When you operate your business, there are bound to be some customers who aren’t going to be happy with their experience. This can make for a challenging situation if you haven’t prepared for it. But, that doesn’t mean you have to give up on your company just yet.
There are several things you can do to head off potential problems before they ever happen. This blog post will help you avoid Customer Complaints before they happen .
A business owner writes: “Today we were working on updating our customer review system. We had gotten so many negative reviews over the years that we decided it was time to take action and give our current system a tune-up so it is more user friendly and helps us identify complaints before they happen”.
Here are 5 tips that will help keep your customers happy and ways to avoid customer complaints.
How to Anticipate and Resolve the Most Common Customer Complaints
If you have a business, there will always be some unhappy customers – and that’s okay! As long as you’re operating with the goal of providing the best products or services possible.
When complaints do happen, it’s up to you to take action. The best way to do this is to anticipate the complaints that might arise and resolve them before they happen.
You can anticipate complaints by reviewing your feedback on a regular basis. You can also use tools like Zendesk and Google Analytics to track and analyse your customer interactions. By understanding how customers are interacting with your business, you will start to pick up a pattern of behavior and you will understand can resolve issues before they become problems.
Be transparent about any shipping and fulfillment Issues
Shipping and fulfillment are arguably one of the biggest causes of customer complaints or unhappy customers. The reason being is that once you have handed over a product to a shipping company it is now out of your control. From your store to the customer mistakes can happen and they do happen fairly often.
Many customers are disappointed when they receive their products late, damaged products on arrival and lost packages in the mail. This almost always leads to a complaint.
However, you can take steps to prevent this from happening to you.
- Be transparent: You have to be transparent about any shipping and fulfillment issues. This way, you are able to address any issues quickly. If there are delays in shipping, be honest about it. This way, you can keep your customers informed about any potential issues and prevent them from being unnecessarily frustrated which will lead to complaints.
- Be clear in your policies: You need to be very clear about your shipping times, prices and shipping companies that you are using. Make sure you shipping policies are visible on your website so that the customer can read it before they purchase your product.
If you want a free shipping policy then head on over to my previous blog post on policies. Here you will find all the policies that you can copy and paste to your store.
Anticipate the Amount of Products you Need to Avoid Inventory Problems
Another way you can address potential complaints before they ever happen is by anticipating your product needs. This will help you avoid potential issues, like running out of inventory. If you know that you will sell a certain number of products within a certain period of time, you’ll want to make sure that you have enough inventory to meet that demand.
An inventory problem can lead to a complaint, which can lead to a bad review.
Put together a list of products that you know your customers are likely to order. Then, work backwards and figure out how many products you need to order to avoid running out of inventory. If you don’t know the exact number, make an estimate based on your current sales.
Provide Accurate Product Photos and Descriptions
Another way you can address potential customer complaints before they happen is by providing accurate product photos and descriptions on your product listings. If you purchasers receive items that aren’t as described, or the items are defective, they have the right to complain.
You can avoid this by ensuring that all items are fully described in the listing. This way, if your customers receive defective items, they can complain without it being an issue.
When choosing product photos add one or two photos that aren’t edited and taken in a natural light setting. A lot of the time customers complain that the colors of the products are not the same as the photos and it can be misleading.
If you are selling items such as clothes or shoes make sure that you have the measurements of these in center meters so that if a customer complains that it doesn’t fit then you have a backing to say sizing is all included in the product descriptions. This also eliminates customers from ordering wrong sizes which can lead to complaints.
Ensure High Website Responsiveness and Usability
When you’re trying to prevent potential bad reviews, another thing you can do is ensure a high website responsiveness and usability. This is important because it will help you get the most out of your customer service representatives.
This can help you resolve any issues that arise before they become abad review. A highly responsive website will allow your customers to easily navigate your website.
This way, when there are any issues, they can easily get help from your customer service team and ask questions before they turn to bad reviews.
Conclusion
The best way to prevent potential customer complaints is to anticipate and resolve issues before they ever happen. Anticipate complaints by reviewing your feedback on a regular basis. Be transparent about any shipping and fulfillment issues. Be accurate with product descriptions and product photos and make sure your website is highly responsive and user-friendly.
These tips aren’t going to stop every complaint, but they will help you minimize them. By using these tips, you can improve your customer service and avoid potential complaints before they happen.
When you’re better prepared for potential issues, you can focus on providing better products and services that will keep your customers happy.
