OF THE IDEAL SERVICERECOVERY & COMPLAINT RESPONSE

5 ELEMENTS

WHAT SCIENCE SAYS*

1 OFFER A QUALITY APOLOGY FOR THE FAILURE OR PROBLEM.

2 OFFER AN EXPLANATION FOR WHAT HAPPENED.

It’s amazing how far an apology will go to diffuse anger and restore customer trust and loyalty.

Be careful on this one! Customers will see through your explanation if it’s nothing more than an excuse. A good explanation is an honest description of what went wrong.

Even when remedies to failures are poor, customers still report higher satisfaction and loyalty when processes are fair and seek their input.

SATISFACTION WITH FIRM RECOVERY

WHAT DOES A HIGH QUALITY RESPONSE INTERACTION LOOK LIKE?WHAT CUSTOMERS SAY WHEN ASKED

WHY CUSTOMER INPUT MATTERS

GETTING THE FAILURE-RESPONSE FIT RIGHT

DIFFERENT MOTIVES, DIFFERENT RESPONSE

MEANS ON A 9-POINT SCALE

3 SEEK THE CUSTOMER’S INPUT INTO HOW TO BEST RESOLVE A PROBLEM.

Not all failures are the same, and neither are all responses. The most effective responses are when there is a good fit between the failure type and the recovery response.

4 MATCH THE RECOVERY RESPONSE TO THE FAILURE TYPE.

All complaints are not the same, and neither are all complainers. When a customer complains to benefit the firm, an apology and explanation may be all that is needed.

But some customers complain with an eye on the value they have lost, and it is especially important to offer these customers a remedy that makes up for their loss.

5 ADAPT THE RECOVERY RESPONSE TO THE MOTIVES OF THE CUSTOMER.

But not just any apology will do – it must be empathetic (given with warmth and understanding), elaborate (multiple

indications of sorrow), and soon after the failure.

47% 33% 32% 20% 20% 11%Apology Politeness Empathy Effort Explanation Honesty

High Quality Apology (empathetic, elaborate, &

prompt)

Low Quality Apology(says “I’m sorry” but without

empathy, elaboration, or promptness)

No Apology

Being Asked How to Remedy the Failure

Perceived Fairness of Procedures

Overall Recovery Satisfaction

When Asked

When Not Asked

6.1 4.8When High Procedural

Fairness

When Low Procedural

Fairness

6.8 4.1

FAILURE TYPE RECOVERY RESPONSE

Monetary Failure, e.g., overcharge, financial loss

Monetary Compensation, e.g., discount, refund

GOODFIT

BIG IMPACT

Failed Goods or Service, e.g., low quality product,long wait New Goods or

Service, e.g., exchange, new meal

GOODFIT

BIG IMPACT

Lack of Attention, e.g., unavailable staff, poor attitude

Apology

GOODFIT

BIG IMPACT

Roschk, Holger and Susanne Kaiser (2013), “The Nature of an Apology: An Experimental Study on How to Apologize After a Service Failure,” Marketing Letters 24 (3) (2013), 293-309.Tax, Stephen S., Stephen W. Brown, and Murali Chandrashekaran (1998), “Customer Evaluations of Service Complaint Experiences: Implications for Relationship Marketing,” Journal of Marketing, 62 (April), 60-76.Karande, Kiran, Vincent P. Magnini, and Leona Tam (2007), “Recovery Voice and Satisfaction After Service Failure: An Experimental Investigation of Mediating and Moderating Factors,” Journal of Service Research, 10 (2), 187-203.Holger, Roschk and Katja Gelbrich (2014), “Identifying Appropriate Compensation Types for Service Failures: A Meta-Analytic and Experimental Analysis,” Journal of Service Research, 17 (May), 195-211.Yeoh, Poh-Lin, Sam W. Woolford, Abdolreza Eshghi, and Gul Butaney (2014), “Customer Response to Service Recovery in Online Shopping,” Journal of Services Research, 14 (2), 33-56.

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RESEARCH SOURCES

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Service recovery & complaint handling refer to the actions taken by a firm in response to a product or service failure or problem.

I want you to know this

cost me

That’s what I

expected

I am just trying to help That’s not

necessary