Complaint-Recovery Process
Jason Paster
The Pennsylvania State University
What will be covered today?
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Improvements of the complaint-recovery
process for your business
Classifying customer complaints
Responding to the customer
The complaint-recovery process in action
A self evaluation of your business
What is the Complaint-Recovery
Process?
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The process where companies receive
complaints, process them, and
communicate back to the customer.
What is the goal?
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100% customer satisfaction
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Documentation of customers
problems/concerns for future reference
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To fix the customers problem/concern
wherever feasible, as soon as possible
How does your organization
measure up?
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What has your office done to makes sure it listens
to the voice of the customer?
How do the leaders in your organization view
complaints?
How does your organization make it easy for
customers to complain?
What does your organization do to make it easy
for employees to solve problems?
Federal Benchmarking Consortium , “Best Practices in Resolving Customer Complaints,” Internet.
http://www.npr.gov/library/papers/benchmrk/bstprac.html. (2/16/01)
How does your organization
measure up?
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How does your organization track and analyze
complaints?
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How does your organization use information
about complaints to fix easy problems fast?
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How does your organization use information
about complaints to identify and address
underlying problems?
Federal Benchmarking Consortium , “Best Practices in Resolving Customer Complaints,” Internet.
http://www.npr.gov/library/papers/benchmrk/bstprac.html. (2/16/01)
How does your organization
measure up?
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How is customer service incorporated in your
organization’s vision, plans and actions?
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How do you get complaint information to the CEO
or top management?
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How does your organization measure customer
satisfaction for your overall service?
Federal Benchmarking Consortium , “Best Practices in Resolving Customer Complaints,” Internet.
http://www.npr.gov/library/papers/benchmrk/bstprac.html. (2/16/01)
Classifying Complaints
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Develop a system within your organization
to rank complaints on urgency.
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What is the magnitude of the complaint?
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EVERY COMPLAINT IS IMPORTANT!
Complaint-Free Customer
Service?
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No one is perfect, everyone makes
mistakes!
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Sounds nice, but it will be
counterproductive in the long run.
“A good service accepts that things are wrong and fixes it.”
-Ken Birkby, head of customer service for Marks & Spencer
Complaint-Friendly Customer
Service
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It should be easy for customers to get in
touch with your company.
Customers should always be treated with
respect and courtesy.
The customer is ALWAYS right, even when
they’re wrong.
Communicating to the Customer
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Organization
Patience
Understanding
Assurance
Honesty
Getting Customer Feedback
Passively Solicited Customer Feedback
Waiting for the customer to come to you
about grievances/gratitude's.
Actively Solicited Customer Feedback
Asking the customer if he/she has any
grievances/gratitude’s regarding his/her
experience with your business.
Foster, S. Thomas. Managing Quality, an Interactive Approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2001.
Implementation of a New System
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Issue a policy statement
Establish an implementation team
Establish a tracking system
Develop recommendations for
improvement
Implement
Federal Benchmarking Consortium , “Best Practices in Resolving Customer Complaints,” Internet.
http://www.npr.gov/library/papers/benchmrk/bstprac.html. (2/16/01)
Some Suggestions for
Improvement…
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Make it easy for your customers to complain and
your customers will make it easy for you to
improve.
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Respond to complaints quickly and courteously
with common sense and you will improve
customer loyalty.
Federal Benchmarking Consortium , “Best Practices in Resolving Customer Complaints,” Internet.
http://www.npr.gov/library/papers/benchmrk/bstprac.html. (2/16/01)
Key to Success
Doing the job right the first time
+ Effective complaint management
Maximum customer satisfaction/loyalty
- Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. has adopted this formula for
customer satisfaction
More Suggestions for
Improvement…
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Using technology is very important in a complaint
handling system.
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Recruit and hire the best for customer service
jobs.
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Resolve complaints on the first contact.
Federal Benchmarking Consortium , “Best Practices in Resolving Customer Complaints,” Internet.
http://www.npr.gov/library/papers/benchmrk/bstprac.html. (2/16/01)
Electronic Controls Company
(ECCO) -THE PROBLEM
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Started receiving an unusually large
number of complaints
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No way to keep track of complaints
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Management sensed they were getting the
same complaints repetitively
Finegan, Jay. “The rigorous customer-complaint form.” ABI Inform. March 1994. V16 n3. P. 101-103
Electronic Controls Company
(ECCO) -THE SOLUTION
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The customers information, complaint, and
corrective action were all stored into a database.
Hard copies of complaints were filed in two
binders
• Open - complaints which are pending
• Closed- complaints which have been solved
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Management was able to track the common
problems to figure out the source of the problem,
which yielded a fix.
Finegan, Jay. “The rigorous customer-complaint form.” ABI Inform. March 1994. V16 n3. P. 101-103
Activity
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Write down 4 ways to improve your
company’s complaint-recovery process.
Do your improvements include:
Less Red-Tape
Better use of Technology
More Knowledgeable Customer Service
Employees
Faster Response Times
Summary
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The complaint-recovery process is key to
surviving in business.
The process should be constantly reviewed for
improvements.
The customer should play an active role in
evaluating your process.
With a winning process your customers will be
happier, which in turn will make your business
more successful.
Bibliography
Brown, Stephen W. “Service recovery through IT: Complaint handling will
differentiate firms in the future.” Marketing Management. v6 n3. Fall 1997.
p.25-27.
“Complaint handling can increase customer loyalty.” Management Today.
December 1998. p. 11
Federal Benchmarking Consortium , “Best Practices in Resolving Customer
Complaints,” Internet.
http://www.npr.gov/library/papers/benchmrk/bstprac.html. (2/16/01)
Finegan, Jay. “The rigorous customer-complaint form.” ABI Inform. March 1994.
V16 n3. p. 101-103
Foster, S. Thomas. Managing Quality, an Interactive Approach. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2001.
McClendon, Bruce. “Complaint-free customer service.” Public Management. V79
n3. March 1997. p. 21-23.
S, Stephen. “Customer evaluations of service complaint experiences:
Impliceations of relationship marketing.” Journal of Marketing. v62 n 2. April
1998. p. 60-76.