Are You Getting Enough Customer Complaints? Plus Much More…

KLM Provides Excellent CX to Non-KLM Passengers

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is the national airline of the Netherlands and is renowned for its excellent customer experience. However, you have to fly KLM to experience it. That is why, for one week, KLM decided to help out all travelers, including those who don’t fly with KLM. Watch this 2-minute video of the impact they made. Brilliant marketing!

Episode 233 of The Customer Service Revolution Podcast: Is the AI Experience Broken

This week’s Customer Experience Microlearning

We need to bring back the emphasis on the part our employees play in our Customer Experience. Share with your team.!

*Register for the Class of 2026 Customer Experience Executive Academy starting in January

Are You Getting Enough Complaints?

Think about the last several times you had a disappointing experience as a Customer. Did you tell anyone at the company? You left a business frustrated or hung up the phone more stressed than before you called. If you are like most people, you don’t bother to waste your time sharing your displeasure with anyone at the business that disappointed you. Why? Because most Customers don’t think anyone really cares, no one really wants to hear about it, or they will think you are trying to get away with something. So why would a Customer want to waste the time? How often does this play out in your business, Customers leaving unhappy without letting anyone know?

If we are not making it easy for our Customers to give feedback, then it is happening to us more than any of us realizes. Our Customers have better things to do with their time than hunt us down and complain, and then feel that it didn’t make a difference.

Give permission and make it easy for them to share

There are several ways to permit our Customers to communicate with us. Now, I am not talking about Customer measurement devices that ask Customers their level of satisfaction and how likely they are to refer. While that is vitally important, what I am referring to is something totally different. I’m talking about giving your Customers permission to communicate easily and in a non-threatening way. Not only should you permit them, but you should also ask for their advice and feedback, both positive and negative. Few companies ask their Customers for praise and lose the opportunity to celebrate and perpetuate outstanding performance. However, even fewer companies dare to ask their Customers for feedback if their experience was below what they were expecting.

It is so simple. It is just marketing to your Customer on everything: invoices, orders, emails, at checkout, on the website, even in restrooms. Here are some examples of what companies have used:

• “Please tell us about your experience. We need to know how we are doing.”
• “We want your advice on how we can be better.”
• “Did we hit the mark today? Tell us. Did we miss? Tell us, please!”
• “Was someone a hero for you today? We want to recognize them.”
• “Were we the best part of your day? If you can’t answer yes, we need to know why.”

How accessible are you?

Umpqua Bank, based in Portland, Oregon, states that Customer service is what separates them from other banks. Doesn’t every bank say that? The difference is Umpqua backs it up. First, Umpqua Bank’s Customer service vision is “Making sure every Customer who walks into our doors is a better person for having banked with us.”

Umpqua Bank is aggressive in inviting Customer feedback. If you have a question or comment and want to take it directly to the top, every location has a phone in the lobby, accompanied by a sign that reads, “Let’s talk.” Please pick it up, and you will get to CEO Ray Davis’s office. You can pick up the phone and tell him what you think the bank is doing right and what you think it can do better, or you can ask him anything you’d like. There is a sign that hangs in every location: “Welcome to the World’s Greatest Bank.” This is not a tagline; it is a state of mind. As they like to say, “It’s where an errand turns into a pleasant escape.” Each Umpqua Bank offers a place where its customers can hang out, surf the Internet, or have a latte.

A complaining client is giving us the opportunity to make things right; it’s the silent ones that hurt us.

They don’t remain silent once they leave our business.

If you’re ready to build a culture where customers feel heard, and loyalty grows naturally, let’s talk about transforming your customer experience today.