Going back to basics can drive a positive customer experience

18 Feb 2019 Blog

BVRLA Operations Manager, Amanda Brandon explains how good customer service can be as simple as ABC...

Handling over 2,000 complaints a year from members’ customers in the UK and ECRCS customers in Europe, as well as around 4,000 email enquiries every month, the BVRLA’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service has accumulated a great deal of insight relating to customer experience over the years.

With around 15.5 million vehicle rental transactions in the UK alone, the volume of complaints coming through is a tiny proportion, but they can help us to identify common areas that we can address by providing training, guidance and advice to members.

Clearly there are good ways and bad ways of handling complaints and sometimes it’s the small things that can go a long way with resolving an issue.

A customer wants to be listened to and we encourage all members to welcome any form of feedback from customers, good or bad, as that’s what drives a culture of continuous improvement and ultimately makes for a better customer experience.

We like to encourage members to embrace and embed a culture of continuous improvement and don’t be afraid to listen to customers’ views – the good and the bad.

Here’s my ‘Back to Basics ABC of Good Practice’:

Be… Apologetic – Sounds simple but often a customer just wants to hear an apology and have their complaint acknowledged and listened to. It is good to have empathy with the customer, expressing regret that they feel that their experience has been a negative one.

Be… Benevolent – Offering an appropriate gesture of goodwill can go a long way in turning a negative experience into a positive. Things will not always go to plan and sometimes mistakes happen. Often an acknowledgement, apology and a goodwill gesture can placate a customer and prevent escalation.

Be open to… Change – Acknowledging if there was a procedural failing and reassuring the customer that steps have been taken to ensure that it never happens again will go a long way to make a customer feel that the complaint has been taken seriously.

I’m confident that all businesses want to strive for customer service excellence, but sometimes things go wrong. By simply going back to basics on customer care, an issue can be resolved quickly, avoiding a lengthy complaints process and leaving the customer with a positive experience. It’s a win-win.