Think of a complaint as an intangible asset. Be grateful someone has told you, rather than voted with their wallet, never to place another order. A complaint identifies an issue, perhaps with your product, employees, or internal processes. By hearing about the issue, it can be investigated and hopefully remedied.
To ere is human. The best advice one particular mentor gave me, many years ago was "Mistakes will happen: it's how you handle the news that counts."
The definitive international standard recommends asking on quotes, statements of work, invoices, delivery notes and picklists.
Understand what can go wrong in handling customers complaints. Turn customer complaints to your advantage. Gain insight into frameworks that will help you recognise and avoid bad practices.
You cannot handle complaints if you do not know about them. Step one is to ask for complaints.
