Complaints are gifts from customers
I was fortunate to have worked with Far East Bank whose main thrust was customer service. That is why we were always asked to attend trainings and seminars to help us improve our service to customers. In these seminars, it was always reiterated that “Complaints are gifts from customers!”
At first I find absurd if not outright ridiculous. But as the trainings and seminars progresses, it made more sense to me. A customer who is complaining is far better than a customer who doesn’t. A customer who complains is actually giving us a chance to help us improve our service and fix any lapses we may have. Whereas a customer who doesn’t complain and just leave is giving us no opportunity to fix any dissatisfaction he may experienced… and worst, this dissatisfaction could multiply outside our business without our knowledge.
An establishment I’ve been to has this posted on their walls, “If satisfied, tell others. If not, tell us!” And there’s no more horrific scenario than the opposite of that statement. Imagine a customer spreading how bad a service was to all of his friends and everybody he comes across with, what effect would that do on the business.
So when a customer approach you and complained about something, thank him or her, for they are actually giving you a gift. The gift of letting you improve your service… the opportunity of letting you fix errors that was made… before words on that mistake spread around.
Comments
15 Comments on Complaints are gifts from customers
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Hector Solomon on
Mon, 29th Sep 2008 5:10 pm
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Roy on
Mon, 29th Sep 2008 10:13 pm
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Earthling Chic on
Thu, 11th Jun 2009 11:10 am
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Rob Angeles on
Thu, 11th Jun 2009 11:26 am
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Roy on
Thu, 11th Jun 2009 8:45 pm
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Roy on
Thu, 11th Jun 2009 8:47 pm
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jan on
Sat, 13th Jun 2009 10:47 am
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Roy on
Sat, 13th Jun 2009 11:54 am
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Jena Isle on
Tue, 16th Jun 2009 5:51 am
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Roy on
Tue, 16th Jun 2009 6:57 am
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DiTesco on
Mon, 22nd Jun 2009 4:38 am
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Dragon Blogger on
Mon, 3rd May 2010 9:04 pm
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The silly catch on the McDonald’s free coffee promo | Roysville on
Sat, 13th Aug 2011 11:30 pm
Excellent point. You hit the sweet spot on this one. I feel refreshed chewing on your thoughts. Roy for the past 20 or so years, I’ve been in the forefront of serving customers head on (printing). I truly believe the best way any business can thrive and be succesful in the longest possible run is to believe that customers are truly the kings and in control, thus be taken seriously in all its forms – their complaints (most specially as you efficiently articulated) , praises and all their moods. Once the opposite mindset comes in for the businessperson as fatigue and waning enthusiasm sets in for any reason, it will be the beginning of the end.
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I’m still a student and in the field of Hospitality field, at totoo yan, mas nakakatakot pa nga minsan when a client doesn’t bother to comment at all or complain. Kasi mamaya word of mouth nalang ang kumalat, at least when customers complain you can do things to improve service.
Though, the first time na naghands on ako sa resto sa school namin, super panic ako when may mga americans kaming customer na pala reklamo hehehe
Earthling Chic’s last blog post..Blog Content is IMPORTANT
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Hi Roy! Awesome post you have here. Here in the US, we have a site called Consumerist. A story posted in that site can either break or make a company. You are absolutely right about buzz spreading like wild fire without a company knowing it. Though it’s a good idea to have a “If satisfied, please tell others…”, it will also be beneficial for a company to keep their ears on the ground. And whatever happens, customer is not always right.
Rob Angeles’s last blog post..Best Ways To Gain Friends And Be Influential In Twitter
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@Earthling Chic
medyo nakaka-inis nga kung minsan, depende rin kung paano mag-complain ang customer.
still, we really have to be flexible and hear them out.. we might miss an opportunity if we don’t.
Roy’s last blog post..She wants to be free
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@Rob
thanks for visiting my business blog Abe!
I once saw a television show (long time ago) called “Fight Back!” wherein customers can air their complains – on national TV.
unfortunately here, there’s not really much a program about consumer protection.
Roy’s last blog post..Twitter has reached outer space
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Wow, galing you’ve tied up a personal story to make a great point. I love it. 
Sa blogging kaya? Can we apply the same principle to reader’s comment? What if I bitch about the post. in your blog, calling you as the author as hasty in your conclusion. Or perhaps your supporting arguments do not hold water. How will you handle that?
What if I say – great post, or if say nothing at all. But then I went want to my blog and completely went berserk on you and your “lame” post how will you go about this problem? After all, I as a reader, can be said to be a customer of your blog, too.
Ahahaha. It must be because it’s Saturday. Too much free time on my hands.
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haha! I can take you up on than Jan, just make sure that your ‘complain’ is valid. I mean it is what was written, and not what you thought was written 
I always listen to customer’s complains. It was my training. I have learned to master the technique of making them feel they were right, after actually pointing out they were wrong.
as for the post in your blog. I’ve had that, not just twice. and in all instances, they were all out of context.
I have just one word for that – “dedma”
honestly, if a post merits another post by another blogger, whether it’s positive or negative, then somehow the post is not a failure.
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Parang nag-iba yata ang site mo. I like it. Mas malinis ito at mas maganda. Congrats.
We can never learn if we refuse to listen to our customers. As the cliche’ goes: ‘The customer is always right.”
Jena Isle’s last blog post..Find Peace Through Inner Healing
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you must be referring to the wordpress.com version of Roysville
yup! I transferred that blog here
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Absolutely an excellent point. “If satisfied, tell others, if not, let us know”. This is a slogan in the making. I might even use it on my blog:)
This can easily applied an any type of business, even in our blogs. A satisfied customer reader (in our blog’s case, telling other about it is by far one of the best promotion there is. Nothing more, nothing less, this is word of mouth in itself. Obviously, the contrary can be very damaging and having a customer or reader, tell you about it is indeed a gift. It is a from of communication to gather feedback. After all, the customer is always right, right? Well, not always, but still any feedback from them is always appreciated.
Simple and concise post, but straight to the point.
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I agree with you that complaints are business opportunities, they show where you need to improve image. Without them companies would not have the feedback to know where to focus their efforts
.-= Dragon Blogger´s last blog ..MyLikes Introduces Paid YouTube Videos =-.
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Roy Reply:
May 4th, 2010 at 7:09 am
Thanks Justin!
Yes, it should be common traits of entrepreneurs, although there are still few who take complaints negatively.
.-= Roy´s last blog ..Badminton Tournament and a night of 80’s music =-.
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[...] This is a valid customer feedback – on the stupid restriction and the customer service exemplified by the store manager… that is if McDonalds value customer’s feedback. [...]
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Roy Reply:
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:50 am
Hi DiTesco!
Thanks for dropping by! Yup, this is one of the most important lesson from the bank that I would like to carry with me.
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