processes and procedures through the use of quality management tools & document control software. Learn more at lennoxhill.co.uk.

 

 

Ways to Show You Appreciate Your Customers

Your business successes are the result of your own hard work, to be sure. But, you could not have built your business without the support of your customers.

Suppose you are already doing your part in your day-to-day business interactions with customers. You give them excellent service by proving that you are willing to make time for them. They feel important, knowing that you value their business. A customer who feels overlooked, rushed or senses that you would rather be doing something other than helping them is not likely to be among your loyal return customers. So, you treat all of your customers with respect, giving them the personal attention they need while they purchase your product or service.

However, your responsibility to your customers does not end with the completion of a business transaction. All individuals enjoy having their contributions acknowledged, and they will favor those who express awareness of their efforts. Recognizing how someone has supported your business and showing them that you appreciate them is crucial to your continued success. With the holidays fast approaching, your company has the opportunity to make a lasting, positive impression on your customers.

Here are a few simple ways to show your customers that you care about them:

1. Give away materials with your company logo on them. Customers always love receiving free items. Order selections of small promotional materials such as pens, calendars and notepads. These materials are often inexpensive and will help to build your customers’ loyalty to you. You will also benefit from the added visibility to new potential customers.
2. Send personalized holiday cards to your customers. Several companies offer attractive and professional designs that tell your customers you appreciate them. Sign the cards, or better yet, write a small note expressing your gratitude for their business. Customers will recognize the effort you put into mailing them the card, and they will be pleased that their loyalty is noticed and appreciated.

Do not limit your appreciations to the holidays. You may also want to send a card on other occasions to show your customers that they truly are important to you.

1.  Offer special discounts to your customers. Sending a coupon or promotion along with a short note telling them you are grateful for their business is a great way to acknowledge your customers while simultaneously giving them an incentive to return.
2.   Following up with your customers by sending them a personalized letter or e-mail after a transaction is complete is the best time to show your appreciation. Your customer will see no underlying motive for the letter other than you want to show your appreciation to them. A simple note or acknowledgement of their contribution to your business will certainly catch their attention and set you apart from other, more impersonal businesses.
3. If you have the time or resources and it makes financial sense based on the dollar amount of products or services you offer, a brief “thank-you” phone call to your customers is very effective, especially directly following a transaction. The world of business has become very impersonal in many ways, so a human voice, even if heard merely in a voicemail or answering machine is very effective. In fact, some very successful companies hire customer service reps who have the single task of following up and thanking their customers. They also use this time to briefly survey each customer to find out how the company can improve.

Your customers are the lifeblood of your business. You must first earn their support by providing great initial service. But, do not make the mistake of passing by the chance to tell your customers that you appreciate them. Take the time to communicate with those who have supported you and reward their business with a personal note, phone call or gift. Your efforts to recognize them will be noticed, and they will be much more likely to return and recommend your business to others.

Mikkie Mills is a Chicago native and mother of two.  She occasionally blogs about DIY crafts and business. Show your customers you care through gifts by Vistaprint products.  Connect with her on Google + or on Twitter (@DollarHacks).

 

 

6 Ways to Better Motivate Your Employees

 

As an employer it can sometimes feel like you are fighting an uphill battle to get your employees motivated. But employees are the driving force of any company, so you will not get much done with employees who do not pull their weight. Whether you find it a struggle to motivate your employees on a daily basis, or you are simply looking for ways to increase productivity, here are some suggestions that could help you out.

Reward Programs

Nothing motivates people like a reward. Whether it is something monetary, such as a bonus or raise, or something else, such as a paid vacation, a gift basket etc. if your employees know what they will receive as a result of their work, they are more likely to work harder. Additionally, it is always motivating to know that your hard work is appreciated and will be rewarded.

Friendly Competition

Workplace competitions can get everyone excited and motivated to do better work. The most important thing to remember however, is that it should not be a competition with high stakes and a professional reward (such as a promotion). You do not want to create tension in your workplace, and damaging the atmosphere of the workplace can cause damage to overall productivity.

Mission Statements and Goals

It helps employees to know what exactly they are working for. If your company does not have a mission statement or motto, create one. This will not only help people to understand the vision of your company, but it will also give them something to work towards. Once you have a broad vision in mind, create smaller, short term goals together with your employees that can help you to fulfill the mission.

Give Them Time Off

This goes along with rewards, in that it is a way to show employees that they are appreciated. But time off is unique in that it gives people time away from work to refresh and recharge their batteries. If they get the chance to do this, they will come back to work more motivated and enthusiastic.

Get-togethers outside of Work

Another good idea is to have events outside of work that will allow people to get to know each other outside of the office. Whether it is a paid-for dinner, party, or something else, it is also a good way to reward employees for productivity. Holding such events allows people to get to know each other better, creating an all around better work environment, which often increases productivity.

Get to Know Them On a Personal Level

It is incredibly hard to motivate people that you do not even know. Likewise, it is hard for employees to motivate themselves if they only see you as a distant boss. Get to know your employees and their personalities. Everyone is different, and they will be motivated in different ways, so get to know who they are and what makes them tick. It also helps if you can give them personal praise every once in awhile.

About the Author: Robert Cordray is a freelance writer and expert in business and finances. He has received many accolades for his work in teaching employee rewards programs.

 

Attorney Offers Tips for Safeguarding Your Wealth in 2013

Litigation is America’s fastest growing business because plaintiffs have everything to gain and nothing but a few hours’ time to lose, says Hillel Presser, author of “Financial Self-Defense (Revised Edition),” http://www.assetprotectionattorneys.com.
“Even if a case seems utterly ridiculous — like the man who struck and killed a teenager with his luxury car and then sued the boy’s family for damage to his bumper — defendants are encouraged to settle. It’s sometimes the only way to avoid potentially astronomical legal fees,” he says.
If you haven’t already taken steps to protect your assets, that’s one New Year’s resolution you’ll be glad you made and followed up on, Presser says. And while it helps to have the assistance of a lawyer who specializes in asset protection, there are many things you can do yourself.
“You shouldn’t have any non-exempt assets in your name,” Presser says. “The goal is to ‘own’ nothing but control everything.”
Presser suggests these resolutions for safeguarding your wealth in the event of a lawsuit:
• Inventory your wealth. Figure out how much assets you really have (most people have more than they think). Take stock of valuable domain names, telephone numbers, intellectual property, potential inheritances, and other liquid and non-liquid assets. That way you can then work on actions to cost effectively keep them safe.
• Set your goal. Setting your 2013 asset protection goal is your first step to becoming protected in the New Year! For instance, you could plan to execute an estate plan or set up a trust for your children in 2013. Decide what assets you want to protect in the New Year and a realistic timeline for implementation. Then — and most importantly — stick to your plan. Asset protection works only if you follow through.
• Protect your home. Find out how much of your home is protected by your state’s homestead laws and then encumber the remaining equity. Encumbering a home’s equity can be accomplished by recording a mortgage against it, re-financing a current mortgage or even taking out a lien of credit using your home as collateral! Another great strategy to protect your home is to transfer its title to a protective entity such as a limited liability company (LLC), trust, limited partnership, etc.
• Get everything out of your name. The worst thing you can do as far as exposure is titling all of your assets to your personal name. That doesn’t mean you have to lose control of them – the goal of asset protection is to “own nothing, but control everything.” In 2013, work on moving your assets out of your personal name and into the name of protective entities such as limited liability companies (LLC’s), trusts, limited partnerships, etc.
• Buy adequate insurance. Protect your loved ones. Make sure you have adequate insurance coverage in the event a job loss, natural disaster, or even a tragic loss of life. Those include — but are not limited to — your car, home, and other valuables.
About Hillel L. Presser, Esq., MBA
Hillel L. Presser’s law firm, The Presser Law Firm, P.A., represents individuals and businesses in establishing comprehensive asset protection plans. He is a graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Management and Nova Southeastern University’s law school, and serves on Nova’s President’s Advisory Council. He also serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations for his professional athlete clients. He is a former adjunct faculty member for law at Lynn University. Complimentary copies of his best-selling book, “Financial Self-Defense (Revised Edition)” are available through assetprotectionattorneys.com.

 

Standard Partitions or Glass Wall Panels in the Office?

There have been hundreds of studies done by psychologists and business strategists in order to find out how they can optimise office space/decor with productivity in the staff. A small but significant part of the atmosphere created in an office comes down to the partitions by which it is divided.

 Listed below are the advantages of using wooden boards and glass screens as office partitions with regards to working environment and employee productivity.

 

Standard Partitions  

• There is a defined area in which staff can call their own.
• If the material is made out of chip board or a thick cloth, staff can spruce up their work space by pinning personal items on there. This gives them an identity rather than just another username and login number.
• You’re less exposed and, when you need to, can get your head down and finish by those important deadlines.
• There are far less distractions around the staff that will sway them from their tasks.
• There is also more privacy for those days when you just want to be left alone and not get involved in other activities around you.

 

Glass Panels

• Firstly, glass panels give a more open-plan feel to the office, making staff feel less stuffy and enclosed.
• They can lead to a brighter working area, ensuring any tired eyes early in the morning can properly wake up.
• There can be a more social vibe to the office which can lead to better working relationships, although this comes with the caveat that staff may socialise too much!
• There is a sense of belonging in that staff may feel more involved on tasks which they may not necessarily be assigned to, but are aware of its presence. Stops any feeling of isolation.
• Finally, the glass wall panels look stylish. A vibrant, interesting and modern office helps to perk up the spirits of its staff, even if it’s just a little.

Research has suggested that office design greatly influences productivity. For example the colour scheme of an office can dictate the mood of staff i.e. reds make staff more tense and alert whereas blues make them feel calmer and more serene.

If there is less interaction between staff, through standard partitions dividing the office, then productivity will increase. However, motivation and job satisfaction tends to decrease which, in the long run, is bad for productivity.

 If there are glass partitions, coupled with a more open plan office design, then there will be more interaction between staff for problem solving and an emphasis on team work. Of course, this could lead to the staff having more social conversations rather than work problem solving.

If you work in an office with either of these partitions, feel free to comment below to share your thoughts on how productivity is affected by it!

James Duval is an IT Support Manager during the day and an Applied Workplace blogger in his spare time.

 

 

The Dynamics Of Customer Relationship Management

The customer relationship management system is the most updated and highly rated system mostly used for strategy formulation in marketing. This dynamic system of marketing and business deals with mutual relationship with customers and clients and is compactly titled as the automated CRM system. It is a widely spread tactic and the most reputable procedure for reducing the cost of a product placed within the market. This system of customer relationship management provokes and stimulates the factors or indicators of satisfaction and increased profits in favor of customers and clients across the globe as well as within the market place. CRM system allows for development of strong relationships within the business world and market.

Portions of dynamical aspects of CRM system:

The portions and areas of CRM which deals with the dynamics of marketing and skills are as follows:

• The system of marketing is the most consistent and delicate of areas in the customer relationship management system.
• The most non constant and variable aspect of the market lies within the interaction with customers and clients.
• Appointments should be made after consideration of analytical dexterity for business. It aids in the removal of obstacles and hindrances present in the way of marketing and enactment of business strategies.

Basically a system of marketing is all dynamic in nature. It keeps on changing due to the introduction of constantly changing trends in the area of workplace, products, loss and profit.

Scenario of marketing relationships:

The CRM system is the most helpful of tools for the purpose of identifying and subsequently targeting the skills and points that are prevalent in the market and its various businesses. Generation of conducive and effective marketing skills leads to an escalation in the potency of the whole venture and eventually, spawns great reforms in both the mobile and static aspects of business strategies that are to be. The scenario of marketing relationships should be dynamic. They should be based upon responses of a marketing client that should entail the procession of the intrinsic principles and concepts found in the CRM system. Marketing revenue for customers should also be dynamic in nature and should reflect the best deals for a client and customer. This strategy creates an active track which allows for the proceedings and workings of a sales process to remain neutral when embedded in the CRM system. Ability for holding and supporting the services of customers is composed of a most unique mixture or blend of cooperation and mutual binding forces. Appointments in a CRM system are focused and centralized courses of action that are based solely on the consumers of a market. The advertised product and the projects of static market should be integrated in the most appropriate and effective of manners before bringing it forward onto the platform of the global market. Segmentation, legal campaigns and targeting should affect the dynamics of an analytic CRM system. This will reflect the quality and high performance of a business and skills of marketing and assist in designing the iconic elements of operation and components of a market with all dynamic systems and terms completely accounted for.

Robert Green works for one of the leading CRM agencies in Europe and is an expert in online and offline CRM systems (interesting to know is that the Spanish term is CRM sistema).

 

How Writing a Book can Help Your Business and Other Vampires

Some of the most prolific books written today are paranormal romances. There are thousands of them, all trying to be the next Twilight. There are other vampires also, those that haunt the Internet and pop up regularly, like bar girls who steal or kidneys or how sending a chain letter to Bill Gates will make you rich. One of those vampires is the one about business ebooks. According to many experts, if you write an ebook for your business customers will beat a path to your door. Let’s hope that they are not there for your kidneys!

Nobody may to ready your business ebook. Have you ever read one? Did you download it before that long airplane ride to have something to read on the trip? There were 200,000 books published in 2011. According to Fast Company, the following were the best selling business books of 2012:

1. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain

2. How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon

3. Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours, by Robert Pozen

4. The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail–but Some Don’t, by Nate Silver

5. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, by Brené Brown

6. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg

7. Renegades Write the Rules: How the Digital Royalty Use Social Media to Innovate, by Amy Jo Martin

8. Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck: What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur and Build a Great Business, by Anthony K. Tjan, Richard J. Harrington, Tsun-Yan Hsieh

9. The Click Moment: Seizing Opportunity in an Unpredictable World, by Frans Johansson

10. Wait: The Art and Science of Delay, by Frank Partnoy

11. The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

12. 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era, by Nilofer Merchant

How many of these have you read? Do your customers read them? What products did you buy because you read one of these books?

Writing a book is about telling the world a story and why it is important. You write because you have a story to tell and because you love to write. You write to entertain your readers.

Your story about your business and what it took to start it and how you keep it going may become a bestseller. But, not if you write it, or have a cheap ghostwriter hack it out to help visitors to your website buy new lawn furniture. But, if the lawn furniture is haunted and the garden gnomes are wise gurus of life in the suburbs, then maybe people will read it.

The Staples Easy Button is a great marketing idea. The story about how it was created, and how American pop culture seized on it might very well make a great chapter in a business book about advertising. If you can write that story, then write it and promote that book on your web site.

Writing a bad, throw-away ebook to sell your business may do more harm than good. Vampires are like that. The writing quality, story quality, format quality, and grammar quality of the book reflect your business.

Write your business book because you have to write it and are willing to spend the months and months needed to write, edit, rewrite, package, and promote the book as something more than your business, not to just sell lawn furniture. The gnomes know when you are faking it. Just remember that.

About Mike Macartney

Mike Macartney is the publisher at Shoot Your Eye out Publishing. SYEO Publishing is a new book publishing company for writers who wish to publish their work today, in a very different publishing world than was the case even a few years ago. You can follow the world of books and publishing at SYEO on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shoot-Your-Eye-Out-Publishing/164919843554977

 

How to Handle Customer Complaints Before They Go Viral

With social media and the internet making it easier than ever to voice customer complaints, is your company doing what it can to prevent a potential PR disaster? Every day on Facebook and Twitter, people are discussing brands. Sadly, studies show that customers are more likely to share a negative experience than a positive one, and in the case of today’s customer relations, this could be potentially fatal.

It takes just one bad experience for a reaction to be triggered. It could be a bad quality product, a rude sales person or even an issue with delivery. With the high level of smartphone usage throughout the world, that unhappy customer could be on Facebook before they have even left the premises. A status takes just seconds to post, and once it is on the web, it is almost impossible to prevent a potential viral nightmare.

The Dangers of Unanswered Customer Complaints

Now imagine that this unhappy customer who has vented their outrage at your company’s poor service gets replies from other people that they follow, each of whom also has something bad to say. That post could get shared on someone’s blog, or it may get shared on other people’s statuses too. They may even have voiced their complaint on your official Facebook page.

There are two ways that this situation could go at this point.

1. Your company could answer promptly, and deal with the issue directly before it gets any worse.
2. Your company could ignore the complaint, and wait to see if things eventually settle down.

What if this whole disaster could have been prevented in the first place though? With a good customer complaints system in place, the issue could even have been dealt with before the customer walked away from the sales floor where the issue took place.

How to Get it Right and Reap the Re
wards

What customer complaints management is all about is getting the process right BEFORE things get too big to control. Your customers keep you in business, and without them, you would not be in business at all. Happy customers mean better business, and of course, the opposite is true too.

Having complaints is not always an entirely bad thing either – this is how you improve your operations, staff training, products and overall business. It is how you deal with those complaints that predict whether you are a business who gets it right, or one who misses out on opportunity to improve reputation and build better relations.

Investing in customer complaints management software may seem like an added expense, but at the end of the day, you are investing in the very people who support your business. This can never be anything but valuable.

Christopher Stainow is Chief Executive of Lennox Hill; creators of isoTracker Quality Management System & hosted Document Control Software ensuring the quality of your business processes and documentation to assist in business efficiency.

 

 

Instagram loses users in photo rights backlash

Published: 9:15AM Sunday January 13, 2013 Source: ONE News

Instagram backtracks on some changes

Photo-sharing application Instagram has lost nearly half its daily users in a month after publishing updated terms and conditions which said it would have the right to sell users’ photos without notifying them.

Following an instant backlash among social media users, Instagram quickly backtracked on its earlier statement, saying that sweeping changes was not what it intended.

Instagram, which was purchased by Facebook for US$700 million in cash and shares last April, added that it was not their intention “to sell your photos”.

But the damage was already done, with many users’ threatening to quit using application.

And it appears they have stuck to it – new figures reveal Instagram’s active daily users – the highest frequency user group – has dropped to 8.42 million this week, from 16.35 million on December 17, the day the controversial news broke, the New York Post reported.

The statistics were compiled by AppStats, which measures app usage by tracking users who are logged into Instagram via Facebook.

AppStats CEO Sebastian Sujka told The New York Post: “The main loss will be most likely due to the terms of service changes, given how much attention and controversy the terms of service change has brought, and seeing how clearly the Instagram app dropped after the terms of service change.”

Facebook has described the findings as “inaccurate”.

“We continue to see strong and steady growth in both registered and active users of Instagram,” Facebook said in a statement.

It appears that some changes to the application will still take place on January 16.

 

 

Customer Resolution: How to Complain and Get What You Want

As a consumer, you have the right to expect quality products and services. When that doesn’t happen, you also have the right to pursue corrective action. Doing so does not mean you have to come off as angry or abrasive, and you should keep in mind that the company in question owes you no more than to resolve your issue. And sometimes, they may not even have a legal obligation to do that.

That said you will have a better chance at a positive outcome if you calmly and rationally approach the situation. Remember, often the person with whom you are dealing is simply representing the company—the problems you may have experienced with the product or service is very likely not his fault, nor is it within his control. However, as your first contact, he can be a gateway to getting what you want. Treat that person with the respect you would expect if you were in his shoes.

Here are a few pointers on how to effectively complain and hopefully get the outcome you seek:

Think about the best way to express your complaint.
There are a few avenues you may take in doing this. You can choose to write a traditional letter, contact the company by telephone, email the company or contact them through their website.

Before contacting anyone, prepare your complaint.
Decide how best to articulate your issue with the product or service, tell your story and detail what kind of resolution you are seeking, i.e. replacement, a refund, etc. Be ready before you make contact. That way, by the time to actually reach a company representative, you have taken your anger out of the equation and will not be having a knee-jerk reaction.

Be reasonable.
You may have an idea of what you would like to get out of the complaint process. The customer service representative may not share your idea. Be open to listening to what he has to say. If it is a reasonable resolution to your problem, accept it. Meeting in the middle may actually be a fair compromise, especially in situation where the company in question has no legal obligation to meet your demands.

What if your complaint is ignored?
Decide how important it is to further pursue action. Is there a higher authority within the company to whom you can take your complaint? If you feel strongly that you have been wronged, there are a number of online consumer blogs on which you can express your dissatisfaction. Another avenue you may wish to consider is Twitter. Many companies have Twitter accounts dedicated to customer support. They sometimes go above and beyond to help angry customers who have tweeted their problems.

If, after you have given it a reasonable effort, your complaint remains unresolved, it will be time to decide whether or not it is really worth the time and frustration you had devoted to it. If you feel you’ve been grievously wronged or injured, it may be time to see legal advice to understand your rights. If you have gone in circles and see no resolution in sight, decide if continuing to fight the battle is worth it. Sometimes letting go is your best option. Speak with your business—in this case, take it elsewhere and tell everyone you know to do the same.

Charlie Adams is a tech guru working as a consultant for telecommunications companies in the Las Vegas area. Charlie is an outspoken advocate of grammar checkers and often encourages associates and employees to instantly proof their work to ensure quality writing. He also is an advocate of taking his Nissan on long drives through the Nevada desert.