Excellent complaint handling and the complaint value chain

Dealing successfully with complaints requires you to focus on six aspects complaint handling:

1. Process - do customers perceive the complaint process to be simple? Do they feel that complaints are taken seriously?
2. Culture - is complaint handling seen as a process that 'adds value' to your business? Is the department that deals with complaints regarded as key - or is it a dumping ground for ineffective staff?
3. Employees - do they take ownership of complaints? Or is there little empathy with customers? How important is poor level of staff loyalty?
4. Process improvement - are improvements being discussed with other employees or customers?
5. Customers - are they followed up to see if they were satisfied by the way their complaint was handled? Are defectors contacted to find out why they have taken their business elsewhere? And are customers asked for ideas on how to improve the complaint process?
6. Finance - is the cost associated with handling complaints and retaining customers fully appreciated?

The Complaint Management Process Checklist

1. have clear procedures
2. make it easy for customers to make a complaint
3. provide a speedy response (or acknowledgement for complex issues)
4. be reliable and consistent in your response
5. have a single point of contact for complainants
6. make it easy for staff to use and understand the complaint process
7. keeping the complainant informed at all times
8. take complaints seriously
9. empower employees to deal with the situation
10. having follow-up procedures to check with customers after resolution
11. using the data to engineer-out the problems
12. using measures based on cause reduction rather than complaint volume reduction.