There is this saying in the call center industry that goes something like, “Customer complaints are a golden opportunity to do better”.
If it sounds quite weird, well think of it this way: listening to customer feedback, and actually doing something about it, allows business owners to shine when it comes to providing stellar customer service.
Sounds simple, right? Sadly, there are companies who don’t get it at all particularly for those whose customers are the most demanding. For them, listening is a total waste of time and resources. Moreover, they will not even lift a finger or bat an eyelash to try and resolve the issues being raised by the poor customers. Don’t believe us?
Take the case of Diana (not her real name). She used to work as a customer service call center agent for one of the leading telecom companies. This company was one of the biggest, employing more than a handful of “customer care” representatives, even working round-the-clock. And they constantly professed to the customer service credo of “caring for their customers” (well, in so many similar words, that is). But as we would learn, this was not the case all along.
Diana actually left her job due to the stress it caused her—particularly being caught in the middle of a brewing and seemingly never-ending storm. We say “seemingly never-ending” because according to her, “we would get so many complaints, yet nothing really happened. Everything from billing mix-ups to connection and signal-related concerns were brought to our (and ultimately) the company’s attention. Unfortunately, the company could not give a hoot about them”.
What was worse was customers would constantly follow up regarding their complaints. Yet nothing happened. As much as Diana and her colleagues wanted to address these complaints themselves, these required the intervention and action of other departments from within the company itself—which, as she relates, did not move a muscle. In short, they, as customer service “conduits” can only do so much but absorb them day in and day out.
Of course, you and your call center team can avoid such stress. Listen to what your customer service team is telling you. Because unless they love conjuring fiction, most likely, the complaints they’re raising actually come from real people who have real rants. And you can shine once again—even brighter, in fact—by actually acting on these issues. Getting things fixed in a prompt manner can truly make a difference.
And that is what real customer service is about—listening and taking action, not falling on deaf ears.
