Do you have a program in place to monitor levels of satisfaction among your clients?

Customers who complain believe that they have been treated unfairly. By communicating this belief to you, they are giving you the opportunity to solve their perceived problem and retain their custom.

So be pro-active. Don’t wait for customers to complain, but rather seek happy and unhappy clients out.

Reaching your unhappy customers before they reach anyone else can pay huge dividends to you, both in terms of your ongoing relationship with your clients and in the maintenance of their business dealings with you.

Before unhappy clients walk out your door for the last time, how do you identify them?

• Try a simple questionnaire about your service and products. If mailing to your clients, don’t forget to include a reply-paid envelope.

• Invite a group of customers to meet with a representative of your business and/or a customer relationship consultant. Don’t forget to give each of the participants a small gift as a token of appreciation for their attendance and feedback.

• Engage a customer relationship consultant to speak personally to your clients. Having an “outside” person can sometimes make these conversations easier on your customers.

Using one, or indeed all, of these techniques will gather a lot of useful information to help you solve any problems that are creating unhappy customers.

Remember – preserving the relationship is paramount in dealing with customer complaints. To preserve your good customer relationships, you must change any situations in which they feel bad to situations in which they will feel better.