Complaints handling: the lifeblood of customer engagement

Online capabilities now make it easier than ever for customers to lodge complaints with organisations where they have an issue, are unhappy with service, or need rectification of a matter that has the capacity to prevent future sales.While most businesses and companies handle complaints, very few are able to use that customer engagement to generate customer goodwill, achieve business improvement, and effect sustainable change.

by | 25 Feb, 2016

While most organisations have a complaints process, very few regularly evaluate the effectiveness of their complaint handling. A review of complaint handling can uncover performance improvements across the business, not only in the handling of individual complaints, but also in the way your company does business.

Key points to ensuring an effective complaint handling process include a strong organisational culture, a fair and responsive approach, trained people and reliable processes, and an analysis and improvement regime.

Organisational culture

It is important that staff at all levels of your organisation understand and comply with your complaint handling policy. And if your organisation does not have a documented policy, perhaps it should be considered. Key to this is visible senior leadership oversight, trained complaint handling resources, and monitoring mechanisms. It is important the entire commitment to effective complaint handling is supported by robust information technology systems that allow for:

  • real-time tracking of complaints (to better inform complainants)
  • analysing complaint handling performance (to improve business process and product quality).

One indicator of strong organisational culture is whether complaints are regularly tracked and reported at a senior level within your organisation. For those looking to review organisational culture with regard to complaint handling, key questions include:

  • Is complaint handling managed at a senior level within the organisation?
  • Are complaint-handling staff formally trained and monitored?
  • Do corporate systems support the complaint handling activity?
  • Does analysis of performance drive improved processes within the wider business?

Fair and responsive

An effective complaint handling process is easily accessed by telephone, in person or online. It is transparent and ensures complainants are kept informed of progress. In particular, people with special needs should be assisted seamlessly. Unreasonable complainant behaviour should be managed professionally.

Ultimately the goal is to ensure genuine complaints are resolved as quickly as possible and unresolved complaints are efficiently escalated to resolution. Integration is the key, where dealing with complaints is part of business as usual, and all staff are engaged to ensure a committed outcome.

For those looking to review fairness and responsiveness of complaint handing, key questions include:

  • Are complaints welcomed and treated as a normal part of business?
  • Is the complaint process well understood, supported by written brochures and procedures, and available through multiple channels?
  • Are complaint handling staff supported by robust and developed escalation systems?
  • Does the complaint handling process integrate with the wider business to ensure accurate timely responses?

Trained people and reliable processes

Effective people management ensures the right people are matched to the right complainant. Complaint handling staff need to be non-defensive and good communicators who offer a warm and empathetic demeanor to customers. Above all, continual training is seen as a key to success in this area, with online monitoring and coaching to assist staff. Processes need to be documented clearly and be easy to follow. This includes:

  • formally acknowledging complaints
  • categorising and assigning priority
  • conducting necessary investigative effort
  • keeping the complainant informed of progress.

For those looking to perform a review of complaint handling, such as auditors, key questions include:

  • Are response times publicised and complainants

    kept informed?

  • Are categories of complaints used to inform

    business process, and improve overall company

    processes?

  • Are investigations formally managed with defined

    inputs and outputs that meet management and

    customer expectations?

Analysis and organisational improvement

To maximise the effectiveness of complaint handling, routine analysis and organisational improvement needs to be considered. There needs to be regular analysis and reporting of complaint data trends to see what is going wrong and what can be improved. For those reviewing complaint handing, key questions include:

  • Is there a formal process to review and monitor

    the number of complaints and their resolution?

  • Does the organisation assess the ‘root cause’ of

    the complaint?

  • Could the products or services being sold be

    improved in terms of quality and durability to

    reduce the number of complaints?

Remember, sometimes your customer’s only interaction with your company, other than through the sales process, is through your complaint handling process. A poor experience can cost future sales and damage your brand and market reputation.

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