“Your most dissatisfied customers are the best source of learning.” When it comes to customer criticism in day-to-day business, Bill Gates got to the heart of the matter with this statement. However, experienced retailers know that this is easier said than done! That’s why, in this article, we present some approaches for dealing with bad reviews and customer complaints as constructively as possible.
Complaints also offer opportunities
Do you ignore petty customers or biting customer reviews because “on the whole, the store is running”? Wrong thinking! A dissatisfied customer should be nothing less than free business advice for you. No matter how rudely or polemically someone complains, negative feedback also gives you the chance to improve your business. Especially with the complex process chains in online business, errors that are not recognized early on quickly have an impact on other areas.
Be open to criticism - on all channels
Dealing constructively with negative feedback also includes showing (potential) customers that you have an open ear for them. In your store and on social networks, actively invite visitors to share their wishes and opinions, for example with phrases such as: “If you are satisfied, tell others. If not, write to us!” In addition to traditional communication channels such as the service hotline, email or the online form, many retailers now also offer additional contact options via live chats or messengers such as WhatsApp. These are particularly popular with younger target groups. Do you use our online shop system JTL-Shop? Then you can integrate such a function via an extension. You can find a selection of suitable plugins in the JTL Extension Store.
Respond confidently thanks to Good preparation
Are you now contacted by a disgruntled customer who is complaining vehemently about poorly packaged or damaged goods? A service and support guide with clearly defined responsibilities can help here. For example, you can predefine common compensations such as discounts, refunds or vouchers for certain complaints and set time limits for callbacks. Of course, every issue is individual, but a guide helps you to react quickly “in the heat of the moment” and keep a cool head.
To prevent this from happening in the first place, technical solutions such as JTL-Track&Trace can help to optimize customer communication during shipping. For example, if there is a problem with a delivery, JTL-Track&Trace automatically sends you a notification. Your team can then intervene before the affected customer contacts you. In this blog post, you can find out which other functions our shipment tracking supports you with.
Communicate efficiently with the service desk in JTL-Wawi
Good customer communication is not only crucial in the shipping process. That’s why we have created the JTL-Wawi service desk, a tool that allows you to handle correspondence with customers and suppliers directly from the ERP system. Features such as the “360° view” allow you to get an overview of key information on sales orders within seconds – a great help in direct discussions with customers! The service desk in JTL-Wawi is currently in the open beta phase and is available free of charge from version 1.5.17.0.
Our Product Owner Manuel shows you in the video what else is possible with the service desk in JTL-Wawi:
Automation means more time for service
Is your day-to-day business so busy that you don’t have time to deal intensively with customer feedback? Then rely on automated processes to make your everyday life easier. With JTL-Workflows, recurring work steps from a wide variety of areas, such as the returns process, can be carried out all by themselves. Find out more about the numerous possible applications on our product page.
Profile yourself as a problem solver
You still have some control over direct customer contact, but it’s more difficult when dealing with negative comments on social media, online stores or review platforms. After all, the entire internet is reading! Sometimes, however, this can be an advantage, as the following comment shows: “When the goods arrived broken, I was very annoyed, but the support was friendly and unbureaucratic.” Such reviews describe a common everyday problem and credibly show that you care about solutions. After all, things don’t always run smoothly, even with the best retailers.
Try to respond to negative customer reviews and comments online in as constructive and moderating a manner as possible instead of striving exclusively for positive reviews. These tend to fuel mistrust and give rise to the suspicion that something has been bought or faked. As long as your overall response to criticism is quick, friendly and understanding, you will leave a positive impression.
Legal advice in the event of unjustified criticism
Too harsh and too many negative reviews are clearly bad for business. Legally speaking, product reviews are covered by freedom of expression. However, if they are untruths or insults, you have the option of taking legal action against them. Our partner, the Händlerbund, offers specialized legal advice packages for this purpose.
Using customer criticism for quality management
If you want to learn from mistakes, you have to work through them. Therefore, make the analysis of customer complaints and negative customer reviews an integral part of your quality management. The following procedures can provide guidance:
Try to categorize your complaints and distinguish between errors that you “screwed up” yourself and those that were caused by third parties, such as logistics companies or suppliers. You must correct self-inflicted errors yourself. In the case of the latter, you should ask yourself: Are there any service providers who keep stepping out of line? Is it perhaps better in the long term to look for someone else?
Which products cause the most problems? Is it still worth keeping them in the range?
If you need “hard facts”, you can also use key figures. This makes service quality measurable and helps to formulate targets:
- Complaint rate: (total number of complaints ÷ total number of purchases) × 100
- Processing time for complaints: Processing time per case in hours
- Success rate: (proportion of satisfied customers ÷ total number of complaints) × 100
Online business is inherently a distance business. You therefore need to invest even more time and energy in building sustainable customer relationships. How exactly you do this depends on your target group and your business model. In any case, customer criticism with the right strategy for you can help you to fully exploit your business potential. Perhaps even to the point where you – in the spirit of Bill Gates – are happy about customer complaints.
