Useful tips for managing claims and disputes

One of the things all successful moving companies share is the ability to properly manage claims and disputes. Whether they primarily deal with a long-distance move, or whether they are more focused on storage, it is mandatory that they know how to handle comments and requests from customers. With this in mind, we offer you several useful tips for managing claims and disputes.

Managing claims and disputes

The way in which newbie companies handle claims and disputes is by answering any that comes along without much thought. While this can work to a certain extent, it is important to note that serious management of claims and disputes requires proper planning and preparation. You need to have the right customer management software for movers if you wish to handle them on an effective level. And you need to understand how you can use claims and disputes to your benefit.

Proper sorting

The first step in managing claims and disputes is to sort them out properly. Some claims need to be addressed ASAP by a company representative. Others aren’t as vital. Especially if they come from a customer that is prone to complaints. It will be your job to separate the two into manageable groups. You also need to make a distinction between issues that are easy to solve, and issues that are likely to take ample time.

The more time your spend sorting, the better you will understand which factors increase the importance of a claim or dispute. Ideally, you will have a clear hierarchy system. That way your customer service agents will have an easy time sorting incoming claims and disputes.

Address claims and disputes as quickly as possible

Once you have a sorting system in place, you need to see that your agents are able to address claims and disputes as quickly as possible. Luckily, with MoversTech CRM for movers, they won’t have to personally address every claim. Firstly, you want to have an automated answering system in place. That way, once a customer sends a claim or a dispute, they will get a notification saying that you will review their case as quickly as possible. While this can be simple stalling, know that it is quite valuable. A well-made system with just a bit of personalization can calm down an angry customer and have them approach the issue with a much more leveled head. Furthermore, because your agents are covered by this system, they won’t be under so much pressure to respond to every claim as it pops up.

What’s important to understand here is that customers expect a near-instant response. Without a reliable CRM system, no moving company can hope to answer customer claims in a time period they would find satisfactory. If you invest in a chatbot or a FAQ page, you can even look to enable customers to help themselves.

Use continuous monitoring

It is important to note that claims and disputes won’t only arrive on your email or website. If your run a social media profile, which you definitely should, you will also likely get claims and disputes on a regular basis. This also goes for independent websites like Google or Yelp where people can leave ratings or reviews.

Customers will comment on your company and your brand, be it a positive or negative light. And the best course of action is to actively monitor what they have to say. By doing so you will first ensure that there are no profanities in their comments. Secondly, you can address their claims and disputes and point them to your website. Finally, if customers are simply there to bash your brand and not actually solve their claims, you can look to do some damage control and present your brand in decent light.

Keep detailed records

As a moving company, it is in your best interest to keep a detailed customer record. By doing so you not only make customer management easier, but you also make your marketing more focused and you enable your moving leads software to function effectively. What is important to note here is that every claim or dispute should become a part of the customer’s record. By recording their claims you can see whether their issues were a fluke or a common occurrence. It if is something that happens often, you can try to outline what causes the issue and whether you can prevent it.

Don’t take it personal

When addressing claims and disputes you will likely run into a lot of negativity. Some customers simply have less patience than others and are far more difficult to cooperate with. There are even those that will use your company to vent out their frustration, even though the issue at hand is fairly minor. What you need to remember is that you need to keep a professional tone.

Ideally, that professional tone will be in accordance with your brand presence. If it is, solving claims and disputes can easily become a part of your marketing. You can link helpful blogs that will answer customer questions. Or you can point them directly to your services that can aid them. Whatever the case, it is important not to get into arguments with customers. By doing so you only stand to hurt your brand.

Final thoughts

The final piece of advice we have for you is to learn how to manage claims and disputes. Even if you are a company manager with a sizable customer relations team, you should still understand the basics of what managing claims and disputes entail. By doing so you will not only help your customer relations team. But you will also understand what your customer base can be like. Knowing this can help you better prepare for future business endeavors and approach your marketing with a true feeling for your target audience.