Customer complaints: how to manage them effectively
Published on June 8, 2023
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Late deliveries, quality problems, billing errors... There are many types of customer complaint, and they can vary depending on the company's sector of activity and the product or service offered. As a sign of a malfunction, it is vital not to take a customer complaint lightly. While the negative effects for the company are manifold, it is also a real opportunity that can be seized to boost performance. So why and how can we manage customer complaints effectively? What are the best practices and tools to use? Catherine Altmann, consultant, trainer, ICA auditor and certified collective intelligence facilitator, explains.
Receiving a customer complaint is often unpleasant. It reflects the fact that something is not working, or is no longer working, in the way the customer is served.
For example: a customer bought a product online and did not receive the parcel within the delivery time announced. He contacted the company to report the problem and request a refund or reshipment of the product. This is one of the most common customer complaints. In fact, there are a number of them.
The different types of customer complaint
Customer complaints vary depending on the sector of activity, product or service offered. They generally concern :
delivery delays or problems: a customer reports that they have not received an order on time, or that the order has arrived damaged;
Quality problems: a customer reports a quality problem with a product or service, for example if it does not meet the customer's standards or expectations;
communication problems: a customer reports a lack of communication or poor communication with the company, for example if they are unable to reach customer service;
staff behaviour problems: a customer may report inappropriate behaviour or a lack of professionalism on the part of company staff;
product or service defects: a customer may report a defect or problem with a product or service purchased;
billing errors: a customer can report an error on their invoice or overbilling.
customer service problems: a customer may report dissatisfaction with the quality or responsiveness of customer service.
Negative effects, yes... but real benefits
The negative effects of dissatisfaction are manifold: loss of reputation, damaged brand image, loss of customers, increased workload, increased internal costs, loss of energy and even meaning for employees.
However, the positive effects exist for any company. "You have to see the complaint as a gift, a business opportunity, an added value for the company". Direct feedback from the customer - who has spent time on this and must therefore be listened to accordingly - above all enables weaknesses to be identified, just like an internal audit. And the benefits are manifold, because the complaint enables the company :
continuously adapt its internal organisation to respond effectively to the internal and external challenges of the market. This is the very principle ofcontinuous improvement ;
increase satisfaction and, by extension, customer AND employee loyalty. The relationship we have with our customers should be the same with our employees and even with our partners. It enables us to understand each other's needs. We often forget that employees can also be brand customers. Examples include mobile operators, energy suppliers and reservation centres.
strengthen its reputation, e-reputation and brand image, and develop positive word-of-mouth.
Symmetry of attention
The principle of symmetry of attention suggests that, in a healthy relationship, people give balanced attention to each other.
Companies that adopt this concept recognise that employee satisfaction is strongly linked to customer satisfaction. Over and above the positive effects on customers, this helps to involve employees and create an open organisational culture.
In business, we try to respond to customer satisfaction, "but we don't listen enough". It is therefore essential to listen to both customers and employees. Every employee can be a company's customer. It's a question of symmetry of attention.
"So don't hesitate to include employees in the process of analysing the causes of customer complaints".
For every customer who makes a complaint, there are seven dissatisfied customers who do not complain. Conversely, when a customer is satisfied, seven customers are notified. Proof that customer complaints should not be taken lightly.
The claims iceberg (source: TARP research).
Net Promoter Score
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) enables companies to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. The question asked: on a scale of 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely), how likely would you be to recommend our company, product or service to your friends and family? The answers fall into three groups.
Promoters (scores of 9 and 10): so satisfied, these customers will seek to promote the brand themselves.
Passives (scores of 7 and 8): satisfied, these customers won't necessarily go out and promote (it's the service provided and that's it).
Detractors (score from 0 to 6): dissatisfied customers are likely to harm the brand. The average score is a very good indicator of a company's performance, and can also be used to identify potential areas for improvement.
Curative action as a first resort
In organisations, complaints are corrected instantly. This is what we call in the jargon of the quality specialist curative action. For example, offering the customer a commercial gesture, replacing a faulty product or service, or updating a procedure or work instruction...
Let's take the example of the late delivery of an online product. How do you manage this customer complaint? Here's the appropriate curative action, in 4 steps:
a rapid response: the company must respond quickly to the customer's complaint and provide precise information on the status of the order;
solutions: the company can offer free reshipment or a refund to satisfy the customer and rectify the problem. If the complaint is unclear, the company can ask further questions to understand the customer's expectations;
clear communication: the company must provide clear information on the proposed solution, the timeframe and the steps taken to resolve the complaint. Communication must be courteous and professional;
Follow-up of the complaint: the company must ensure that the proposed solution is implemented within the agreed timeframe and that the customer is satisfied with the resolution of the problem. Communication can continue until the customer is satisfied.
Another example: a campsite booking centre receives a customer complaint. The holidaymaker was furious to discover that he would have to pitch his tent in the sand. Remedial action: after numerous discussions with the campsite reception, the customer is offered a pitch that meets his requirements at a neighbouring campsite.
So the first reflex is to solve the problem on the spot. But this is far from sufficient.
The right posture
"The majority of companies focus solely on the curative aspect, but we need to combine the curative and the corrective. It is essential to consider the root cause of the malfunction. The aim is to understand why we failed or forgot to take action to ensure the quality of the service or product delivered and, above all, to prevent the problem recurring. We therefore need to move away from a posture of justification and defence towards one of openness, in order to move towards "getting it right first time".
"Once you understand this posture, you become more efficient.
Let's take the example of the reservation centre and the dissatisfied customer. Once the corrective action has been taken, it is vital to understand the reasons for the dissatisfaction so that it does not recur. The appropriate tool: the 5 Whys method. Questioning the various parties involved revealed that neither the website nor the contract mentioned the presence of sandy soil, even though the campsite is located close to the Pilat Dune. This analysis will enable a correction to be made to the website in order to be transparent and avoid this type of problem recurring.
Another example of a customer complaint
An industrial electronics company was not satisfied with the product - CRM - deployed by its supplier "with difficulty and with considerable delay". As a result, the contract was terminated. Thanks to several methods (the 5 whys, fast codev or speed co-development) led by an external facilitator, the interested parties were able to express their dissatisfaction and their needs in order to understand what had gone wrong (inadequate framing, steering, communication). The result was a calmer relationship between the stakeholders and the resumption of the partnership on a sound footing. The client has even decided to get the CRM project back on track.
Most complaints are attributed to the company's operational activities. This is often a sign that the real cause has not been sufficiently analysed. In fact, the causes of malfunctioning concern all levels of the company: human resources (recruitment and training problems), finance (unsuitable tools), sales (customer needs not understood), organisation (inadequate processes), etc.
Tools for effective management of customer complaints
There are various complaint management tools and systems.
The FMEA matrix can be used to identify complaints, formalise a cause analysis and action plans. This is also the case for the QQOQCP. This tool identifies problems using a list of questions (who, what, where, when, how much, how to, for what), combined with precise figures to obtain quantified objectives. Other tools include the 5Ms (methods, resources, materials, operations, environment) and the 5 Whys, as seen above (cause tree). Brainstorming and decision grids can also be used to identify possible solutions.
To simplify and optimise the handling of customer complaints, companies can take advantage of Microsoft SharePoint technology, for example, to streamline and share action plans.
How can you anticipate and prevent customer complaints?
The first step is to set up a quality management system to ensure that the organisation in place meets the expectations of customers, employees, partners, etc.
The ISO 9001:2015 standard is an excellent tool, especially as it is an international "quality guarantee" for customers and prospects.
An organisation that will make it possible to identify activity and performance indicators, carry out periodic checks (audits, reviews) and gather feedback from interested parties (e.g. customer satisfaction surveys, annual interviews, etc.) in order to monitor effectiveness and efficiency.
What you need to remember: while the negative effects of a complaint on a company are manifold, it should also be seen as a genuine opportunity to seize in order to stay one step ahead and stand out from the competition. It is therefore essential to take customer complaints into consideration. It is also important to go beyond curative action and not simply correct the problem immediately. Instead, you need to go further and look at the root cause of the problem. This open-minded approach will enable the company to become more effective and efficient, using complaint management tools.
