Building Customer Loyalty Through Complaints

By Deborah Vohasek

People often welcome complaints about their product or service with as much enthusiasm as news that their home requires major repairs.

But smart concessionaires know that what at first appears to be an unwelcome intrusion can actually become a catalyst for improved service. Just as a solid foundation and sturdy roof increase homeowner safety and pride, complaints handled properly and effectively can build strong customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Customers have become more enlightened and empowered in recent years. They are vocal about their demand for superior products and services at fair prices. To achieve a competitive edge, concession professionals need to listen closely to these comments and react quickly to suggestions.

Now, more than ever, it pays to construct and reinforce customer-friendly initiatives.

Lay the Foundation

Customers around the world have increased expectations of service everywhere they go, agrees Cindy Casady, president of Casady Concepts, a management consulting firm for the hospitality industry. Whether they are at the ballpark, the zoo, a trade show or the grocery store, customers have become more educated and selective.

To respond to this growing demand for service, Casady has developed "Turn up the HEAT," which advises employees to:

• Hear what customers have to say. Listen patiently and let them explode if necessary.
• Empathize with the customer. For example, say, "I would be disappointed, too, if…"
• Apologize, even if it wasn’t your fault, and ask "What can we do to make this right for you?"
• Take care of it immediately. Let the other customers in line see you handle the problem efficiently.

"By asking customers what we can do to make it right, employees are involving them in the solution. This increases the employee’s ability to satisfy the customer," says Casady, who offers an additional benefit. "When you give customers the opportunity to say what would satisfy them, their request is often less than what you planned to offer."

According to the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Business, it costs five times more to get a customer than to keep a customer. This can greatly impact profitability and shows why concessionaires are focusing more than ever on preventing customer complaints.

Brad Gentille, director of concessions at the International Exposition Center (IX Center), finds that unfriendly or outright rude employees cause the most customer complaints. Often, the reason they are unfriendly to customers is that they are unhappy with their work situation. As a result, the IX Center employs several tactics to keep its staff upbeat:

• Limit overtime. Nobody can stay friendly when working 10-hour days. Get the employees out of the building in a reasonable time and they’ll return fresh for their next shift.
• Continually remind employees that customers pay their salary and their performance is integral to customer satisfaction.
• Encourage them to call their manager when they feel it is necessary. Let employees know you will support them as long as their behavior is appropriate.
• Reduce the number of memos and hold regular staff meetings. Give employees the chance to ask questions and ensure that they are being treated fairly.

"Go on a scavenger hunt throughout the operation to ‘Stamp out Stupid’," counsels T. Scott Gross, author of Positively Outrageous Service-New & Easy Ways to Win Customers for Life. "When we design jobs that don’t require employees to use their brains, we often render them incapable of handling even an easily-solvable customer complaint. Search the operation for micro-insults to employee or customer intelligence. For example, making a customer walk through a stanchion maze when there is no one else in line does not start the transaction off on good footing."

Sometimes a policy or process needs to be updated if it inhibits customer service.

"Employees need to be aggressively friendly to customers," notes Joan Fox, president of Eagle Inspiration Training & Development. "Formerly, staff were told to be ‘wet noodles’ when dealing with unhappy customers. Now we have found that customers respond better when employees have a positive energy that shows they actively care."

Frame A Positive Experience

Complaints handled well can be molded into a positive experience for both the business and the customer. According the Office of Consumer Affairs’ web site (www.doc.gov/oca/consrel), satisfied customers tell five people, dissatisfied ones tell nine to 10. In addition, by quickly resolving complaints, you can retain 95 percent of customers who complain.

"When customers take the time to complain to a business operator, they actually are saying that they want to remain customers," notes Gross. "They are expending emotional energy–it would be easier for them to just warn their friends about lousy service or products."

In fact, a mistake or unpleasant experience often provides an excellent opportunity to develop loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. It all depends on how employees handle the mix-up, and their reaction depends on how they are trained and managed.

"Managers must instill in employees the fact that customer satisfaction is a top priority," reinforces Gross. "Employees instinctively want to protect the business from scammers so they are reluctant to comp an item for fear of showing a shortage at the end of their shift. Managers need to get out of their offices, set the example and support good employee decisions."

Anne Palmer, stadium and concession manager, San Jose’s Spartan Stadium turned what was a common complaint into an opportunity to make an excellent impression on customers.

"We frequently received complaints about our pricing, even though our prices were in line with other area venues," says Palmer. "To show people that we respect their comments, we added several lower priced items and the option of a smaller size soda. This has been especially popular for our children’s events and created good feedback."

Construct Response Guidelines

Complaints, like necessity, are often the mothers of invention, and in many cases the result pays off handsomely.

Dan Livak, vice president of Pacific Concessions, recommends listening to customers and giving them the benefit of the doubt. He recalls one instance when a customer claimed she bit into a diamond and chipped her tooth when eating her popcorn.

"We asked for the diamond and she sent it to us," says a surprised Livak. "No one on the staff was missing a diamond, and it was real. We paid the insurance claim and subsequently learned that the diamond was worth more than the cost of her dental work."

One of the more common complaints Livak heard was that lines were too long at concession stands. As a result, his team took action and established express lines, separate kiosks, kiddie combos and roving hawking carts.

They also ensured that a manager is on visible duty during all rush times. "Customers told us it was frustrating when they were unable to find a supervisor when they had a complaint, so our managers now wear distinguishing name tags," adds Livak. "Some bigger operations even have a concierge or customer service representative on site to answer questions, provide services (e.g. ordering a taxi) or handle complaints."

At IX Center, Gentille agrees that being easily recognizable can give managers a jumpstart in helping soothe irate customers. "All managers wear business attire consisting of a dress shirt, tie and khakis, during events," says Gentille. "Our concession employees also are easily identifiable in their teal shirts with logos, black and teal hats, and black aprons."

Structure A Complaint Log

A problem is only a problem if you don’t know all the elements, according to Gentille. "Nine times out of ten a customer will focus on a food problem when something else, such as a parking altercation, is actually bothering them," Gentille notes. "We train supervisors to identify the specifics of each problem and connect customers with the person who can help them, whether it is a foodservice, ticket or parking manager."

The backbone of his ability to get to the heart of customer complaints is the center’s incident reporting procedure. "We document every incident with a brief form that is filled out at the security office," says Gentille. "These documents help immensely in rectifying situations that could otherwise get out of hand."

The forms require the customer’s name, address, phone number, a description of the incident and the customer’s signature. Copies are then given to the customer and all employees involved in the incident.

"The forms cover everything from a fall on the stairs, a slip in the parking lot or a substandard concession product. Different people have different views on what happened, so the form enables us to get the facts in writing while the situation is still fresh in everyone’s minds," notes Gentille.

The only way to ensure employee and supervisor buy-in to the incident reporting procedure is to position it as a safeguard for employees and to guarantee immunity. Unless it is gross negligence, these reports should never be held over a supervisor’s head.

"If we issued recriminations for incident reports then our staff would never fill them out," advises Gentille. The goal is to learn from these incidents and implement procedures that help prevent future ones.

The form came into valuable use during one recent situation when a customer found foreign matter in her sausage sandwich, refused a replacement and was given a refund for her entire meal. Gentille learned of the situation when reviewing incident reporting forms and felt that the customer, and the incident, deserved a more complete response.

He called in the local health department and received a 100 percent rating on the center’s food handling processes. This was determined to be an isolated experience. Gentille then contacted the customer, informed her of the health department’s findings, and sent her tickets for other events. She was pleased with the way the situation was handled.

Assemble A Training Program

The leading cause of employee turnover is stress and the leading cause of stress is uncertainty about how to handle a situation, according to many industry experts. Experience is the best teacher, but the hard part is to have employees gain that experience without offending customers.

To help employees learn how to effectively handle complaints, managers need to continually demonstrate and reinforce good, customer-friendly policies. "Employees should be empowered to fix the complaints they can," asserts Pacific Concessions’ Livak. "When the problem is out of their realm, for example the theater is too hot, train them to escalate the issue to a manager who can then decide how to best placate the customer." At the IX Center, Gentille continually stresses the importance of training staff to handle a complaint immediately. "While the unhappy customer is in the building we have the opportunity to make it right. Once they’re out the doors, we have lost nearly all the potential to rectify the problem."

Gross counsels concessionaires to hold frequent scenario-training sessions. "We call it role-practicing, not role-playing, because this is a serious issue," said Gross, who noted that the medical field uses this technique to help professionals become more knowledgeable and comfortable in many different situations. "Ask employees questions starting with ‘What do you do if…’ each day when they come to work."

Involve all employees in the training program, recommends Gross. While people in different jobs require different level of training, (i.e., the maintenance staff doesn’t need to be schooled in suggestive selling techniques) all employees should be instructed in the basics. They need to know that when a customer complains, they own the problem until it is resolved or someone else (a manager or colleague) assumes ownership.

"The only time an employee should say ‘no’ to a customer is when it is for the customer’s safety. In instances where the customer wants a special order or extra product, the answer should be, "Yes, but there will be an upcharge," not "No, you can’t have it that way."

A ‘buddy’ system is used to facilitate training at Delaware North Companies, according to Rita Proulx, manager of management training and development. "We often pair new employees with a tenured staff member who coaches them on service and processes," says Proulx, whose company handled all the foodservice in Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. "Even though we had 1,400 employees at this high-profile event, we stressed the basics—satisfy customers and replace unacceptable items immediately. Then after the rush times alert a manager to account for short inventory."

Proulx says that Delaware North Companies actually values the complaints it receives. "A complaint means a customer cares enough to tell us about our performance. Sometimes this is the only way of knowing whether we are meeting our customers’ expectations."