April 2021

T his is our belief at CCM. While every attempt is made at customer satisfaction inevitably occasionally things go wrong which leads to customer complaints. We encourage customers to give feedback, especially negative to enable us to improve our services. If you are happy, tell others. If not, tell us. Face to face complaints These can sometimes be the worst. It puts you on the spot and it is human nature to become defensive. As hard as it is, do not react. What happens in that moment, your emotional brain engages and you react on emotion not on rational thoughts. Stay calm. In a face-to-face situation, body language is a giveaway. How you stand, where you put your arms, your facial expression all tells its own story. You must try and remain in a neutral stance, so that you do not come across as defensive. You need to listen, but in the right way. The biggest mistake people make is that they listen to respond and do not listen to understand. Of course, you want to defend your team but this is not the moment to do it. Listen to what the customer is complaining about, be empathetic, show some understanding and acknowledge what their complaint is about. Ask them what their ideal resolution would be. Let them know that you have taken on board what has been said, that you will investigate their issue and you will get back to them with your findings. Written complaints Some people find it easier to complain in writing, not having the ability to feel comfortable complaining face to face. The absolute first, is to acknowledge the complaint immediately. Again, show empathy and understanding, explain that you will investigate and respond with your findings. Do not let people put you under pressure, explain that you need time to investigate properly as you do not wish to make a rash decision. Do not get off topic, it is so easy to come back with what you have done good and not actually deal with the issue. Stay focussed on the complaint. Honesty At CCM, one of our team values is honesty. If you find during your investigations into a complaint, that you have made a mistake or your conduct/service has not been what it should have been, be honest. Own up. Imagine how your customer feels when you own up and admit, “yes, sorry, our service was not up to scratch.” We recently had a 16 AFTERMARKET APRIL 2021 BUSINESS/THE GARAGE INSPECTOR GRADUATES www.aftermarketonline.net COMPLAINTS HOW WE DEAL WITH THEM Tina Drayson explains how customer concerns are handled at CCM BY Tina Drayson, CCM