Mike Blumenthal, our favorite expert on anything related to Google My Business and local search, recently published the findings of a survey on what causes complaints among U.S. consumers. “Handling customer complaints is one of those areas where most local businesses drop the ball,” writes Mike, “Yet it’s an area that has disastrous downsides and such an incredible upside for the business when handled properly.” Mike’s complete post appears on GetFiveStars.com.


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When dealing with a local merchant, what will cause you to complain?

In this survey question, a representative sample of U.S. consumers (n=499) gave the following answers to the open-ended question, “When dealing with a local merchant, what will cause you to complain?”

.,2% | Dirtiness
..2% | Lack of Knowledge
..3% | Lack of Selection/Out of Stock
..5% | High Prices
..8% | Too Slow & Long Lines
..8% | Low Quality Products
23% | Rudeness & Bad Attitude
34% | Lack of or Poor Customer Service

15% | Other

The silence of the dis-satisfied customer

According to Mike, most consumers don’t express their complaints and will often just stop frequenting a business when dissatisfied.

Quote:

This in itself is all the more reason to proactively engage your customers in a feedback process. And yet repeat customers are really the life blood of any business generating significantly more lifetime value and at a lower cost. Understanding the pain points of your business is needed to outline a path to correction. If a local business can understand the most common areas of consumer pain, they can then work to minimize them.

 

 

 

(via: Get Five Stars)


 Photos: ThinkStock

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