5 Ways To Recognize Unhappy Customers
Keeping on top of how your customers are responding to your business is essential.
We’ve all heard the saying: the customer is always right. We also all know that that’s not always true, but in business your customers must come first, and their every complaint must be addressed, managed and resolved in a timely fashion to avoid any PR disasters. Recognizing that your customers are unhappy – and why – is the key to making sure any complaints don’t end up going viral, which is easily done in today’s digital age. So here are five ways to recognize unhappy customers, and how to resolve their problems:
- They’re making complaints on social media
Social media is the most powerful tool available to disgruntled customers as it gives them the power to share their complaints with the online world in a flash – and in some cases in just 140 characters or less. You should be monitoring all conversation around your brand on social media through social listening, and that includes any conversation that isn’t actually directed towards your business social accounts. All online complaints should be responded to in a timely manner, addressing the issue directly to ensure as little damage is done as possible. If you handle the customer complaint well you may even receive praise on social, which can spread just as quickly as any criticism.
02. They’re not making repeat purchases
You are likely to receive one-time purchases from customers, but if you have any long serving customers who decide not to renew their services or make a repeat purchase then it can be a sign that they have some form of complaint about you or your business. Be proactive when you notice this happening; ensure your sales team are contacting any churned customers to find out what it is that’s made them go elsewhere. A simple discount on a repeat purchase or the contact from your sales team alone can make a customer return to your business. They will recognize from this how valuable their custom is to your business and hopefully make the transition back into being an active customer of yours.
03. They’re submitting complaints to your contact team
While social media is a popular tool used by customers to voice complaints, many of your customers may choose to contact your team directly to discuss any issues they have. This is valuable feedback for your business, so make sure you’re logging every complaint made and considering all feedback you receive, as criticism from your customers can help make your business stronger. Publish your contact team’s information on your website and social media channels, and encourage your customers to leave feedback when they make a purchase so you are aware of any issues. Make sure your team is available when they should be too, so they can tackle any customer complaints on demand and hopefully resolve any issues.
04. They’re leaving negative reviews on your website
You should always encourage your customers to review your products and services, as the feedback can help you strengthen your offering. If you’re seeing negative reviews from customers make sure you follow them up to find out the cause of the problem and how your team can work to correct it. Not all complaints will be rectifiable, but if you can turn some of those customer frowns into happy faces then you’re doing just fine.
05. Your site is suffering downtime
If your website is down then customers – old and new – will not be happy. Today’s customers live in an always-on society, so they expect to be able to reach your site at all hours of the day and night, and from all locations. Downtime can be costly for your business as it can upset loyal customers and deter any potential new customers, so you must invest in a strong web hosting package to make sure you don’t let customers down when they need to view your website. A dedicated server hosting plan is a great option for websites looking to be as reliable as possible; all the resources on a dedicated server are yours to use, so you won’t suffer any downtime when other websites receive spikes in traffic. They’re built to withstand heavy loads too, so if your website is having a popular moment your web hosting will be able to take the strain. Take a look at our dedicated server hosting plans here or contact a member of our team to discuss your hosting options today.