It is every company’s worst nightmare: unhappy customers who tell everyone how poor their experience with you was. Not only do you lose their business, but you lose the potential business of the people they have spoken to. It is the butterfly effect in the worst possible way.
Recently VTSL’s CEO, Rob Walton, spoke in Birmingham at a Lloyds Commercial Banking event on exactly this topic. VTSL, a technology company specialising in VoIP business phone systems and hosted communications, was a turn-around customer of Lloyds Bank. Having been dissatisfied initially, the bank made the effort to restore the relationship and keep VTSL as a commercial banking customer. It worked, and VTSL not only stayed with Lloyds, but now happily recommends their services.
At the event, Mr. Walton explained that VTSL itself has had similar experiences over the years, with unhappy VoIP business phone system customers becoming advocates of the hosted communications company. “Every single unhappy customer should be treated as an opportunity,” Walton said. “No business is going to deliver perfect products and services all the time, but being able to turn a dissatisfied customer into one that will actually recommend you has the ability to make a big difference to a business’s bottom line.”
How do you do this? Here are 5 ways Mr. Walton suggests any business can transform a disgruntled customer into a happy one:
Listen
“Our Relationship Manager at Lloyds listened to us when we said we weren’t happy. We felt like he heard and understood our issues. If that hadn’t happened, VTSL would have left Lloyds,” explains Walton.
Apologise
Getting an apology matters. The words, ‘I’m sorry’ can have a dramatic impact when trying to rectify a wrong. So after you have listened carefully to the complaint, make sure you respond with an empathetic apology.
Rectify issues
In addition to apologising, make sure you outline how you are going to fix the immediate problem, and how you are going to prevent it from happening in the future.
Provide concessions
Often, giving something to the customer will be the thing that changes the tide from actively disliking your company, to actively liking it. It could be a gift, a free month of service, a year of an add-on product at no charge, etc, but it needs to represent something of value given for free demonstrating to the customer that you care.
Create a personal relationship
What is more important than price point or amazing service? It is a personal relationship. If you are in an industry where you are able to foster personal relationships through account management, ensure you put your best account managers on the more sensitive accounts.
One important thing to bear in mind when you are dealing with an unhappy customer is whether their experience is a one-off due to unusual circumstances, or whether there is a systematic problem that needs addressing. The steps above are difficult to implement accross a large number of unhappy people, particularly regarding a reoccuring issue. Check to see if others have had the same complaint, or do a customer survey for macro-level insights.
For more information on Lloyds Commercial Banking please visit their website. And for more information on hosted communications or VoIP business phone systems in the UK & Ireland, see www.vtsl.net.
About VTSL
VTSL is a hosted communications company with nearly 10 years of experience in providing sophisticated VoIP business phone systems to SMEs across London, the UK & Ireland. VTSL’s unique technology, private infrastructure and second-to-none support are just some of the reasons businesses chose VTSL for office phone systems and unified communications over other providers. To find out if VTSL can help your business, send an email to info@vtsl.net today.
