Social media is one channel companies can’t ignore when it comes to a customer complaint. Today, an increasing number of customers are avoiding traditional customer service channels in favor of Tweeting and posting their customer complaint online. Further, these legions of customers are not just venting their complaints, they expect companies to respond.

These developments represent more than a shift in customer communication preferences—they represent a fundamental change in consumer psychology!

Until now, our consumer complaining psychology has been characterized by a basic sense of hopelessness and pessimism. In many studies of customer complaining behavior, less than 5% of dissatisfied customers voiced their complaints to companies directly and instead preferred to forgo any chances of a resolution and simply vent their frustrations to friends and acquaintances. These customers were convinced that complaining through regular customer service channels would be too time consuming and laborious and was unlikely to resolve their problem.

Indeed, complaining psychology tells us that our negative mindset about complaining not only determines our behavior but it gets triggered in most complaining situations, even in our personal lives (e.g., our friends are far more likely to hear a complaint we have about our spouse than our spouse is).

However, the ease of complaining via Twitter and the expectation that companies who monitor social media platforms will respond to customer complaints is causing a real shift in consumer psychology. Specifically, customers are feeling more empowered and more likely to speak up. As a result, companies should expect to see a rapid increase in customers who use social media platforms to voice their complaints and dissatisfactions.

But that is good news for companies!

We know that when companies handle complaints well, the customer becomes even more loyal than they were before and they spread powerful and positive word of mouth—now amplified by the reach of social media. This occurs because complaints traditionally represent a rupture in the relationship between the customer and the company. If the complaint isn’t handled well, the customer will take their business elsewhere. But by handling the complaint well, companies not only resolve the customer’s problem but create strong bonds of trust that serve to amplify customer loyalty.

In the vast majority of industries it is far more expensive to recruit new customers through traditional outreach and marketing efforts than it is to retain existing customers through improved complaint handling and customer service. Therefore, customer complaints on social media represent incredible opportunities for companies to initiate a dialogue with their customers, address their concerns, mend the rupture in the relationship and create loyal fans that will spread positive word of mouth and contribute the company’s bottom line.

Understanding our complaining psychology and how it impacts consumers in the age of social media will help companies adapt to this rapidly changing customer service landscape. Those companies that learn to view complaints, especially those voiced on social media platforms as golden opportunities will be able to parlay their insights into changes that increase customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth and enhance the company’s bottom line.

Guy Winch Ph.D. is a psychologist, speaker and author of The Squeaky Wheel: Complaining the Right Way to Get Results, Improve Your Relationships and Enhance Self-Esteem (Walker and Company 2011). As a key-note speaker, Guy has given talks about customer service, customer loyalty, complaining psychology and consumer behavior. He can be reached via the contact page on his website at http://www.guywinch.com or via Twitter @GuyWinch

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