The Customer Authority

I have to admit, I secretly LOVE when companies are outed for their poor customer service. Forgive me for what may be poor taste, but I think it SHOULD be common practice to “out” a company doing what they should be doing in the first place – helping resolve customer issues without the customer feeling so frustrated they have to turn to outside help to get it.

So when I saw this article regarding the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) decision to have companies publish customer complaints figures every six months, I had to do a little happy dance. That’s one for the customer!

You know me well enough now that I am most definitely pro-company AND pro-customer. My first goal here is to help companies be the best they can be. But in order to do that, customer excellence needs to be well up there in your business priorities.

I’m not aware of the US doing anything similar to this, at least not at the moment. But if the idea of your customer complaints being made public makes you even the teensiest bit uncomfortable, then maybe you should be looking at how you are handling matters.

Companies are almost always going to get complaints, no matter how good they are. It’s how you MANAGE them that makes a difference. How do you resolve the problem so the customer is fully satisfied and will stay loyal. That’s the difference between good, great, and excellent in customer service.

The goal here isn’t to avoid getting complaints so much as when you DO get them, you handle them immediately and in the best way positive – not just for the sake of your company, but for the sake of your customer.

I applaud the UK for holding companies feet to the fire. It’s time that consumers feel they finally have someone watching their back when oftentimes, all they get is no one caring.

See below for the full article:

It is what consumer groups have been demanding for years: banks, insurers and other financial services companies with the worst record for customer complaints are to be named by regulators in a league of shame… (read more).