Handling Customer Complaint at Ducamz

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Table of Contents

Background of the study
Why handle consumer complain
Handling consumer complaint
Listening to the customer
Record complaints
Works Cited

Background of the study

Many companies are not concerned with customer complaints. However, a customer’s complaint is an important tool in the success or failure of a firm (Butelli, p. 2). The firm’s management team should formulate strategies aimed at handling customer complaints more effectively. When customer complaints are well handled, it results in the development of customer loyalty in addition to reducing customer turnover. Customers’ perception towards the product, quality of services offered by a certain company determines the future of a particular company. Therefore many businesses should focus on their customers to develop a high level of customer satisfaction.

Reeher (para.1) asserts that customer complaint acts as a measure of customer dissatisfaction with a company’s services, quality, or quantity of product. The complaint can be fair, unfair, true, untrue, or painful but whatever the case the management should respond to the complaint logically and critically. Compensation in the market leads researchers to the inquiry of the consumers’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Johnston, p. 45). However, in most cases, the consumers do not voice out their complaints to the seller or the receptionist but rather they spread their dissatisfaction to other consumers and this affects the company. Complaints should be taken to the relevant staff of the company so that they can be handled appropriately. However, most consumers do not do that.

According to Johnston (p. 45), the consumer is satisfied when the experience they attain get overcomes the expectation while dissatisfaction arises when the expectation is not fulfilled by the experience. Before a consumer decides to complain at first they value the benefits they are getting from the offered good or service with the cost incurred to get that product. However, the cost and benefit are psychological as well as economical. In addition, consumers complain believing that the complaint will be acted upon immediately due to their action (Johnston para.10).

Most consumers complain to the seller or the relevant staff of the company in various ways. For example, if a company has a suggestion box, the consumer may express their dissatisfaction through writing and then dropping it in the suggestion box. This helps the staff member who handles consumer complaints as well as the management to realize the consumer’s dissatisfaction. According to (Hausknecht, p. 2), customer dissatisfaction or complaints can be noticed when the consumer complains directly to the seller. For example, when the consumer is purchasing the product or the service from the company the consumer discusses the quality of the product to the seller. Therefore in such a case, the seller should be keen on the comments made by the consumer whenever purchasing their products or service. The receptionist or the seller should answer the customer’s questions with a lot of humility and calmness as this may help to change the attitude of the consumer towards the service or the product. The consumer may be potential consumers who have heard consumer dissatisfaction from other consumers; therefore the first reception would change the attitude.

Consumer expressing their dissatisfaction verbally is the most common way of detecting consumer dissatisfaction. The consumer may make a call to the customer service office and explain their dissatisfaction. This method is of great importance to the management of the company because, through the tone of the consumer, the management team may be able to understand the intensity of the consumer’s dissatisfaction. In addition, verbal communication enables the consumer to completely express their feeling especially for those who are not able to express themselves through writing. When the consumers complain verbally, some may be angry and therefore the receptionist should handle them politely and also assure them that action towards the problem would be taken immediately. This may lower the tempers of the consumer and hence reduce consumer turnover and create consumer loyalty.

Why handle consumer complain

Consumers complain hoping for a permanent solution to their specific problem. Mostly they expect to be refunded the product or the service cost them. If they are not refunded, an action can be taken and the product is exchanged. For example, if the product is not of the quality they wanted the product is exchanged or repaired if it was damaged. In addition, some consumer requires psychological compensation which involves apologies while others need a social benefit, “preventing the cause for their dissatisfaction from occurring to other consumers” (Johnston para. 12). Although some consumers’ complaints are genuine others do it as a way of reducing stress. According to Johnston in such a case the management is not expected to take any action towards that complaint.

Some consumers may not complain at first and so they decide to stop purchasing the product or the service offered by the company. In most cases when the consumer stops purchasing, they warn other customers about the seller or the quality of the product (Hansen & Gilly, p. 7). This hurts the company because its purchases are lower and hence the levels of their profits go down as well. Other consumers take legal action and complain through third-party mostly government agencies or NGOs that help them to voice out their dissatisfaction. Upon the complaints being taken to a third party, it may cost the company or the seller more. For example, the consumer may decide to take their case to court and hence the company is also required to hire a lawyer and this may affect the economic status of the company or the seller.

Firms’ management teams should handle consumers’ complain because if they are not handled, the firm’s performance may be affected. Therefore to maintain consumer loyalty leads to growth and expansion of the business. Consumer loyalty is where the consumer does not use a product from another company or does not purchase services offered by other companies but only gets or purchases from the same company throughout. When consumer expectations are met or the solution to a specific problem is solved the consumer may remain loyal to the product or service. In addition, if the consumer was new, he or she may choose to be a potential and a loyal consumer of the product or service. The consumer may also choose to purchase the other products or services offered by the company. For example, if the consumer purchases a specific product or service from a certain company they may choose to purchase the other products offered by that company that the consumer needs.

Therefore when consumer complaints are handled, the management can maintain its consumers (Hansen & Gilly, p. 7). In addition, it is also a way of attracting many consumers to purchase the product or service. An increase in sales leads to an increase in profits and hence the expansion of the business. Consumer loyalty helps to change the image of the business in society because the consumers talk positively about their products or services.

When consumer complaints are not handled the consumer may decide not to purchase the product or service. Then the consumer may choose to purchase another product or service. This leads to a decline in the sales of a company. Moreover, when the consumers complain is not handled within a certain period the unsatisfied consumer may give their negative views to their friends, and hence if the friends take the information negatively they may opt to use another product or service. This affects the economic status of the company which would mostly be influenced by the negative image or perception of the company’s product or services to society.

The complaint is an opportunity to the seller or the company (Johnson, p. 34). This is because complaints act as a quality control indicator about a product. It helps the seller to identify the real problems that are experienced by their consumers. Complaints help the management to learn consumer needs. Those consumers in most cases present the views of other consumers. However, when the consumer complaints are handled well a relationship is created between the consumers and the company. In addition, consumer complaints aid the management team to investigate other ways of developing other products and services.

Handling consumer complaint

According to the research consumer complaints should be handled for a business to succeed in the market. Butelli (p. 3) asserts that for a business to handle the consumer complaint effectively it should first decide on a strategy or policy of receiving consumer complaints. Secondly, it should set an effective system of solving consumer complaints. On the other hand, the organization should train its employees on how to handle their consumers as well as the complaints. The company should also learn how to act on the complaints immediately after they receive them. In addition, the process of making complaints should be easy and efficient. After the complaints are received they should be recorded and the management should review these records regularly.

Listening to the customer

In an organization, Reeher (Para 9) suggests that to be able to effectively handle consumer complain then consumers should be listened to. This will encourage the consumers to voice out their dissatisfaction to the responsible parties rather than taking it to third parties or discouraging their friends from purchasing the product or the service. Therefore the mode of collecting consumer complaints should de be designed. For example, the organization should have some forms that the consumers fill to as a way of voicing out their views or suggestions. He consumers should also be encouraged to comment on the quality of the product or service offered by the company. These complaints should be put in the suggestion box.

However, for those customers who would complain verbally, the staff should be patient with the customer. That is even if the customer is angry and hence tends to be bitter the receptionist should talk to the customer politely and answer the customer’s question. This may help to lower the attitude or change the emotions of the customer. There should also be a dedicated phone line for receiving complaints from the customers only. In addition on the company’s website, there should be an option where the customers and post their feedbacks concerning the company’s services or products.

Record complaints

In addition all the complaints collected from the customers they should be recorded. This would help the staff dealing with the process of solving consumer complaints to make a database of complaints. During recording, the complaints should be made into categories that are of value to the company. When they are categorized the root cause of the problem can be designed. After collecting and categorizing the complaints the organization should also analyze them. This will help the company to solve the crises or the problem permanently because they can understand the root cause of the problem.

If the problem cannot be solved immediately the management should respond to the customer and assure him that you appreciate the complaint as it will help the company offer better services to society. The customer should also be assured that the complaint shall be forwarded to the responsible person and hence they should expect ca change in due time.

The staff of the company should be trained to handle complaints effectively (Consumer Affairs Victoria, p. 3). The staff should be trained on how to handle complaints by first understanding the policy. Why it was introduced and its benefits to the company. In addition, those consumers who handle disgruntled customers effectively should be motivated by giving them incentives.

The received complaints should be responded to immediately (Butelli, p. 4). A policy should be implemented to at most contact the customer within two o here days so that the customer may not get impatient. Contacting the customer is making an assurance that the complaint would be worked on immediately. This assurance helps in improving the overall image of the company and hence the customers remain loyal leading to the growth of the company.

Complaints records should be reviewed regularly by the management team so that they can know how and where the business should be improved. When complaint records are reviewed at least thrice per year it helps the company to know of the recurring problems and the areas where they should improve or change. In addition, frequent reviewing of the complaint records helps the management to know whether the staff is handling complaints effectively.

Works Cited

Butelli, Sergio. Consumer complaint behavior: a literature review. Northumbria: Northumbria University, 2007. Web.
Consumer Affairs Victoria. Complaints handling. Victoria: State of Victoria 2007.
Hansen, Richard and Gilly, Mary. Consumer complaint handling as a strategic marketing tool. Journal of Consumer Marketing. 2(4): 5-16.MCB UP Limited, 1993. Print.
Hausknecht, Douglas. Measurement scale in consumer satisfaction/ dissatisfaction. CD/ D & CB. 3 (11): 1-11, 1997. Washington, USA: University of Akron, 1990.
Johnson, Lynn. Consumer complaint behavior (CCB). Northumbria: Northumbria University. 2005. Web
Reeher, Tom. Handling consumer complaints: establishing a consumer complaint Resolution process. Sydney: Office of Policy and Planning, n.d. Web.

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