B2B Client-Satisfaction Programmes: Adding tremendous value to your services FREE

B2B Client-Satisfaction Programmes

Client-satisfaction can be a touchy subject simply because there's so much make-wrong involved in it.

Anyone who has received a complaint from an "unrestrained" client knows how difficult it can be to be at the receiving end of such unpleasant communication.

Also, a client who is thoroughly upset and/or disappointed, is not easily placated. More often than not it is quite demanding to correct things back to how they were so that the client is fully satisfied with his service again.

I know it is often said that a complaint can be the start of a greatly improved customer-relationship... but in reality it's not necessarily true.

It's more of a generalisation of wishful thinking, because any complaint is actually a sign of a severe break of cooperation, and I fail to see how that could EVER be seen as something positive.

This is especially so when we speak of the B2B sector and relationships with clients therein.

The importance of timing in B2B client-satisfaction — he who gets there first wins!

Time is an important factor in client-satisfaction. It's important in several ways, all caused by the intricacies of human thinking really.

If a client complaints and it takes you "too long" to get back to him or correct the mistake, then his dissatisfaction will worsen greatly.

It's all in the mind of the client, really... that's the important thing to understand. The fact that their THINKING is ILLOGICAL does not exclude the fact that it is the primary factor governing your income through influencing the length (and constructiveness) of your relations with clients.

No matter how illogical the thinking of the client, you need to go with what HE thinks, in other words.

The same thing is always seen from many viewpoints. The client's viewpoint cannot be identical to yours.

What for you is minor oversight or something caused by the ignorance of the client may well look like intentional fraud on your part in the eyes of the CLIENT.

Let's say you realise that he hasn't read the fine print in the contract, he hasn't the required experience to know standard operating procedures in your industry, or his inexperience has caused him to build totally unrealistic expectations about the service included...

So how are you going to HANDLE this? How are you going to explain him that without making him feel like an idiot OR, as is more likely, really upsetting him because — he feels — "you're blaming him for your mistakes and adding insult to injury by calling him stupid...?"

Not the most inviting of circumstances to jump into, is it?

Now, time plays a part in this example too.

Let's say that YOU manage to enquire about this client's level of satisfaction BEFORE HE complains.

By your timing, you will have acquired a significant advantage and, more likely than not, the problem will never blow up even near the same proportions it would if HE jumps the gun and complains before you asked.

Most clients will be positively affected by your honesty and moral character for having the courage and decency to BE INTERESTED in whether or not he feels good about his service.

The fact that you got there first proves that your mistake was not intentional.

It proves the opposite... that your intent is to ensure that your client is fully satisfied with what he receives. It also indicates that you believe in the high quality of your products / services and have nothing untoward to hide.

Thus, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and money by getting there first.

This is not a complicated thing to fix.

It's done by installing a client-satisfaction programme, having someone (with immaculate manners and a pleasant telephone voice) call through your clients on monthly basis, going through a carefully planned set of short client-satisfaction interviews throughout the year.

Now, time is also involved in how this whole problem came to be in the client's world.

Anatomy of dissatisfaction of a client

It's not commonly realised how a complaint feels for the client and what events lead up to it.

But knowing the anatomy of dissatisfaction and its development is extremely useful in understanding how to avoid unpleasant complaints.

What you SEE in a complaint is really only the tip of the iceberg.

What you DON'T SEE is what enabled this client to get SO riled up that he felt he HAD to complain... at which point some significant and irreparable damage was already done to the client-relationship.

Different people have varying levels of tolerance against non-optimum things which they experience as unfair / dishonest / shortchanging acts against them. It rather depends on the person's character but also how much injustice he feels to have encountered previously.

Suffice to say that someone who feels every car dealer (he ever bought a vehicle from) has cheated him, would be a nightmare customer for the next poor bloke who gets his custom.

Also affecting this tolerance is the degree to which the person feels inhibited from expressing his dissatisfaction. Being displeased is considered rude, so just SPEAKING OUT can be an awful restraint on someone who feels he has not received what was promised.

Thus, it works much like a reservoir, into which pour the little upsets of each working day. Note that not all (or ANY) of these upsets in the buildup have to have anything to do with YOU. It's just "bother-bother-bother" and no matter WHAT kind, see?

That's how upsets come to be... and that's also why the intensity of the outbreak is usually all out of proportion to whomever is the target of the complaint.

But that's the way the cookie crumbles. So the tension builds up for our client, little by little, day by day.

There's no outlet or overflow, so the pressure mounts until the person's "cup runneth over..."

And it's Rambo-time, time to strike back and take revenge, see?

WHEN his cup runs over, when his unspent rage overcomes the restraint of his inhibitions... well, it's doomsday time, end of the world... he goes absolutely RABID.

In reality he doesn't... or it doesn't appear that way for the observer.

Yes, the client is upset, his cheeks are flushed, his voice is a bit uncontrolled and his expression more so... but it doesn't seem THAT bad... right?

Wrong.

For HIM this is an emotional upheaval of apocalyptic proportions.

In HIS universe, he feels he has lost his control and he definitely doesn't LIKE the way he is now.

And the reason he is that way is... you.

That's in his mind. Of course, if he hadn't those inhibitions of communication, he could have avoided this.

But human beings aren't the master of their emotions and this is all about those accumulated insults, provocations, attacks, AND his own failures to do and face up to and whatnot... all negative emotions all jumbled up without organisation and differentiation... all this is coming out now and finally he has FOUND THE RIGHT TARGET.

YOU.

So, if you've ever felt a bit sorry for yourself when faced with a raging client, now you know why it was justified. You're at the receiving end of a LOT MORE than what's justified or fair.

And here comes the actual truth about complaints: You CANNOT EVER handle it to his complete satisfaction.

Never.

It's not possible because HE has attacked you with a lot more than what you caused. And since he has no real ability to separate the negative emotions (to label each correctly to its actual cause point), he will henceforth consider YOU the "root of all evil."

How could you correct those things you know nothing of and have absolutely NO control over either?

And somewhere in his heart HE knows he has treated you unfairly too. Not only does he consider it wrong to behave badly during his moment of explosion but he has a nagging feeling that you were NOT to blame for all his upset.

So how could you ever make this go away?

You cannot. So don't believe those who claim that it's GOOD to have a client complain as that usually leads to a far better customer-relationship.

It doesn't.

We reenact our emotional outbursts with those who "caused" them. The fact that a person actually causes his own feelings does not enter into it because that's rationalising whereas we're talking about enacting feelings.

So if a client blows up in your face, he will forever after remain somewhat disgruntled with you. He is WATCHING YOU now. The upset was NOT cleared.

Oh, I'm not talking about the social veneer, good manners and all that jazz here. Sure, he will possibly SAY it's all handled. He might even apologise for his outburst. But somewhere inside the embers of that rage are kept alive and you can be certain that they flame up again at some point in future.

Another natural alternative consequence of such an upset is that the client moves his business elsewhere. That's because your name, voice, invoice, products — anything of yours — will forever rekindle the EMBARRASSMENT he feels about losing his head with you.

Don't think for a minute that it's in your interest to have someone treat you unfairly.

A client whom you compensate for something for which you're NOT actually responsible "just to humour him" will DISLIKE YOU thereafter. The way to turn a dissatisfied client into an ogre is to concede to his every demand. That's the way to more and bigger demands as he will compound his misconduct the more he violates your trust.

So it works NOT to give in to raging clients. It can be an idea to refund someone but ONLY to get rid of him quickly in order to minimise the disruption and damage caused by one person.

Don't believe that it's in your interest to let clients alone until their negative emotions reach critical mass.

You don't want any part of this lottery of "who happens to be chosen as the culprit of all his evils, to receive all the vituperation and demand of compensation for all the trials and tribulations of his life."

No thanks... opt out of that list of lucky losers!

B2B client-satisfaction — taking precautionary measures to ensure YOU never become the target

In our example, the client chooses someone to blame.

It is more or less a random decision, not an analytical decision at which he arrived after accurate analysis of cause and effect.

So you drew the short straw and now you'll pay the price.

You'll have to spend a lot of time with this client, knowing you can never fully handle his dissatisfaction, knowing you will lose him sooner than you would have if he had chosen someone else to blame.

Is it fate? Was it meant to be?

Not at all. In reality it was YOUR CHOICE to have this happen... well, indirectly it was.

Of course, without the knowledge of what really happens behind the scene (and fixing our unsuspecting attention solely on the tip of the iceberg), you had no way of avoiding it.

Yet now knowing something won't save us from the consequences of what came to be due to that unfortunate oversight.

As far as your life is concerned, it IS now a fact that you have become "selected" as the source of all evil in this client's universe.

And yet it would have been SO EASY TO AVOID.

You could have installed a simple client-satisfaction programme to ensure YOU PROVIDE THE OUTLET for his pent-up emotions on the general subject of "dissatisfaction toward service providers and the world..."

To put it more accurately, you only have to ENQUIRE about his satisfaction in a correct way to guarantee that IF (and when) he blows his fuse, the pressure wave is directed toward SOMEONE ELSE.

This is not the place to be socially responsible. YOUR choice is not "whether or not he blows" but only "whether or not YOU are the target of it."

Given those options, I think anyone would choose not to be the target.

Now, I emphasise that you won't end up having to listen to a lot of worries of your clients if you implement this type of client-satisfaction programme.

The act of ASKING is what does the trick... again stressing that PROVIDED it's done right.

See, most clients are too conservative to entrust their worries to a relative stranger... but the fact that YOU CARE and YOU ASK will form an impenetrable pressure valve safeguarding YOU and bypassing you effectively if and when the explosion comes.

Bonus elements of a tailored B2B client-satisfaction programme

While a client-satisfaction programme will ensure YOU are never the target of clients' pent-up frustrations, a correctly planned and tailored system will also provide several additional "bonuses" in terms of benefits.

One is that clients will stay on your services far longer.

The average length a client stays your customer can be greatly increased by ensuring they see YOU as the "positive exception in an otherwise uncaring world of continually deteriorating customer care."

See here:

You cannot change the fact that most clients have a lot of negative considerations and generalisations about those who serve them. "Once you've seen one car dealer, you've seen them all" is the way we think.

So they'll have disappointments and cynical thoughts and "information from reliable sources" about YOUR industry as well... and you cannot change those as that would be an educational undertaking of nationwide proportions.

But you CAN utilise another fixed idea that's commonly shared within your target group. By installing a client-satisfaction programme you can convince them that YOU "are the exception that proves the rule."

Customers stay with you practically forever IF you ensure that they see you as the positive exception in terms of "caring about their satisfaction."

This then produces the ideal scene for NOT getting into situations where clients would (or could) transgress against you (such as demanding too much or accusing you unfairly), which again ensures they have no reason to leave you.

Don't think that a difficult client leaving you will have no problems with the NEXT service provider he leeches onto. Of course he will, just like he had with you AND the competitor with whom he was BEFORE becoming a mixed blessing for you company.

Also, don't think that your competitors necessarily have some key of hidden knowledge on how to handle clients better to such degree that they could take away and KEEP your customers.

The fact is that if YOU provide your clients with a distraction-free harbour without any chance of major upsets... THEY WILL STAY WITH YOU.

Of course there are those few individuals whose sole purpose of existence is to make trouble.

But if you can RETAIN clients practically for GOOD then you can also indulge in the luxury of adjusting your clientele in the case of those few troublemakers. Let them continue on their eternal search for a service provider who likes being transgressed upon and criticised continually... and good riddance.

The overwhelming majority of clients will settle down nicely if you install a tailor-made client-satisfaction programme.

Now, other benefits of such a system include a revitalisation of your REFERRAL programme and a higher resell value of goods or services to these clients.

Clients who are correctly interviewed so they look and realise that they're satisfied will want to endorse your company to others.

Now, you may wonder what I mean with "look and realise..." The thing is that people don't usually SEE that they're satisfied. If everything goes as it was intended then it gives no cause for a complaint... which is how the mind usually works.

In other words, just because you deliver what they justifiably expected gives NO CAUSE FOR THANKS. Of course it does but not unless you ASK.

Only once you ASK will they look at it from THAT ANGLE of "satisfied or not." Once they do, they will realise they ARE satisfied and, believe it or not, it will be news to them.

So you're making your clients AWARE of their already-existing CAUSE for being satisfied.

Amazingly, one cannot really influence clients' satisfaction much (if any) by increasing the QUALITY OF YOUR PRODUCTS.

But you can increase it onto a whole new stellar level by making them SEE that they're receiving exactly what (or more than) they expected... and you can then MAINTAIN the satisfaction on that higher level by continuing your client-satisfaction programme.

It's really so unfair, but the fact is that UNTIL YOU ASK, there little or no SATISFACTION in existence. There's only CAUSE to be satisfied, but only few minds can make the final leap to FEEL satisfied unless correctly encouraged to do so.

Thus, the act of enquiring about their satisfaction is what actually "CAUSES" satisfaction, if done correctly.

Installing a B2B client-satisfaction programme

The way your programme is planned as to its contents — how many interviews and what kinds of questions are asked — and its way of being used are elementary to its success.

You need to ask exactly the right kinds of questions to evoke the correct reactions and bring birth to the wanted realisations in the minds of your clients.

Time comes to play here again in that these interviews — contacts by your company with the client — need to be sufficiently FREQUENT to ensure that if (and when) the client's disgruntlement overflows it won't choose US as the target.

To put it another way, the EFFECTIVE lifespan of the protection provided by one client-satisfaction interview is very limited and definitely shorter than what one might expect.

Thus, the required frequency is higher than commonly believed because we need to keep the protective bypass valve there and it needs to be "recreated" continually.

Once a month is about the right frequence. It can be a bit longer but not much, if you want it to do its thing.

Yet this brings about another problem, namely that of the interviews. You cannot ask the SAME questions every four to six weeks as that in itself would cause upsets or irritation.

You don't want to include any element of irritation in your client-satisfaction programme, as that would obviously work against the purpose of the activity itself, creating dissatisfaction.

Thus, the client-satisfaction tools — interviews, letters, surveys, reminders, and so on — need to be planned very well so they RENEW the positive effects without ever seeming repetitive.

Now, many executives hesitate to install a client-satisfaction programme simply because they feel that its implementation alone could cause several hard-to-handle complaints.

I understand that it may appear that way, but in reality it's never wrong (or too late) to begin showing your clients that you care how they experience your services.

The vast majority of clients will welcome it and show their appreciation openly.

Yet there is a funny phenomenon that often keeps us thinking that "no news is good news," thus causing a back off toward client-satisfaction programmes.

This is because we all make mistakes. It is not possible to do something continually with absolute 100% perfection. Mistakes are unavoidable.

The problem arises when an unintentional mistake is made and the client doesn't NOTICE it... but we DO some time afterwards. Now it becomes a "terrible cover up" — or so it FEELS to us — and starts influencing our willingness to ASK the client whether he is satisfied with what he receives.

That's how the nightmare begins. But the thing is that an individual judges himself far more harshly than the client would. We make a big thing of our mistake... and the more time passes, the bigger we blow it up... and the more we begin explaining it too.

Well, the CLIENT would probably not raise an eyebrow about it. He has probably noticed it long ago and shrugged it off. But WE punish ourselves with our oversight... and gradually it affects our willingness to communicate with our clients.

And since it's impossible to do everything perfectly every time (at least in one's OWN mind), then it is quite normal to feel apprehensive about starting a client-satisfaction programme which would reach out to clients and ASK about their satisfaction.

That's where the "no news is good news" really comes from in B2B...

In reality, implementing a client-satisfaction programme will only IMPROVE conditions. It proves to clients that you CARE and WANT to find out any omissions or mistakes your company has made.

Of course there may be one or two known (or unknown as of yet) troublemakers within the clientele, who might react negatively.

But surely any client who attacks you for enquiring about his satisfaction is not trying to cooperate or act fairly... and he would have complained anyhow.

And naturally if there's something brewing with some client (he is "building up" his reservoir of negative thoughts) then you will hear about it... but it will be far easier to fix because YOU ASKED about it... you got there FIRST, see?

As with any new thing, there can be some initial difficulties... but a functional client-satisfaction programme is probably the most beneficial thing a company could ever implement simply because it will instantly begin lengthening customer-relationships, increasing the value of your services and bringing in new sales and referrals.

And that's not such a bad thing.

Now, as you may have guessed already, we do take assignments for creating tailor-made client-satisfaction programmes for B2B companies. We also conduct client-satisfaction assignments for B2B companies with or without an ISO quality system. If you're looking for more than just how to fill the terms of quality system auditing, contact us for more details on our custom-made client-satisfaction surveys.

If you're interested in finding out more about client-satisfaction, please read the presentation of our Marketing Analysis introductory service which will can also give insight into what a tailor-made client-satisfaction programme could offer to your company.

If web site presentation is important to you, click here to read about our Internet Marketing & Search Engine Optimization Analysis.

Trust your instincts and work toward more communication with your clients. That will definitely forward the goals you've set for your business activity.

Best wishes,

Harry Kafka
HDK Consultants Ltd
32 Manning Close
Richmond Square
East Grinstead RH19 2DR
West Sussex, United Kingdom
Tel. 01342-328 116
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