On any given day, in any organization, service can be interrupted or delayed, products can fail to perform as expected, and employees can have bad days. If a company is lucky, their customers will complain.

Customer complaints are essential forms of communication and represent prime opportunities to correct immediate problems. More importantly, they provide companies with valuable insights that can lead to valuable product improvements, service upgrades, and process enhancements.

A company that delivers a prompt response to complaints and ensures constructive action can convert even the most dissatisfied customers into lifelong, loyal fans.

Unfortunately, companies will only hear from a fraction of their disaffected customers. When customers make complaints, the best organizations have well-developed and well-executed policies to handle them.

Good policy, better PR

A formal complaint policy is the foundation of goodwill and makes for good business practice. Promoting a strong and user-friendly policy makes it apparent that a business has the best of intentions regarding customer satisfaction.

Complaint policies should be given high visibility. Some vehicles to consider include advertising, contract language, user manuals, and especially sales receipts and packaging.

Providing a toll-free number gives consumers a clear-cut method to air their concerns. The number should provide direct access to someone with the authority and responsibility to handle their concerns. Transferring customers from department to department will only compound the problem.  

Basic elements of responsiveness

Effective and quick are two hallmarks of a sound complaint management system. Here are some suggestions for creating complaint-handling procedures that reflect both of these qualities.

Establish a record-keeping process. Use computerized or paper forms to record complaints and capture all pertinent information. Design the system so that it alerts appropriate management staff and collects the data for other relevant departments, such as marketing, quality assurance, or legal.

Divide and conquer incoming complaints. Organizations must be able to efficiently sort complaints in order to manage them. By developing various and specific categories of complaints, companies can speed up handling. Each complaint should then be assigned to one person with the authority to act. Be extremely judicious about forwarding complaints to other levels of management. If the right steps and staff are in place, the need to “talk to the manager” will be rare.

Investigate the circumstances. Be sure to collect all the facts surrounding a complaint. Request receipts, inspect products, and gather all pertinent records in order to perform a thorough and fair review.

Promptly acknowledge customer complaints. It’s not always possible to arrive at an immediate resolution, but it is absolutely necessary to let customers know their concerns are important and are receiving urgent attention. Talk directly with customers or correspond by mail or e-mail. Avoid impersonal responses and form letters. Keep customers abreast of progress along the way, and let them know how long it will take before action is completed.

Arrive at a resolution that reflects company philosophy. A good complaint-management policy will guide employees to the right resolutions. Other factors can also help steer outcomes, including warranties, contracts, and the cost benefits of alternative solutions.

Conduct follow-up and analysis. Further contact with customers is recommended to determine their ultimate degree of satisfaction, as well as the effectiveness of the company’s overall response system. Create reports that evaluate statistics and provide the basis for improvements and a plan for complaint prevention.