v Co n t E n t s List of figures and tables xi Preface xiii About the author xv 01 Complaints as opportunities 1 Increasing customer expectations 1 The power of the customer 3 Social media 4 Delivering excellent service 5 Levels of customer satisfaction 6 Customer complaints 8 What is a complaint? 9 Customer dissatisfaction 10 The risks involved in poor complaint handling 13 The positive power of effective complaint handling 14 The business case for excellent complaint handling 17 Key learning points 19 Rate your organization's approach to complaint handling 19 02 Encouraging dissatisfied customers to voice their complaints 21 Encouraging complaints 21 Why customers do not complain 22 Ways to encourage people to complain 24 Making best use of social media 28 Double deviation 31 The regulatory environment 33 Complaints standards bodies 34 Key learning points 35 Rate how well your organization encourages customers who are dissatisfied to complain 36