Businesses must stop messing clients around

The new decade has barely surfaced but in government speak, ‘challenges’ are climbing on customers’ ‘raisins’. Some thoughts on mitigating those disasters

AN AIRLINE, the world’s largest, mansplaining about how spoilt breast milk isn’t really a problem and what babies should eat to a mother, who’s a surgeon.

A life insurer insisting on a decade’s worth of medical records to rule out adverse selection, taking three weeks to pay out funeral cover, and then flatly declining the life cover, with no explanation.

Call centre agents who talk over customers, don’t listen, and fail to execute instructions.

Companies activating early debit orders, without notification, wreaking havoc on customers’ accounts.

It seems many companies are thumbing their noses at their customers, which is foolhardy at best during times of economic hardship and where some customers will use whatever means at their disposal to get what they want.

MAKE THAT CHANGE

It’s January, a new decade, and now’s as good a time as any to make that change. And by change I don’t mean abstaining from material pleasures. Rather, for businesses to rethink the way they treat their customers.

Consumers are under increasing pressure, conscious about where they spend their money, and businesses, no matter how big and multinational, are not immune from a PR disaster: just ask Ford SA.

The customer is no fool and their feedback is a gift: the complaining customer helps a business understand where they’re going wrong, how they can improve and what’s important to their customers.

It also means that if they’re complaining to you, you get to manage the situation – before they tell their family and friends, and run their mouths off to their followers on social media.

QUALITY MATTERS

A recent study by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel website, reveals that travellers are more likely to book when companies respond to reviews.

The Ipsos MORI survey showed that 79% of travellers said personalised responses from company owners make reviews even more useful, which highlights the importance of