Customer Servces
Beware the Unhappy Customerby Jill Griffin
On a recent Saturday, I was out and about in Austin, Texas and came upon a dealership where a dozen or so unhappy customers were picketing with large red and white signs that said "Recall now" and "These cars are lemons." These zealous picketers provided a stark contrast to an otherwise tranquil afternoon and were getting lots of attention from drive-by motorists. This scene reminded me of those often heard statistics that a typical dissatisfied customer will tell eight to ten people about his or her experience. One in five will tell twenty or more. But I'm betting those word-of-mouth statistics are understated in today's marketplace. Here's why.
A case in point. What if you hired a national moving company to transport your household possessions to your new home halfway across the country and the truck, the driver, and your possessions were 'lost' for three month? That's precisely the predicament Dr. Robert Leone found himself in during the late 1970s when he moved from Minneapolis to Austin to join the marketing faculty at the University of Texas.
Dr. Leone hired an attorney, took his case to court, and won. In the end, the moving company met all of Dr. Leone's requirements for settlement but one: He refused to give him a letter of apology.
What was next for Dr. Leone? He began exhibiting the classic symptom of a dissatisfied customer. He told people---lots of people---about his experience. In fact, Bob Leone made a point of telling his story to each of his introductory marketing classes at the university. And each year at Christmas, Dr. Leone would send a Christmas card to the president of the moving company, and include a "running total" of how many people he had told thus far. Dr. Leone continued this tradition for ten years. Upon hearing of the president's pending retirement, Dr. Leone sent his final Christmas greeting. The number on the card: 3,503.
The New Millennium picketer. Fast forward almost twenty years to today's internet capabilities. In the hands of a "Dr. Leone", the internet provides unhappy customers with a reach that is nothing short of amazing. In a few keystrokes, an angry customer can tell the world of his woes. It's the perfect medium for what trend tracker Faith Popcorn calls the "Vigilante" customer---- that unhappy buyer who is highly frustrated with a vendor and wants results or revenge, or both.
Want to see the New Millennium picketer in action? Do a web search using the key words "internet complaints" and you'll finds a host of web sites created by unhappy customers. Some of these sites are amazingly detailed. For example, a site visitor can register in the guest complaint book and peruse the full text of recent complaints or only the highlight. Some sites offer who's who company directories complete with direct dial extension numbers and helpful hints like "Don't expect Marilyn to be helpful". Others offer "How to get even" tips and commentary by former staff members who disclose 'insider information' about company policies that frustrate and abuse customers.
From fitness centers to airlines, these complaint web sites can play havoc with a company's reputation, jeopardizing existing customer relationships and potential ones.
The peril of defecting customers. One particular area that many companies ignore is the departing customer. Left unaddressed, defecting customers can be a deadly force for any company. In examining defections, New York banking consultant Paul Lukin found that most customers visited a branch to close their account. Yet, Lukin's research found that in one large regional bank, executives were quite disturbed to find that staff was not attempting to keep the business. About 8 in 10 defectors said no one tried to convince them to stay with the bank. Reports Lukin, "My banking client learned that their lack of attempt had a serious effect on the defecting customer since it communicated a lack of caring on the part of the bank." This lack of attempt added "insult" to the already "injured" departing customer.
Even if the lost customer is so unhappy that he will never come back, you need to look for ways to neutralize some of the anger. It's one way to dramatically reduce the prospects of having a complaints web site looming in your future.
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Jill Griffin is the best selling business author of Customer Loyalty and co-author of the new book, Customer Winback: How to Recapture Lost Customers and Keep Them Loyal . She can be reached at www.loyaltysolutions.com and jjillgriffin@earthlink.net.
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