Is it a Complaints Handling or a Feedback Policy?

During the session where my friend challenged me to re-start writing, a conversation ensued where one of the members raised a point that companies should also have a complaints handling policy. The moderator turned it back and suggested it be a feedback policy rather than one already sending a message that complaints are common here and we have a policy on how to handle them.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a complaint as, “a statement that something is wrong or not good enough,” whilst feedback is defined as, “information or statements of opinion about something, such as a new product, that can tell you if it is successful or liked.”

My submission thus is to seek feedback, which encompasses the positive, the negative, and areas of improvement, rather than having a platform clearly demarcated for complaints only.

Feedback comes in different forms, increasing sales volumes of one product and not the other, customer comments or suggestions, rejection or returns rates of your products, the number of repeat customers vs new customers. Key is having various metrics to measure the trends, various ways to capture the data and conducting that regular satisfaction survey after a sale. A famous quote says, Feedback is a gift, give it generously, ask for it often, and never refute it in the moment.

Back to our Nokia case, whilst their business plan was clear, the environment around them was changing, Nokia believed the consumer would remain interested in the qwerty keyboard phone and not the touchscreen, Nokia were also slow to move to improve the operating systems of their phones despite the changing interests in the clientele. They ignored the trend in the market and the implied feedback which the customers were sending by buying other products not Nokia.

In June 2007, when apple introduced the first iPhone, Nokia was commanding up to 50% of the mobile phone market share. But in 2010, things took a turn for the worse,  It took only six years for Nokia to lose around 90% of its market value, and the company never recovered. 

Whilst the former CEO of Nokia is quoted to have ended his speech by saying, “we did nothing wrong, but somehow we lost,” there was one key omission in their operations which led to the collapse, they ignored the alarm bells which were ringing around them.

Another example of the impact of ignoring feedback is seen on Netflix. In 2011 Netflix announced a change in strategy and an increase in the prices of their services. A few months after the announcement and before the rollout of the new plan, Netflix had lost a staggering 800,000 subscribers and the share price had plummeted from $300 per share to a mere $53 per share.

Here is the interesting part, a research firm had gathered information from subscribers where over 25% had indicated that they were cancelling their subscriptions to Netflix. Netflix had access to the feedback from clients but chose to ignore it. Netflix however took ownership of this grave mistake which they had made, listened to their clients, ditched the planned amendments and went on to focus on enhanced client experiences. You can read more on this here, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2-companies-who-ignored-customers-paid-what-can-teach-brandon-landis/.

Here are a few key elements to have in place:

1. Customer experience survey: Which assesses the whole customer journey from the initial contact with your company to post purchase support. A continuously open feedback platform.

2. Continuous Engagement: No matter how unsatisfied I may be, receiving a call or an email acknowledging that my feedback has been received is a critical step towards me being a repeat client. Feedback when acknowledged builds a relationship with the giver.

3. Communicate the Resolution: Even if it is to say we cannot do anything else to address your current complaint, however we have taken note of its means I have been heard. Better yet, receiving a message which says we have resolved the issue, we assure you this will not happen again.

4. Market Surveys: You do not exist in a vacuum. Continuously assess your competition and the market. One of the best ways clients give you feedback is by simply buying from your competitor.  

5. Independent Review and Audit: The Client Experience Journey should have its key checks and balances, which focus on equitability and fairness of outcomes.

To further illustrate the importance of this, the United Arab Emirates has established an Ombudsman Unit, which is an independent legal entity tasked to receiving and handling customer complaints from consumers of licensed Financial Institutions. The Ombudsman Unit is to provide a complaints resolution mechanism to the consumers who will access independent and fair outcomes to their complaints.

Bringing this down to the entrepreneur and the small business, the first source of feedback comes from your internal teams, your co-workers and support teams. If they believe in your product, you will have the best ambassadors out there. Do you have an open and candid feedback process with those closest to your product offering?