Customer Service and Barking Dogs

Barking Dogs Seldom Bite is an idiom we all are so familiar with. I remember having heard an extension to this- "I know, you know, but does the dog know" Well for all the humor, the statement carries, the concept of barking dogs not knowing it won’t bite and customer service has a link. A link so decisive it can create customer loyalty.

A complaining customer barks. And ask any customer service executive, especially associated with aviation and telecommunications, and they would vehemently, agree to this. Purchase of a product or service involves emotions. Marketeers employ various mechanisms to trigger the emotion to purchase their product or service. And the same emotions come to play during a complaint phase.

The biggest threat to big and small organizations today is customer migrating to competition. As per Accenture global customer satisfaction report 2008-Price is not the main reason for customer churn, it is actually due to the overall poor quality of customer service.

So if an organization takes complaints lightly, it is looking down the barrel of a gun. There are numerous facts and figures given online which talks about how existing customers can deliver more than acquiring new, and how retaining existing customers who are acquired with much difficulty is profitable to the organization. Hence customer loyalty and customer complaints are closely linked. As per statistics gathered the facts and figures on customer complaints are as under: (Source http://ianhoughton.com/statistics)

F    1. For every customer complaint there are 26 other unhappy customers who have remained silent
2. 991% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with you again.

3    3. 70% of complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor

Hence when a customer complains it’s a wakeup call for the organizations. From point number 1 it is important to note that only 1 in 26 customers complain. Hence this one “barking” customer is an asset. This customer is the pointer to know things are not in place as it is supposed to be for an organization and an interesting observation I have made is:

“Customers complain because they want to be associated with that particular service provider. Others simply churn”

There lies the underlying fact. Hence the angry customer however loud he/she be is venting their emotions but unknowingly has the confidence of a resolution from the organization.

Don’t let them down. Treat this customer well, listen, don’t argue and then organizations will see this “barking dog” evolve into a loyal customer. The one’s that bite were those customers who churned out, silently.

Disclaimer: Thoughts and observations shared are strictly personal.