Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Turn Every Unhappy Customer Into a Loyal One

When your shopper leaves with a gripe, they'll spread the news. A survey conducted by a U.S. government consumer affairs office found that, on average, an unhappy store customer tells at least nine other people what happened. And as long as they are telling, the former shoppers often exaggerate how bad it all was.
     Be sure that some of those people the shoppers tell are you or your staff. Then you can take action, and that's the "lemons into fine lemonade" part of the story: Customers who see action when they complain become even MORE LOYAL than customers who never had a complaint.
     How are you learning about customer complaints, and how do you make sure that the customer knows their complaint has been addressed? Are your sales staff thanking customers for their business and then listening for comments? Are your cashiers asking customers if they were able to find everything they wanted? Are your supervisors watching for signs of customer dissatisfaction, such as an angry look? When a customer is unhappy, do your staff ask, 'What can I do to make it right?,' and then come as close as reasonable to doing what the customer asks for?

No comments:

Post a Comment