When Should The Manager Intervene With Customer Complaints?

As a Sales Manger you know that providing the right sales training to your field sales and sales support staff is important

. Well trained staff are better able to prevent complaints, and if a complaint does arise they are able deal with the majority to the customers satisfaction without the need for management intervention. However, there are occasions when it is better that you, as the manager, intervene. This article describes six complaint scenarios which demand the intervention of the sales manager.

There will, for all companies, be a time when a given complaint is above a certain monetary value that exceeds the authority given to the sales staff. When this limit is reached the manager will need to step in and resolve the issue. You should define the value that triggers your sales people to escalate a complaint to you. You can base this on the value of the order, which is easy to determine. The damage amount, on the other hand, is not so easy to determine. If you only get involved when the complaint is likely to result in large amounts of damage then you will give the impression that smaller cases are not taken seriously by you. It is therefore debatable whether you should take the extent of damage as a criteria for determining whether to intervene or not.

Occassionally a new customer complains. If a new customer makes a complaint after their initial or second order, it is recomended that you intervene personally. Contact the client and explain to them what is being done to remedy the breakdown or problem. You should also get involved even if it is the new customer who is responsible for causing the problem they are complaining about. Remember that new clients are very sensitive if their first orders result in difficulties. This is true of both delivery delays and technical problems with the product.

You know the old saying - it never rains but it pours. It is never just one thing that goes wrong, everything seems to go wrong at the same time. In situations where there has been a series of breakdowns you should intervene personally, but in doing so be careful not to take over completely from the sales person who manages that customer.

Customer complaints need to be managed and resolved quickly. If it is taking too long to resolve the problem then you should intervene. Stipulate a precise deadline after which you should become involved. Sales people should not go over the time frame set for receiving a customer complaint to its resolution. If they do, the case should land on your desk. You should also make sure that your salespeople do not drag things out because of indifference on their part. If there is any delay, find out what the causes of this are. A complaining customer must be dealt with just as carefully as one placing an order - that is the foundation of effective complaint management and your sales training should cover the correct complaint handling techniques to be used.

Occassionally the customer is actually at your dor, or on the end of the phone, asking to speak to you personally. Do not try and get rid of them, you should step in and resolve the complaint. Never pick up the telephone thinking "Complaints are unpleasant, cost time, money and nerves..." Make sure that you find the right attitude, even towards reproachful clients. Remind yourself that complaints represent an opportunity and that the atmosphere is more important than the facts of the case.

You should also intervene before a complaint gets out of hand and turns into a lawsuit. A lawsuit always has a fatal effect - someone wins and someone loses. If the client wins, you have to pay the costs. If you win, you may well have saved money, but you have also lost because you will have lost the client. You can still pull back from a law suit even at the last minute. The courts often suggest settlement. But could you not have managed to find a compromise without the courts?

So in summary, good customer relations requires on-going sales training for sales staff so that they can manage most complaints well, and also training for the sales manager so that they can recognise and respond appropriately to those occasions that demand they intervene personally.

by: Richard Stone

POST COMMENT

Why Should You Use A Greeting Card Service? Benefits Of Outsourcing Seo Services To India The reason why you Need to Pick Paid Services to Distribute Your Articles Answering Service Frustrations: Some Answers Limousine Service Advice In Today's World The Advantages of Using Link Building Services Relevance Of Blogging In The SEO Services Functions of the Reporting Services in Silverlight Essential of modern locksmith services How to Hire St Louis Bottled Water Companies and Coffee Service St Louis Parcel delivery is no roundabout service in Milton Keynes Secret tips to get duct cleaning md service History of Locksmith services