Editor,

I am a regular reader of The New Times and have quite often seen a number of complaints on poor customer care they receive from the service providers in our country especially banks.

However most of these complaints are received with scorn and often ignored.

When a customer complains, they’re usually telling you they want to remain a customer but you need to make some changes.

Or they’re trying to help you improve the quality of your business. Most complaints are extremely useful information, if you use it as such.

Too often we focus only on the emotional aspects of complaints. We get defensive and try to justify the source of the complaint. Or we turn a deaf ear and ignore the feedback.

As Kevin Stirtz puts it, the first step to making better use of customer complaints is to view them in a positive light.

Start by calling them "feedback” rather than complaints. Then make sure your policies show that customer feedback is valued by the company, not something to sweep under the rug.

Never offer excuses or blame for a situation the customer is unhappy with. They don’t care how it happened. They just want it fixed.

Of course you should always apologize to a customer who has a complaint or concern. Remember, by apologizing you’re not taking blame for causing the situation.

But you are taking responsibility for moving past it to a solution. And that’s what the customer wants.

Honour their efforts by listening, by apologizing, by using their feedback to fix the problem and by thanking them.

By this way, customer care services in our dear country will soar to greater heights.

Seth K BUHIGIRO
Kanombe
sbuhigiro@caa.gov.rw