Top 4 Common Customer Service Complaints and How to Avoid Them

Complaints are usual in any customer service interaction. They vary from simple issues to complex matters and they are lodged by different types of customers as well. If not properly addressed, these complaints can cost you a customer which may eventually lead to serious damage to your brand.
These complaints come in various ways but they basically are easily categorized to what customers normally report. So here are top 4 common customer service complaints and our tips on how to avoid them:

#1. Dragging resolution process

Be it the IVR, being transferred from one department to another or sometimes unavailability of a customer service representative, these can totally frustrate a customer especially if they need an urgent assistance to their concern.
There are times that customers are requested to call back again for the resolution because the first contact was not successful. Customers are very mindful of their time so they want their problems solved in a quick manner.
transcosmos Tip: If it is a complex issue, have only one person attend to the problem so that the customer won’t have to explain over and over again to a new customer service rep.
Simplify the process from customer going through the IVR (lessen menus if necessary and quickly connect to a live person when customer requests a representative) to the conclusion of the issue. In case that the problem needs more time to be solved, provide the customer a working time frame and make sure that you stick to it. Give your customer support reps enough autonomy and authority to fix a problem to avoid having to escalate to a supervisor.
Try to also foresee a potential product or service issue and create solutions that will immediately resolve the problem. Make these solutions easily accessible to your customers either on your company website or on a dedicated customer service page. This will not only empower your customers but also minimize long customer queues for your agents.

#2. Incompetent and insensitive support staff

When customers contact your company for customer service, they assume that the person attending to their concerns are adept with knowledge about the product or service being reported and are caring enough to relate with. Customers usually get frustrated and have to call again for another rep because the first one was not knowledgeable to handle the issue or was just plain rude.
The lack of empathy from customer service reps are what customers hate, especially when they are made to feel dumb for calling about a trivial problem or they hurry through the process without really listening to what the customer feels.
transcosmos Tip: Invest in communication skills training and refresh your customer service team with product knowledge with quarterly coaching. We encourage you to create activities for your employees that foster customer service culture and ultimately improve their engagement with your customers.

#3. Faulty product

A huge percentage of customer complaints are about troubles encountered with the item they purchased or service they received. You may encounter irate customers at the onset because of this complaint and they may become demanding, especially if the amount they invested is quite an expensive one.
transcosmos Tip:  This complaint is normally settled with troubleshooting and repair. If you have to do it over the phone or other channels aside from personally attending to it, make sure that the process, though technical, can easily be followed by the customer. In instances that repair does not work, do apologize and commit to replace the item without any charge. Look also into creating your replacement policies more customer-centric without compromising company integrity.

#4. Customer data errors

Wrong shipping address that led to an item being delivered to a different person or customer issue not fixed in spite of countless troubleshooting just because the real problem was not properly documented are just some of what customer data errors can cause. This can lead to mistrust on the end of the customer because they will think you are not properly handling their information and creating unnecessary problems that could have been avoided.
transcosmos Tip: Make accuracy a value among your customer service teams, especially when gathering important customer information like name and shipping details, and yes even the proper documentation of previous issues. Do the necessary corrections for those errors and apologize to the customer. Since this is usually a mistake on the company’s end, it would boost your customer service quality by providing a token of apology for the inconvenience the error has caused the customer. Also be proactive about it, if you find a discrepancy in the details, advise the customer soon after and do something thoughtful like throw in a 5% discount on their next purchase. This will surely paint smiles on your customers’ faces.
Regardless of the nature of complaint, any problem faced by customer with your product or service must be attended to and addressed with utmost priority. Let your customers feel that their problem is your problem and that you would move mountains, if need be, to ensure that they are happy and satisfied doing business with you.

 

Share