Problem with handling complaint

[wizzard]

Hi everyone,

i have a little problem with handling complaint system.

I am CEO of embroidery company (4 employee). Customers send to us own's logos, projects and my team pleace it on clothes (hats, sweatshirts, t-shirts). We have special sewing machine. Something like that embroiderynyc[.]com (sorry I don't want to advert anyone). We selling products detail and wholesale.

In month we have several complaints (5-6). Every complaint we consider and work to progress in future. About 1 or 2 complaint we accept and correct.
Our complaints concerns:
- letters are to close, to far to each other (1. subjective feeling customer, customer see 1mm difference 2. customer accept project before we start),
- colors are to bright,
- delivery time is to long (many work),

I got several questions and i will be greatfull if you reply.
- what we must to do with dissatisfied customer? We correct our mistake but sometimes customer want to cheat. Many times complaints are unfounded.
- how to compensate a inaccuracy? Our costs can't be higher than profit.
- how to bulid relationship?

[nealrm]

I am going to assume that you are a smaller business, so having several complaints a month seems high. For starters I would make sure that the approval process is robust. Specifically that the work they approve is as close to what they get as possible. Because graphics displayed on a computer and those stitched on are different mediums, they are not interchangeable for approval purposes. So they need to either get an actual sample or the image shown must be adjusted to appear as fabric.

On your questions. If you make a mistake, you fix it even if that means you loose money. The customer didn't make the mistake you did. This is something that you have control over.
You other questions are answer by making sure what the see is what they get.

[huggytree]

i focus on the main/repeat issues....you cant cover yourself with every issue that could come up..sometimes your going to lose...this should be figured into your pricing

id spend my time focusing on getting a signed ok for the work...give them an accurate example and let them sign off on it....if they change their minds later---tough luck

you will never make all your customers happy.....with your type of business its very subjective work...one person may say colors are perfect while the next one may say its too bright....

one thing ive always, ALWAYS found is that the cheapest customer is the fussiest customer......i dont know your pricing, but if your dealing w/ cheapskates all day long you may want to raise your prices (and then your quality/service) and focus on higher end people...

ive had shirts printed up many times....i never really looked at them very much afterwards or got critical with the printer.....at a glance it looked good and thats all i needed

i get customer complaints a few times a year...sometimes 1 or 2 a year, some years 0......sometimes ive given a full refund to get rid of the person....sometimes ive ignored them...bad reviews will hurt you....so you need to learn how to read people....99% of people who are unhappy will just not be a repeat customer and not complain

[tinker9696]

Sounds like the closing process is what needs to be fixed. The customer needs to agree to the finished product and be informed that the translation from paper or graphics to fabric is not going to be exact. Find a way to get their approval before it becomes an issue of dissatisfaction.

[Fulcrum]

The three above replies cover most of your questions.

When the complaint comes in about delivery times, I need to ask you (the manufacturer) the following:
What delivery times are you promising?
What does your production line look like?
How organized are the work stations?
Do the employees know what the delivery times are?
Have your employees offered (been asked) what their suggestions for improving efficiencies are?

I've got lots of questions, which lead to more questions, but I think it's best to start with the above.

[David Hunter]

One thing I've learned is you can't make everyone happy. :-/

[wizzard]

Thanks everyone for important tips.

It looks that we must upgrade approval proces.


For starters I would make sure that the approval process is robust. Specifically that the work they approve is as close to what they get as possible. Because graphics displayed on a computer and those stitched on are different mediums, they are not interchangeable for approval purposes.




What delivery times are you promising?
What does your production line look like?
How organized are the work stations?
Do the employees know what the delivery times are?
Have your employees offered (been asked) what their suggestions for improving efficiencies are?

I've got lots of questions, which lead to more questions, but I think it's best to start with the above.


Delivery time is 21 days (we says that). Sometimes can be 23-24 days. The most of customers is happy when they get product but we had 3 times case thats the customer didn't accept (to long).
Production line look is similar to that of the link.
Employees knows what is time of delivery. Sometimes we had too much work and had a lot of work and late.
Every week we sit down together and talk about the elements that can be changed.


Do you think that every handling complaints MUST be included in profit company?

[DeniseTaylor]

Hi

I loved all the above responses. Very real advice.


Do you think that every handling complaints MUST be included in profit company?

If you're asking whether every complaint should be absorbed by your company I would say no. If you adjust your production line so that there is an understanding and approval prior to work being done, you should minimize those issues as said above.

And if you do the job correctly according to spec approval, you shouldn't have to take a loss on it. However, the trick can be handling the customer (when they're wrong) without ending up on the short end of the stick, so to speak.

I'm wondering if by some chance you take orders online and colors can vary from computer to computer. If so, I'd make that known in order to dissuade people from using that complaint. When they sign off the approval, they would then agree to having been informed.

[Fulcrum]

There are companies that will reject/cancel an order if it is received late. It doesn't matter if the order is for paper or cutting tools (I've seen it happen multiple times). More often then not these companies are the large, international conglomerates.

I'm going to recommend reading "Quick Response Manufacturing" by Rajan Suri (available on Amazon). There is a lot of information in there that may help you reduce your delivery times.