If you want your business to succeed and stand out from your competitors, it is vital that you are seen to be providing sensational service to your customers. This means going above and beyond expectations, implementing new technologies to streamline your processes and providing excellent complaint resolution services.
Effective complaints management systems can enhance a brand’s reputation, increase customer loyalty and provide a more positive working environment for employees. Frontline staff who are tasked with dealing with customer complaints will perform best when they are valued, well trained and adequately resourced. A positive company culture enhances customer services, improving staff retention levels which in turn offers consistency and reliability.
If you want customers to show loyalty and become ambassadors for your brand, you need to show them that you value them at every stage in their purchasing journey. It is also vital that you have procedures in place to collect, analyse and respond to feedback.
In this article we will look at the ways some famous brands deal with customer complaints and how this affects customer satisfaction. We will show, through advice and practical examples, how you can improve the way your business handles and resolves complaints. We will reiterate key components that ensure seamless customer interaction, including transparency, effective communication and empowered staff who have access to the resources they need to excel in complaints management and resolution.
Case Study 1: Waitrose
Founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose and Taylor, Waitrose is a brand of British supermarket considered at the ‘high-end’ of the grocery market. With over 300 stores (which includes 65 ‘Little Waitrose’ convenience stores), Waitrose holds a 5.1% share of the UK grocery market and is enjoying success beyond UK shores by exporting its own brand goods to be sold in more than 50 countries across the world!
The supermarket is part of The John Lewis Partnership and rather than being owned by stakeholders, everyone who works for the partnership has a small stake in it. This is why they call their staff ‘partners’.
According to the 2024 UK Customer Satisfaction Index, which collects results using online surveys of over 15,000 consumers, Waitrose is among the highest rated supermarkets for customer satisfaction.
Every year, Which? surveys customers to create their list of the best and worst supermarkets of the year. Results of the 2024 survey were based on the opinions of 3,141 shoppers and placed Waitrose in an impressive third place with an overall satisfaction score of 72%.
On the same survey, Waitrose was one of the only supermarkets to be rated:
- 5 out of 5 stars for ‘overall customer service’
- 5 out of 5 stars for staff availability and helpfulness
- 5 out of 5 stars for store appearance
Supermarkets were also rated for their online grocery services, with Waitrose coming in joint second place and being awarded the title of Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) for online shopping.
In-store shoppers praised Waitrose for:
- ‘Always clean and tidy stores’
- ‘Five star product quality’
One online customer commented:
- ‘Good communication and very friendly drivers’
These results clearly show that people trust the Waitrose brand and enjoy the customer experience both in-store and online, but how does Waitrose go above and beyond to be there for their customers if they have a question or complaint?
Extended customer service hours – rather than the typical 9-5 office hours, Waitrose understand that their customers lead busy lives and may require support outside of these hours. Their free phoneline is open 8am to 10pm during weekdays, 8am to 9pm on Saturdays and, most surprisingly, 9am to 9pm on Sundays, meaning that customers have access to the help that they need when they need it.
Ease of contact – Waitrose have all of their contact details available on the contact page of their website, making it easy for customers to find the information they require. They provide phone numbers, contact forms and an email address for all customer service queries.
Dedicated customer service pages – the website has a page featuring FAQs grouped by the different areas of operation, for example Grocery delivery and support, Grocery payments and refunds, or Waitrose app. Clicking on a heading takes you to a dedicated page with answers to all of the most common questions.
Specialist communication – dedicated email addresses for each specialist area of operation are also listed:
- Waitrose Cellar
- Waitrose Florist
- Waitrose Garden
- Waitrose Food and Drink Magazine
This means customers can access specialist help rather than being directed to one central hub that has to deal with everything. This increases the chance of complaints or queries being dealt with quickly and by specially trained staff, who have the right knowledge and solutions for your particular issue as opposed to overstretched staff who are trying to be everything to everyone.
Refund Goodwill Policy – Waitrose operate a goodwill policy which runs in addition to the statutory rights we all have under UK consumer laws. Under their goodwill policy, if you are not entirely satisfied with products from Waitrose:
- You have 35 days to return them (along with proof of purchase) You have 35 days to return them (along with proof of purchase) You have 35 days to return them (along with proof of purchase)
- You will receive a refund, exchange or replacement, even though you may no longer have a right under law for the company to do so
This policy gives customers peace of mind and also makes it easier for staff dealing with complaints, because they have a consistent set of rules to work with. It also shows the brand values customers, by going above minimum legal standards to resolve customer issues.
Feedback – Waitrose actively request feedback across their channels, including dedicated feedback forms on their website for product quality, in-store experiences, online shopping and loyalty card queries. They pride themselves on being responsive to customer suggestions and complaints and will make changes based on feedback they receive.
Personalisation – research shows us that personalisation is important to modern customers, with 74% in one survey responding that they feel frustrated when online content is not relevant to them. This year, Waitrose partnered with Netcore Unbxd who provide AI solutions for e-commerce. By implementing AI, they hope to improve the customer experience, making the experience more individual by learning from browsing history, past purchasing and patterns in customer behaviour.
Waitrose keep staff engaged by using a partnership model for the business and the opportunity for workers to share in the profit and success of the company. Overall, Waitrose are rated so highly in their customer service due to the ease of use of their website and how clear they make their contact information. They allow customers to contact them in different ways depending on which is most convenient for them.
Waitrose offer multiple ways for complaints to be resolved by a trained human, including listing UK based phone numbers that are available 14 hours a day on weekdays. They don’t discourage customers from contacting them by suggesting their question has probably already been answered elsewhere on the website (although with such detailed FAQ pages – it probably has) and they do not make you speak to a chatbot first.
Case Study 2: Amazon
Amazon is probably the most widely recognised e-commerce platform across the globe. From humble beginnings as a bookseller in the mid-90s, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos is now a multi-billionaire who was recently named by Forbes as the second wealthiest man in the world.
In 2020, The Institute of Customer Service named Amazon as the company with the best customer satisfaction score for the past decade. In their report they revealed that Amazon had a score of 87.4/100 on the UK Customer Service Index (UKSI) based on data collected between January 2010 and January 2020. This was the highest score in the UK.
In addition to their e-commerce platform, Amazon also offer:
- A streaming service via Amazon Prime
- Kindle Fire tablets and Kindle e-readers
- Amazon audible audiobooks
- Amazon Fresh grocery delivery
- They also have a partnership with Morrison’s offering free delivery on grocery orders to some UK Prime members
A few of the ways Amazon have taken steps to enhance the customer experience and employ a transparent approach to sales, delivery and complaint resolution are:
- They actively request feedback on products as well as Amazon sellers.
- They use simple star ratings to display feedback as well as listing more detailed reviews.
- Amazon were one of the first businesses to successfully implement the chatbot style pop-up window to deal with customer questions and complaints – even better, when the AI assistant cannot help you, they immediately connect you to a human customer service representative.
- Amazon use tracking technology so customers can see, in real time, where their products are on their journey and when they will be delivered.
- Amazon gives users the option to easily flag any responses from third-party sellers that are rude, unhelpful or do not solve their problem.
- The company offers next day delivery on thousands of items, and when things occasionally go wrong, if an Amazon fulfilment package is more than three days late, they automatically refund customers without argument.
- Amazon have routinely leveraged the power of technology and data analytics to deliver highly personalised recommendations direct to customer inboxes as well as on their website.
- Amazon offer simple, no stress returns and even send out pre-paid return labels to customers, unlike other companies who expect buyers to pay return postage. They also offer physical locations all over the UK where customers can take their items to be sent back to Amazon for a full refund.
- Today’s customer wants fast service and an immediate response to questions – if you don’t want to use the website or app to contact Amazon’s customer service, you can use the @AmazonHelp handle on X (formerly Twitter) which is monitored 24/7 in multiple languages.
Amazon command customer loyalty by being synonymous with success and progress, combining cutting-edge technology with a human touch. They provide fast and reliable customer service, easy transactions and an unrivalled inventory of products on one convenient, user-friendly website.
Case Study 3: Ritz-Carlton
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC operates the luxury brand ‘Ritz-Carlton’, which is famous for setting the standard for luxury accommodation provision across the world.
The Ritz-Carlton brand is known for decadence, luxury and elevated standards – they most certainly cater to the high-end of the hospitality industry. Prices for a deluxe-king room at the Ritz London start from £1,105, with a scenic park-view room at their flagship hotel in Boston costing upwards of $800 per night and a scenic-park suite almost $3,500! However, rather than their price tag, it is their approach to nurturing their employees and providing seamless customer satisfaction that the brand are most famous for.
One of their most famous stories of providing the WOW factor to a customer is that of Joshie the Giraffe. When a little boy left his beloved toy behind, the staff who found it could have simply added it to the lost property inventory or demanded the customer pay for return postage, but that is not the Ritz-Carlton way. The stuffed giraffe was posted back to the little boy, along with some free gifts – but not before staff had taken pictures of Joshie enjoying himself at the resort, getting spa treatments and relaxing by the pool. The photos were printed out and sent along with the package containing the giraffe and gifts, much to the delight of the family in question.
This is just one of many stories you can find about Ritz-Carlton employees going above and beyond – and there is a reason for this: Ritz-Carlton believe that sensational service begins with the employees and not the customer.
- They consider their workers their most important asset and refer to their staff as ‘ladies and gentlemen’
- The brand has good employee retention rates, allowing for consistent service and great teambuilding
- Employees are consistently empowered with resources to surprise and delight guests
- Team members have the autonomy to spend up to $2,000 per incident to resolve complaints or customer issues, without having to seek approval from managers
Most businesses do not operate in the high-end luxury world of Ritz-Carlton and could not even imagine spending that kind of money on resolving a complaint – however, the key takeaway is not the dollar amount. Rather, it is the trust the brand place in their staff, the autonomy they allow them and the fact that they acknowledge that sometimes, even amongst five-star luxury, things can go wrong and complaints need to be properly resolved.
Other Notable Brands Known for Excelling in Customer Service:
American Express – Amex are well known for offering great customer service, including 24/7 customer support over the phone, in secure messaging and via the app. Customers praise them for ‘prompt responses to messages’ and a ‘human touch’ allowing ‘complaints to be resolved quickly’.
Apple – Tech giant Apple are known for providing good tech support as well as greeting customers with a warm welcome as they enter any Apple store. The company spend a long time training their representatives in the ‘Apple way’ of doing things, using the acronym APPLE:
- Approach customers with a warm welcome
- Politely probe to find their needs
- Present a solution
- Listen for and resolve issues or concerns
- End with a fond farewell and invitation to return
Apple have trained their staff to leverage the power of relationship building to make sales and solve problems.
Hilton – Hilton Hotels offer simple customer support options via their website using a dedicated contact form. Customers can also request a call by entering their information which saves spending hours on hold when they have a complaint or issue.
- Hilton offers guests unrivalled self-service options via their app (including special requests, ordering food, checking in and out, digital keys and more)
- Hilton Hotels America rank amongst the top hotels for customer satisfaction according to the American Customer Service Index (ACSI)
- The brand monitor their social media handles and are very responsive to reviews left on sites like TripAdvisor
- They have been named the best company to work for in both the US and India in 2024
The Lego Group – One of the most trusted and well-known construction toy brands around, Lego are famous for their amazing customer service. From their eye-catching, easy to use website, you can easily contact customer support, ask questions and request missing or broken pieces from sets free of charge!
Lego make it easy because through their decades of experience, they have learned to pre-empt common customer issues, streamlining their processes and making it quick and easy for customers to access the help that they need.
Research shows that customers are more likely to leave negative reviews than positive ones, with 7% of customers only ever leaving bad reviews. However, if you search for reviews on Lego’s customer service you will generally find positivity, even on anonymous discussion sites like Reddit, which is quite unusual.
Conclusion
If you want people to trust your brand, it is essential that you are providing a top-class customer service experience, leveraging the power of digital technology and taking proactive measures to address complaints effectively.
There is a clear correlation between companies that look after their staff and companies that are excelling in customer service and complaint management. If you look on Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work in 2024 you will spot many of the same brand names as those listed amongst the highest rated for customer service, including the Lego Group and Apple. This is because when workers feel valued and have a sense of pride in where they work, they are more likely to want to go above and beyond to provide customer satisfaction.
