8 Common Customer Issues And How To Resolve Them

Solving customer issues and complaints is an important duty for many companies and businesses as they help consumers resolve their challenges and assist them with questions or concerns. If you’re hoping to help customers with their challenges and increase their satisfaction, it’s important to understand the benefits of helping consumers and how to find solutions to different customer problems.

In this article, we discuss why it’s important to resolve customer issues and common complaints customers give to businesses and how to overcome them.

Why is it important to resolve customer issues?

It’s important to solve customer issues for several reasons, including:

• Increasing customer satisfaction: Resolving customer complaints can help companies demonstrate their care and increase overall customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers are often more likely to recommend the business to their friends and family, increasing the company’s sales and revenue.

• Building customer loyalty: It’s possible to build customer loyalty by solving their challenges and assisting them with their needs. Building customer loyalty can also help increase the number of repeat customers and purchases.

• Improving customer service: Figuring out the best ways to help customers with their complaints and problems can allow companies to improve their customer service. Developing strong customer service techniques and practices helps businesses serve their customers more effectively and increases customer satisfaction.

• Understanding customer needs: When companies listen to customer challenges, it can help them better understand what the customer needs and how to help them more efficiently. As businesses better understand their customers, they can also develop more relevant products and market them to their consumer base more easily.

Common customer issues and how to overcome them

Here are eight common customer issues and helpful tips on how to solve them:

1. Unavailable products

When products are out of stock or unavailable, it can sometimes make customers unhappy, especially if they remain out of stock for an extended duration. If customers continually call a company for updates on inventory stock or when they can purchase certain products again, it’s important for the customer service representative to provide them with helpful information to ensure their satisfaction. If possible, the customer service rep can also offer the consumer a promotional deal or sale to help make up for any poor experiences.

After the conversation with the customer, it’s also important for customer service reps to report the complaint to managers and executives. Communicating with other company officials can help the customer’s message reach the individuals who can make influential changes or order more products. It can also help customer service reps understand if there are any reasons the company hasn’t restocked the item, such as shipping delays, which they can relay to the consumer. Once the product is back in stock, service reps can contact the customers to let them know…

2. Poor product quality

It’s possible that products might become damaged during shipping, break down after continued use or not work as intended. If any of those occur, customers might call asking for replacements, refunds, or troubleshooting advice. When a customer calls with a poor product quality complaint, it’s important to ask the customer questions about the product and identify the major issues. It’s possible the product isn’t broken at all, but the customer just needs help and advice to operate it properly.

It’s also possible that the product might not help a customer as they were hoping. When this occurs, it’s beneficial for the customer service rep to talk with the consumer and determine what problem they’re trying to solve using the product. If the company has a better product or service that could benefit them more, it’s helpful for the service rep to mention or recommend it. Lastly, if the product is broken, it can be helpful for the service rep to apologize to the customer and offer a new product, free of charge.

3. Long waits

Whether a company’s customer service department communicates with customers over the phone or through email, it’s possible that some customers might complain about long wait times. Some businesses might even have an average time on hold (ATH) calculator that they try to keep as low as possible throughout the workday. If customers are experiencing long waits, it’s possible that the company or business doesn’t have enough customer service employees to keep up with the customer’s calls. If the company is having trouble with its number of customers, hiring more service representatives might help it decrease overall wait times.

However, it’s also possible that the business just doesn’t have the right resources to maintain the call center. Using specialized customer service software can help customer service departments keep track of customer calls or emails and direct them more quickly to the departments or individuals who can assist them. They can also use the software to help minimize or eliminate certain tasks, such as sorting customers in order of priority, which can help make their workday more efficient.

4. No company follow up

It’s possible that some customers might have different expectations for company follow-up. Though some individuals might prefer to be notified when the company fixes or resolves their problem, others might like consistent updates throughout the resolution process. When communicating with customers about their current problems or challenges, it’s helpful for service representatives to talk with the consumers and determine the best form and consistency of communication. It’s also possible that the more updates the customer receives, the more patient they’ll be for the resolution.

Another great tool to help with company follow-up is to use a ticketing system, which provides a customer with a number or ticket for each complaint or problem they communicate to the company. Some ticketing systems also allow customers to track their service claim to see its current status and possibly the estimated time of completion.

5. Continuous transferring

When customers call a company or business with a complaint, it’s beneficial for the company to resolve the issue within the first phone call instead of transferring the customer to different departments. If a service rep transfers the customer to different departments hoping to find someone who can solve their issue, it often results in them repeating their problem again and again, which can cause them frustration. One great way to resolve continuous transferring is to gather as much information as possible about the customer’s problem and research an answer.

However, if the question or problem requires extensive research or conversations with other employees, it can be beneficial to call the customer back instead of keeping them on the phone for a long duration. It’s also possible to prevent the situation proactively by providing customers with useful resources and troubleshooting materials on the company’s website. Using those resources, companies can answer frequently asked questions that customers have and help them solve their problems more efficiently.

6. Unhelpful customer service

Sometimes, the customer service representative might not have all the answers. When a customer feels like the company can’t help them, they can become frustrated with their service. It’s okay if a service rep can’t answer the customer’s question, but it’s beneficial to communicate those thoughts to the customer and help them understand that their problem or complaint might take longer to resolve. It’s possible the customer service rep might just need more information about the customer’s problem. If that’s the case, the service rep might ask the customer more questions to better understand the challenge.

However, it’s also possible that the service rep might need to talk about the problem with a different company professional or conduct research. If the employee needs to perform additional research, it’s beneficial to inform the customer of the situation and ask if they would like to be placed on hold or called back at a later time.

7. Delivery delay

When a customer is experiencing a delay in their product’s delivery, they might call the company to figure out where the shipment is currently located and why it’s taking longer than expected. If the customer calls to inquire about their product’s delay, it’s beneficial for service reps to be honest and forthcoming with the information they know. Whether the product is currently on backorder or there was a problem with manufacturing, telling the consumer what’s going on can help increase their loyalty to the company.

If possible, it’s also helpful to offer the customer any special promotions or deals to make up for their current problem. Offering the consumer a discount on their next purchase, or a buy one get one free deal, can help encourage them to buy from the company again and improve their satisfaction. When the product is finally delivered, or put back on schedule, it can be helpful for the service rep to reach out and ask the customer if everything arrived okay and if there’s anything else the company can do for them.

8. Poor customer service communication

Sometimes, customers and service representatives don’t communicate well with each other for various reasons, which can cause the customer to feel like the company doesn’t care about their problems or complaints. To help mitigate these challenges, it’s beneficial for companies to invest resources into training and developing customer service reps to pay better attention to their tone of voice and body language. Keeping these skills in mind can help ensure they’re displaying care and understanding toward the customer’s issues.

However, if a customer still feels like they’re having a bad day or unpleasant experience, it’s beneficial to contact them using another customer service rep and discuss the problem in more detail. Listening to a customer’s feedback about their experience can help them feel heard and understood by the company, possibly increasing their satisfaction and loyalty.

I hope you find this article helpful.