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How important is the customer experience on a website?
If customers are complaining about the site's functionality, the quality of the content and are voicing their complaints is this something that should be taken seriously? Or are there always going to be some people are not happy with the user experience for one reason or another?
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7 Answers
Customer complaints about website functionality, and content quality should definitely be taken seriously, and even more so, if they are left on websites viewable by the public, as they can go viral and influence other customers or prospects.
Listen carefully. Explore the issues that are being brought up. Seek to understand. Respond with a thank you for taking the time and energy to provide feedback.
Describe the actions you plan to take (if any) or explain why things are the way they are. But look for ways for customers to get what they want from your website quickly.
Do not assume that customers will start at your home page. Given the ability of search engines to take customers to any page on your site, don't assume they have come from another page on your site. Make sure every page is stand alone and doesn't assume the customer has come through a sequence of clicks.
Have many ways for the customer to provide you with feedback. Make the feedback mechanisms visible and prominent on every web page.
Use social media marketing tools to listen to your customers on sites other than your own...on review sites, complaint sites, on Twitter, on Facebook. Look for forums where customers talk about you and give each other advice. Make sure you are listening.
Try to look at the comments from the customer's perspective. Hire people who don't know your site to provide you feedback on what they think when they look at your site. (often called usability studies).
Check out your competitors. See what their web experience is compared to yours. It's a constantly changing web world out there.
Any time a customer or customers complain, any reasonable business owner is going to take heed. After all, if it weren't for the customers, the business wouldn't exist. Websites are an integral part of marketing and keeping a company in the consumer forefront. If complaints are received, then they should be investigated. This can be done by a phone survey, a mail survey, an email survey, etc. If you get to the heart of what the customer is disatisfied with, then you can change it and make the experience more pleasurable and lucrative.
For functionality you should never have any complaints if no content is more than 3 clicks away from the home page - if it is, you fail and need to try again.
For content - if users complain you fail again, it has to be content they like. The fact they care and are willing to complain says you aren't missing by a mile, but by an inch. Listen, and fix things.
When a user complains it is a signal that something in your website does not meet the needs of a certain segment of customers. Don't be fooled by the numbers of customers that complain: the true number of customer impacted by the issue is likely to be much higher.
The customers who are complaining are simply identifiying themselves as customers who care enough about you to take their time to share valuable information with you. The customers who you do not hear from are simply the ones that do not care enough about you to take the time to write to you. Or the ones that did care and did take the time to complain and never heard anything back from you.
There is an amusing story I want to share with you. It goes like this: "Just because no-one is complaining does not mean that the parachutes work perfectly."
Jonathan, there is no doubt that there will always be customers or prospective customers who want to share their opinions and just complain about something. That said, however, whenever customers or prospective customers take the time to voice a concern, that shows that they care. And if they care, you have a rare opportunity to take a potentially upset customer and turn him or her into a life-long/repeat customer who will promote you each and everyday to everyone he/she speaks to.
Websites are very important in today's social media-centric world, and as a result, if people cannot find their desired information within three clicks, they will leave your site and surf on over to your competitor's site. Therefore, if you receive an email request or an email question, consider it as a gift. The person wants to do business with your company and would prefer NOT to do business with your competitor - so please follow up quickly - within 24 hours or sooner - by an employee with a name/email address/direct phone number. If something unique is provided to the person, you will have created the unique customer experience, and more than just the one person will know about it.
PS - Great comment about the parachutes, Maz!
Jonathan
Most of the responses are apt and one should look at website complaints a bit more seriously. In this age where customer service is being redrafted, website becomes a key element in servicing your customers. As we move into the next cycle, self service and community based services take a key role in customer service. To this effect, one's website becomes a service station for customers. If you were to look at your website, 3 primary attributes come into focus
1. Accessibility and Navigability
2. Quality of Information
3. Functionality
Customers who are complaining on any of these 3 areas are to be treated as genuine and needs to be responded to.
Cheers
Subra
Simply put, the online experience should be consistent with the in-person experience. Any experience the customer has, online or in person, is an opportunity for that customer to form an impression. For some great information about the online experience, go to www.StellaService.com. They rate online experience in a number of different areas.
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