Improving customer service

It is said that 91 per cent of people don't complain, simply preferring instead to exact their revenge by going somewhere else. You will never know that they were unhappy. More worrying though, is the statistic that a dissatisfied customer will tell between 10 and 15 other people of their poor experience. If it's really bad, you may find they will tell the world €“ through online media or the press.

Knowing the types of reasons why people complain can help your response. You can identify those with a genuine reason for complaint and treat them professionally and with empathy. Equally, recognising those who are professional complainers seeking compensation or damages and who try to intimidate with threats of legal action can also aid your response.

People tend to complain because of the following three areas:

• The quality of a product €“ Inferior or too expensive?
• The quality of the service €“ Rude, unhelpful, or indifferent?
• A failure to meet their expectations €“ Whatever the cause and however you receive the complaint, treat it and the customer seriously, with respect and courtesy.

Of course, nobody likes to receive bad news and some people respond particularly poorly to criticism. Try not to. Use complaints as an insight into your business and as a stimulus towards making improvements.

Complaints are often said to be opportunities, though it is sometimes difficult to put such a positive frame around them. However, you can certainly extract some important information if you approach their analysis intelligently. What are the complaints telling you? For example, you may consider:

• Whether your customer service ethos is actually being delivered
• The weak points in your overall service.

They may also allow you to:

• View things more easily from a customer's perspective
• Improve customer satisfaction, by responding positively to complaints and making necessary improvements
• Create longer term loyalty by turning a disgruntled customer into a more positive one
• Try to use your customer complaints forensically as real feedback and valuable insight into the service offered by your pharmacy. Discuss them with your people and together work towards addressing any areas of weakness or where there is a need for improvement.