Welcome back everybody, this is Food for Thought,
Thoughts If It Were You by Neogentrics. Now, I
know I haven't been around for a while and I
know a lot of stuff has happened between school
starting back up and the end of the summer. Now,
a lot of stuff has happened for me as well, there's
a lot of different things that's been going on
and I will go into detail on that a little bit
later because it's not as important now. But,
I'm sorry for the late upload, but... I am going
to finish assertive skills today. Okay? So, first
things first. The topic that I said I was going
to cover was how to complain effectively. And
I will finish that. We're going to do that right
now. With that being said, there was a lot of
stuff that happened. Like I said before, I went
home for a while. I came back to school. I mean,
things between that nature and then people in
my job being complete. You know. Anyway. Moving
on to the next topic here. With that being said,
there are a lot of people out there that cause
problems. They do a lot of things. They cause
a lot of issues. It's in our nature to want to
complain or fuss or fight about it or make a
big deal about it. But there's a right and a
wrong way to do it. There are some people who
are incredibly effective at making complaints.
And they seem to know instinctively how to pitch
their problem, what to say, you know, what to
do to get apologies, refunds, or other satisfactory
outcomes. Ironically, I'm one of those people,
but I don't make it a big deal, okay? Unlike
some people who throw a fit and or a tamper tantrum
in the middle of a store. That's not very effective.
It does work, but you'll probably get kicked
out of the store and not allowed back in there.
Okay? Other people find that they just seem to
end up shouting in frustration down the phone.
So there's that. So what is that the first group
does that the second group doesn't? I want you
to stop and consider this for a second. If you
separate them into two groups, the ones that
are being belligerent and the ones that aren't,
what is the difference between them? And then
ask yourself this question as a follow -up. What
is an effective complaint? There's a thought
here. I want you to consider this. a simple number
of rules that to follow to make your complaint
more effective. And I want to make sure that
a lot of people understand what these effective,
uh, what these rules are. Uh, there's different
ways to go about it, but you can still get what
you want. And the people on the other side feel
good. Like they did you a service in getting
what they want rather than making everybody unhappy.
And the only one that's happy is you. Okay. So
with that, I'll take a short break and then we'll
get started. So, let's begin. Rule one. Know
what you want to achieve. You need to have a
clear vision of what you're trying to do. The
most effective complaints are those who have
a clear idea of what they want to achieve from
their complaint and who set it out clearly to
the person to whom they are complaining to. Like
if you want a refund for a product or service
that didn't live up to your expectations, just
say so. If a refund won't be enough, then say
that too. But be nice about it, okay? Being angry
and irritated with the person trying to help
you only makes them irritated and it doesn't
help the situation. If you are simply looking
for an apology, then make that clear. This makes
your complaint much easier to deal with and also
more likely to be resolved to your satisfaction,
okay? So keep that in mind. Next is the second
rule. Threaten the company's reputation. Okay.
Effective complaints threaten to damage the company's
reputation in some possible way. Not overtly.
How do I put it? You don't have to say, if you
don't respond, then I'll go public. It's enough
just to say, I was really happy with you. I would
have recommended you to all my friends, but now
I don't think I will. Okay. That's a more effective
way to go about it. than saying that you're going
to go public with it like it's some type of news
scandal, okay? At that point, it's no longer
threatening the company's reputation. You're
just threatening the company, okay? And with
the second option with this rule, it'll make
the company concerned and aware that you might
just start telling your friends about your experience,
or worse, talking about it on social media, in
which case you won't have to go to the news.
or anything, because it'll spread like wildfire
over the web. Next is rule three. Aim high and
get personal, okay? Most companies have a designated
complaint procedure. You will probably get a
reasonable result if you go through that procedure.
Typically, that's how that works. However, you'll
get at least a level of response if you write...
or email the chief executive directly and by
name. So make sure you have his name if you can
get it. You can generally find the details on
the company's website or via Google, since everything
is pretty much digital now. And at the worst,
the chief executive's PA will send you a letter
or email straight into the general's complaint
procedure, but it's quite likely that the chief
executive will at least see your email, that
you will get... Some kind of at least personal
response, okay? Next is the fourth rule here,
okay? Write or go in person. Never phone. Don't
ever call, okay? And there's a reason for this.
It is possible to make effective complaints by
phone, but in general, the odds are stacked against
you. Consider this. In the first place, you can't
see who you're talking to. You are therefore
easy to fob off, if you know what I mean. A very
junior person may promise to look into it and
then do nothing. If you write or email the chief
executive, your complaint is much harder to ignore.
And if you're standing at the reception desk
or on the shop floor demanding to see someone
senior every two or three minutes, you're likely
to get a faster response because you're basically
embarrassing them. So there's that to consider.
Reputational damage is bad news for most companies,
so they're more likely to cooperate to avoid
this. If you really have a complaint by phone,
then they remain focused on what you want to
achieve and state it clearly. You have to stay
focused. Make sure that you keep a full record
of the conversations as well, including the name
of the person to whom you spoke. If you're not
satisfied, ask to speak to that person's manager
or... I'm sorry. And don't allow yourself to
be fobbed off what he or she is on a coffee break
right now. Ask when they'll be back and request
that you get a call back or return at that time,
okay? Ask for the manager's name. And if they
don't call back, call again and ask to speak
to them. Basically, you have to be persistent.
Don't just hang up and say, okay, well, they
said they would call me. And then they never
call you and then you forget about it and it's
a week. After the event has occurred. And then
they won't honor any of your complaints. You
definitely don't want that. Rule 5. Use social
media. Especially if you don't get an immediate
response. A complaint expressed via Twitter.
Especially with the hashtag of the company's
name. Together with bad customer service. It's
likely to get a very quick response. Trust me.
Most large companies have someone monitoring
their Twitter for any sign of activity about
them. Again, it's about reputational damage.
And to make matters even more high profile, aim
your tweet at the chief executive, if he or she
is active on Twitter, using their at handle at
the beginning of their tweet. Your tweet, sorry.
Make sure that you have spent time crafting your
tweet carefully to express the nature of your
complaint or saying how it has taken... how long
it's taking to respond to your original complaint.
So there's things of this nature that will help
you. Those are the first five. I'm going to take
a short break here and we'll cover the next set,
okay? So with that, rule six. Expect the unexpected.
First things first. Don't be thrown by a company's
response to your complaint. If you've complained
effectively, you may well get a much higher level
of response than you were actually expecting.
Don't be thrown by a company's response in that
regard. You'll get better responses if you know
what you're actually asking for. than to leave
it vague, okay? For example, the chief executive's
PA or very senior manager may call you and you
may get a personal email or tweet from the chief
executive. Whatever the level of response, don't
feel that you need to jump at the first offer
made. You can always say, well, that sounds quite
good. And I'd like that very much, but I'm still
not confident that you've really taken on board
X, whatever X is, quite apart from anything else
that gives you thinking time, okay? Basically,
say anything you can that would draw it out a
little bit longer to make sure that they're actually
paying attention. Rule seven. Don't get mad.
Get even. This is the one time where you're allowed
to get even. And it's not immoral. Okay? First
things first. You're angry. Okay? That's why
you're complaining. But try to get calm before
you email or pick up the phone. I'm saying this
because my mom does this and it's actually really
creepy. So I can give you a first -hand account
of this one. Make sure that you're right to be
angry before you start jumping into it. jumping
in at the deep end. Are you sure you haven't
misunderstood anything? Sometimes it can be better
to wait a day or so before deciding whether to
complain, although there will be obvious times
when you just need to wad in all guns blazing.
Now, I'm saying this for a reason. My mom's the
kind of person that doesn't actually get upset
when the company screws up or does something
wrong. Rather, when she goes in to complain,
she's got this big ol' smile on her face and
in the most calming tone will ask them, Can you
fix this? And if not, can I please have a refund?
And when they try to ask her what's wrong, I
tried to give her some random BS. She continues
to smile with this calming personality, trying
to get them to solve the problem. And then she
says, well, if you're not going to do anything
about it, I'll just go somewhere else. And I'll
take everyone else that I know with me as well.
I'm saying this for a reason. When she went to
go buy me a TV. Because my other one was damaged
because I had sold it at a pawn shop to pay a
bill. And we went back to go get it. It was damaged.
So she went to Best Buy to buy a TV. The sale
they had there was for a really good TV about
the same size as mine. It was a 1080p. And it
was supposed to be $250. The guy didn't have
any more and didn't update the site to show that
they didn't have any more in stock. So when we
got there, he was basically trying to say, well,
we were out, yada, yada, yada. We can always
try to find you something else. But it'll be
a little bit more. And the guy's like, you know,
basically trying to push our sides like, you
know, we don't have any more. Too bad. You know,
you should have came sooner. Mom, instead of
throwing a fit, said, how dare you do this? You
basically this is false advertising. You're telling
everyone that you have something you do not have.
And then you're trying to offer me something
lower level, lower tier than what I came in here
for, for the same price. Are you serious? And
then she's like, you know what? And then for
whatever reason, my brother's made a comment.
So, you know, we can always get a TV cheaper
at Micro Center. OK, so when we mentioned that,
she's like, yeah, you're right. Let's just go
to Micro Center. And she's she increased her
voice volume a little bit. She's like, let's
just go to Micro Center. All the TVs there are
cheaper and they have better customer service.
And as soon as she said that, not only did we
start walking towards the door as a family, but
everyone else that was around us started walking
towards the door as well. So what do you think
the manager's response was? And basically, he
gave up. Let's just put it that way. What's the
point of losing one customer if that one customer
is going to take half your store with you? That's
not very smart. And it's not very businesslike.
Pretty sure he would get in trouble for that.
So, to fix the issue, he offered us a better
TV. Instead of getting the 35 he was trying to
give us, that was a 1080p for $200. He gave me
a 4K UHD. 47 inch TV that was supposed to be
$600 for the same price. In which case she kept
her cool. She did what she was supposed to. She
achieved the goal she wanted to all while being
basically completely pissed at the same time.
Okay. So there is a right and a wrong way to
do this, which brings me to the final point.
Rule eight. If you don't get a response that
you want, say so. There is no point in seething
to yourself, basically. If you are talking to
someone and they don't seem to be listening to
you, then say so. And I'm pretty sure you can
tell from my example, my mom basically made her
opinion vocal. But respective at the same time.
If they are responding to a completely different
point, then make that clear. If they are being
downright rude, then ask politely if they are
aware how rude that sounded. And if you're not
happy that the person to whom you are talking
has the authority to agree to the response that
you want, then ask to speak to their manager.
And at all times, remain polite and clear about
what you want to achieve. Now remember this as
I'm closing this out. You have to follow the
rules above, but above all, remain calm and focused
on what you want to achieve. Your effectiveness
at complaining should improve dramatically. And
keep this in mind. this may not work with everybody
this may not work with every company but it is
has been proven to be at least 85 effective nationwide
because a lot of companies their reputation is
all they have left in this world right now especially
here in america with everything going on so why
lose that When a company has a high reputation
and it just suddenly bottoms up because of one
random customer, they can't allow this. And one
example of this would probably be Apple, as their
devices are basically mainstream and they're
high profile. If their accounts and everything
wants to go down because of one person's extremely
bad experience, like a phone exploding in front
of their face, I'm pretty sure they would do
something about it. So with that being said...
Thank you for listening. I know I've been gone
for a while. This is Food for Thought by Neogentrix.
Thoughts if it were you. If you like what you
hear, if you love what you hear, hit that subscribe
button. I'm also available on Spotify, Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, and some of your other favorite
stations as well as iTunes. Let me know what
you think, any comments or concerns that you
have. Have a great rest of your day.