It’s basic human nature to bristle at any kind of criticism. Dale Carnegie taught us in his 1937 classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People, not to criticize, condemn or complain if we want to appeal to others. But when it’s our customers who are complaining, we’d sure be well advised to LISTEN! By ignoring them, we could be handing a strategic plan to a competitor who could simply solve that problem and win the favor of the entire market!
Consider these examples:
According to research conducted by Albrecht & Zemke, between 54 and 70 percent of customers who complain would keep doing business with the organization if they would only address and work to resolve the complaint. Just hear them out, in other words! When a customer “complains,” think of what they’re offering not as unjust criticism, but as a suggestion on how you could keep their business! If we’re targeting the most profitable customers, they deserve our attention! As Harry Beckwith suggested in Selling the Invisible, we’d a whole lot rather them tell us they’re unhappy than to go down the street and advise a competitor how to earn and keep their business.
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