By Angela Ebron
5 Tips for Writing an Effective Complaint Letter
Tired of rude salespeople, defective merchandise or bad service?
Don’t put up with it. Complain! Just make sure to do it the right
way if you want results, says Bruce Silverman, author of How to
Complain for Fun and Profit: The Best Guide Ever to Writing
Complaint Letters. Venting at a manager is a waste of breath,
instead, put it in writing. “Typed letters are far more effective
at getting results,” he says. “When you take the time to carefully
craft one, clearly articulating the problem and what you want the
company to do for you, it stands out.” What about just dashing off
an
email? It doesn’t have the same impact, says Silverman. “Most
problems require some ‘storytelling’ to explain. Email is not a
good medium for that. The company will probably look at is as ‘just
another email.’” So the next time you’ve had it up to here, follow
these tips from Silverman:
1) Write to the head honcho. That means the CEO.
“The buck stops with him,” says Silverman. Finding his name and
address is easy—just do an online search of the company.
Of course, odds are CEOs don’t sit around opening their own
mail, but their assistants do. “And if the assistants see merit
in your complaint, they’ll personally bring it to their boss’
attention.” You’ve just cut out about ten middle men.
2) Give the good, then the bad. No matter how
upset you are, don’t let your emotions spill all over the page.
“Nobody likes to get an
angry letter,” says Silverman. “It’s counterproductive.” Who
wants to help someone who’s yelling at them, even on paper? A
better approach is what he calls “praising with faint damn.” In
other words, praise first, explain why you’re not happy second. Let
the CEO know that you’re a loyal customer and like the company, but
this time they’ve let you down. Then lay out the problem in a
friendly way. “Write very personally, as if talking to an old
friend,” says Silverman. “And be as specific as possible—names,
dates, times, what went wrong.”
4) Ask for compensation. “That’s the one thing people miss,” says Silverman, who is amazed that most complaint letters articulate the problem, but don’t state the solution. “Spell out exactly what you want in compensation for your troubles,” he urges. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get!”
5) Don’t give up. Silverman can recall only one time when he didn’t get an answer to one of his letters. “Good companies are almost always responsive to a complaint letter,” he says. “They may not agree with your complaint, but they will respond.” If it’s a form letter, though, don’t settle. “Whenever that happens to me, I write back—noisily,” Silverman says Ratchet p the idea that they might lose you as a loyal customer. A hit to their bottom line? Now that’s something every company can understand. Eventually you will get results.
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