Is it worth while to refund a product when the return period
is over? Why bother to keep in mind the adage, "The customer
is always right, even when they are wrong?" How much trouble
is it to take a 60 second break to act and think upbeat
even when you are not? How you and your company respond to
these questions can determine the strength and resilience to
get, and what is more important, keep customers. Let's put
reality to a formula that does not require a calculator.
Some calculations yes, but no tough math. Research and
statistics from the TARP Report, a standard reference for
customer service experts, provide the structure for the
formula.
You start with one customer, just one, who for some reason
you did not service satisfactorily. Maybe it was an attitude
or disinterested tone you communicated. Maybe it was a
billing problem. One poor encounter, one customer lost.
One disappointed customer represents 6 others who also are
not happy. Those other 6 are just keeping their
dissatisfaction a secret from you. One plus six is - 7.
We can count on the average disappointed customer to tell at
least 9 others. Considering we have 7 dissatisfied customers
from the one brave soul who told us we were not up to par,
now 7 will tell 9 people each. From easy multiplication,
that's 63 people who will hear about this negative
experience. To keep the calculators away, round this to 64.
We know there is an assumed level of influence of 25%. Only
one quarter of those 64 will act on what they hear. This
means 16 people are likely not to do business with a company
who can't deliver satisfactorily, or who somehow communicate
an attitude of rudeness or indifference. Pandora's box is
wide open.
Multiply this 16 by the average revenue for your product or
service. Say you sell a service that costs $1,000. One
negative encounter just cost you and your company $16,000.
What would the potential loss be if you multiply that out
over the number of purchases a customer is likely to make
in a life time? What if two people in your organization did
something to lose one customer today? Immense, immeasurable
loss.
With all this costly talk, why don't customers tell you
before they chatter incessantly? Think for a moment. Why
don't you complain? You don't think it will make a
difference. You want to avoid the stress. It's just as easy
to find someplace else to buy from. These are the same
easons your customers may not come back.
What's the good news? One complaining customer is your
opportunity to improve. You can rescue the potential,
immense loss when you improve on what that one customer
complains about. Provide a solution that they agree is more
than satisfactory. Statistics show that 7 out of 10
customers will do business with an organization again if a
complaint is resolved in their favor relatively quickly.
Listen. Respond. Resolve.
