I’ve always struggled with this notion: the mark of a great company is doing things right the first time every time. First of all, it can’t be done. Second, when things inevitably go wrong in that kind of culture, people often get upset, stressed out and too eager to find and punish the “guilty party.” That’s not exactly the kind of environment that fosters the experimentation and calculated risk-taking needed for continuous improvement and innovation.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to get it right the first time. Best effort always matters. I also realize that the margin for error in some enterprises must be virtually zero. No one wants to learn how to fly a plane safer from a crash that kills hundreds of people. Nevertheless, most businesses stand to gain from realizing that perfection isn’t possible, and the most constructive thing to do is to determine how to never waste a good problem.
There’s gold in those mistakes
Companies with a perfection obsession undervalue two huge opportunities. For starters, every miscue is a learning opportunity — a chance to pinpoint a root cause issue and improve a subpar process.
Here’s another somewhat surprising benefit. According to research conducted by the Technical Assistance Research Program, a customer who complains and is satisfied with the resolution is 30 percent more loyal than someone who doesn’t complain. Not surprisingly, they’re 50 percent more loyal than those not satisfied with how their complaint was handled. Now, here’s the real kicker. Customers who complain and are satisfied with the resolution are 8 percent more loyal than if they never had a problem.
Here are two implications from the TARP research:
First, instead of blowing a fuse over a problem or a complaint, treat it like a gift because it offers a chance to fix a process and boost customer loyalty all at once. Second,
f you want to optimize the potential of unhappy customers, make it easy for people to complain. Even more, set up a mechanism to proactively pursue complaints.
Put your HEART into it
Another important factor in making the most out of complaints is how they are handled with the customer. We advocate the HEART method:
Hear the customer out.
Empathize by expressing understanding and appreciation for how they feel.
Apologize for the problem.
Reassure them that you will take care of the matter, and tell them what you’re going to do.
Take responsibility for resolving the issue quickly, and don’t transfer the call unless it’s unavoidable.
One way to embrace the value of problems and complaints is to view them as a feeder source for a systematic continuous improvement process that includes input from both customers and employees.
If you want employees and customers to come forward with problems and complaints that lead to sustainable root-cause solutions on a regular basis, you need to make improvement part of everyday operations.
So set your anxiety aside and learn to “love” your problems. You’ll get a lot more input and a lot more improvement a lot more quickly — not to mention a lot less complaining about complaints.
Les Landes is president of Landes and Associates. For information, visit www.landesassociates.com.
