How to Get Cleaning Customers to Complain (Instead of Cancel)

It's been months since you've had an angry phone call from a client. That's good news, right? Not necessarily. You need to know when your clients are dissatisfied, and it's not realistic to believe they'll be happy 100% of the time.

When you have disgruntled customers, you don't want to be the last one to find out. Ninety-six percent of unsatisfied customers leave without putting in a formal complaint. That means that for every grievance you hear, there are likely many more you don't. “If they're not complaining to us, and they're not happy, they're complaining to somebody,” says Todd Hopkins from Office Pride.

Too many BSCs set a goal to make it through the year without getting complaints. A far better goal is to focus on solving customer problems. Working with your customers to resolve issues builds a stronger relationship and decreases the chances they'll look for a new cleaning service when your contract ends.

Customer complaints help you improve your service

Here are seven tips for making sure you see every customer complaint.

1. Include a complaint process in new contracts
Many customers are afraid to reach out with complaints. During the onboarding process, make it clear that you and the client share the same goal—creating a clean and safe working environment in their facility—and that meeting that goal requires honest communication.

Initiating the conversation from the start will increase your client's comfort in providing positive and negative feedback. Make it clear that you want to help and are always available to receive complaints. Include in your contract a section outlining the grievance process.

2. Share your contact information
When possible, it's best to have a single point of contact for each client. It's also important to provide your customers with a variety of ways to reach you.

If your primary point of contact within the customer's company goes on vacation (or is unexpectedly unavailable), it's imperative that others also know how to reach you. If a pipe bursts and the building is flooded, or other cleaning services are needed at an unscheduled time, you want to be sure your company is the one getting the phone call.

3. Provide multiple ways to complain
If your formal complaint process is too difficult, customers won't bother and may assume their feedback isn't wanted or appreciated.

Each client may prefer a different method, so don't assume one thing will work for everyone. Provide as many avenues to complain as possible—phone calls, notes sent with technicians, feedback cards, email, or even text messages.

4. Allow for anonymous complaints
You walk in the bathroom. The person before you left a nasty mess, so you turn right around and leave. What do you do next? A lot of people are unwilling to report problems like clogged toilets or dirty bathroom floors because they don't want anyone to assume they were the culprit.

You don't want your customer's business to become known as “that place with the dirty bathrooms.” It's bad for them and even worse for you.

If possible, implement a method for making anonymous and real-time complaints. If a building occupant can anonymously text or email, you can find out about problems before they become public knowledge.

5. Check in with customers often
Solicit feedback routinely as part of your client relations process. Whether you make inquiries by phone, automated email, or comment cards, early intervention goes a long way towards retaining your valued customers.

Positive feedback will show you which aspects of your business are most noticeable to your clients. It's also an opportunity to pass along encouragement to your staff and pump up morale. When you receive negative feedback, don't take it personally. Instead, look at it as an opportunity to make changes instead of it ballooning into a relationship-ending problem.

6. Build trust with customers
The surest way to retain your best customers is by building trust in your company. If they feel they can depend on you, they will be far more likely to reach out when small issues arise.

Keep communication open and transparent from the start. Whenever possible, give your customers as much attention and care as you can. Open communication and excellent service go a long way toward helping customers feel comfortable reaching out when your service is less than great.

7. Resolve all complaints
To keep the lines of communication open between you and your customers, they must believe you'll truly listen. When a complaint comes in, thank the customer for their honesty and then repeat what you heard them say to make sure you're on the same page.

Some problems are easier to solve than others. If it's something you can fix quickly, tell the customer the plan right away. If it will require more time, keep the client in the loop through every step of the process. 

Sometimes, you know right away that a customer complaint is unfounded. In those cases, resist the urge to argue. For example: If a customer says the floor wasn't cleaned, but you know it was, say “I'm sorry to hear the floors looked dirty this morning. We'll pay extra attention to them tonight.” A simple apology, even when undeserved, can save the client relationship.

Moving Forward
Keep a file of every complaint you receive and periodically review them to look for recurring issues. This will help you identify areas where technicians might need further training and determine whether your customers' service schedules work for them.

Every time you renegotiate a contract with an existing customer, this file will also allow you to provide examples of how you went above and beyond to help them out.

As tough as it is to hear negative things about your business, ask your customers how you can improve every chance you get. Complaints are one of the best tools at your disposal for keeping customers happy and your business thriving.

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