When analyzing the performance of a system, there is a tendency to put a lot of effort into settling complaints… but what about the silent users, who make up the vast majority of customers? How do you consider their “point of view”?
Make silent users “noisy”
Let the silent users speak: this is very wise advice, since many of them might not be happy customers. Indeed, according to 1st Financial Training Services, a financial advisory service in Illinois, 96% of unhappy customers don’t complain. What’s more, 91% of them go to a competitor and never come back! Hence the importance of identifying them, calling them and asking concrete questions about their satisfaction, emphasizes customer service specialist Bill Price in an article published on the Customer Think website.
Are these silent customers not taking their calls? No problem! You can then try to reach them by sending a satisfaction questionnaire to be filled in online. A word of advice: avoid lengthy questionnaires so they don’t become a source of irritation! Of course, in addition to phone calls and online surveys, text messaging and social media can be used.
Multiply points of contact
In the customer service world, there’s nothing like personal contact! As a result, Bill Price suggests multiplying points of contact between users and customer service staff. This can be done, for example, by installing video booths in stores, where customers can chat with customer service specialists. Better yet is to have these specialists on site, who will speak directly with customers… including some of those silent ones!
Assess the propensity to complain
In his article, Bill Price also explains the following fact: people differ in their propensity to complain. For example, American and Italian customers are more likely to express their dissatisfaction than Japanese customers. In order to keep track of the quality of its services, a company must take these cultural differences into account… at the risk of thinking, incorrectly, that all Japanese (or other) users are satisfied!
Therefore, it is important for companies to take the time to contact their silent customers, since their silence is far from ensuring their satisfaction and loyalty. Developing strategies to reach them, listening to them and trying to satisfy them will cost less than seeing them leaving on tiptoe.
To read more…
https://www.1stfinancialtraining.com/Newsletters/trainerstoolkit1Q2009.pdf
4 Ways to Focus on the Silent Majority — Customers Who Don’t Complain