Firm says beefs from consumers make a great marketing tool

National Post

Many businesses view complaints handling as nothing more than a time-consuming and costly chore. But looked at in another, more positive, way, complaints can be a useful means to a marketing end.

'For goodwill, it's exceptional,' said Scott Griffith, vice-president with Tell Us About Us Inc., a Winnipeg company that uses squads of operators who take calls from customers of all sorts of businesses all over North America.

Tell Us About Us makes certain that those complaints are resolved by the correct person in each company within 24 hours.

'It says you care about your customer and that you're interested,' he said.

'Going that extra step and going through the research, you get a lot of valuable information you can use to improve your business as well as things that will translate directly to the bottom line,' said mr. Griffith.

The company's software allows clients to track complaints, identifying problem areas that need attention, exceptional or underperforming locations or sectors, as well as finding aspects in which the company excels.

But the complaint resolution is just half of what the company does.

Tell Us About Us also phones customers to solicit their views on a client, conceiving, conducting and interpreting market research that its clients can use with complaints to get a fuller picture of how their company is perceived, in addition to services or goods its customers want that it may not have thought of.

The system is built on proprietary software that brings all that data together.

CIBC, Dairy Queen, Popeye's Chicken and stores and restaurants in 26 major American airports rely on Mr. Griffith and Tell Us About Us.

'Our organization exists to help companies communicate more effectively with their customers, and to help customers communicate easily with large organizations,' Mr. Griffith said.

'Built into that is an accountability system that enables tracking of all issues through to resolution and the reporting of all issues on a macro level so you can see what's going on in customer service across your organization.'

Mr. Griffith said there are about a dozen other companies that do aspects of what tell Us About Us does, but that it's the only one that puts consumer complaints and feedback together.

'Every aspect contributes to the perception of your brand in the marketplace. Companies can see how they're performing across the board and detect problems before they occur, or work on solving them.'