BLOG: The power of the poison pen…

You must have seen this one doing the rounds http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4344890/Virgin-the-worlds-best-passenger-complaint-letter.html cited as the best customer complaint letter by no lesser authority than The Telegraph, here we see one rather disgruntled Virgin customer direct a colourful diatribe to Mr Branson himself. And actually, it is rather hilarious.  Branson’s Director of Corp Comms has replied, and handled the complaint in rather good humour. But what are the customer service lessons to be learnt here?

Let people vent

We’ve all been there – furious at someone in a shop, or a restaurant, or an airport – even though we know it isn’t really their fault, and there is little they can do to remedy the situation. But actually, a remedy isn’t what we really want. We just want to vent. The beauty of good customer service is that much of the time it is just about sitting back and listening. This letter is a rant, it is a long, rambling unloading – but I bet that the writer felt better once he’d pressed the send button. Brands that let their customers talk to them always fare better than brands that put barriers in the way.  

The human touch

Part of the reason this letter is so hilarious, and so effective is because it is directed specifically at the face of the Virgin brand. And actually, that’s a good thing. Brands might pride themselves on snazzy email forms, or welcoming websites with endless FAQs, but actually, people want to speak to people, particularly when they are hacked off. An intimidating query box might lower the number of complaints you get, but its no good if people shun your brand forever because you got it wrong and they couldn’t tell you about it.  

Respond in the right way

Branson rang this guy. Now, sure, that might have been a publicity stunt by the Virgin press machine (I’m not convinced every complainant gets a personal call from the man himself), but in this instance, it shows the commitment to reflecting the effort that has gone into the complaint. This man has articulated his complaint clearly, and in great details. If your customers make the time to tell you what they want, then have the courtesy to listen and respond.  I expect this man will fly Virgin again, and I’d expect he may well get a handy upgrade on his next flight. A classic example of how a deserter can become an advocate if you get the customer service right.

by Neville Upton, Jan 27 2009, 03:50 PM