Developing A Customer Complaint System

Background
The company was experiencing an increase in the number of customer complaints and an increase in the cost of processing them and we were hired to analyze the current situation and develop recommendations to increase the effectiveness of the process of administering and resolving the complaints.

Identify Customer Requirements
A consultant was assigned to the design of customer service systems and complaint processes, and who had done extensive work in QFD (Quality Function Deployment), which is a methodology that analyzes the needs of the customer and integrates them with the company processes to ensure the needs are met.

The first task was to identify what the customers' requirements were for complaint handling and how well customers felt their complaints were resolved. This involved conducting interviews with customers who had filed a recent complaint.Customers were asked to talk about their experience with the complaint handling process.

The purpose of this exercise was to:

determine positive and negative incidents in the complaint handling process

determine important information regarding the customer's feelings about the resolution of his/her complaint

identity the main reasons for deficiencies in the process

develop suggestions on how to improve the system.

Review Existing Complaint Process
The review of the process started` by developing a complaint management questionnaire that was administered to all complaint handlers. This provided a view of the complaint handling process across all departments of the company and at the same time it identified areas for improvement. An operations study was performed on the current complaint handling process.

A Service plan was developed that detailed the complete current process for a customer reporting a complaint to the company. A Serviceplan shows a cross sectional view of what is happening to all participants of the process at each step. This includes the customer, front line personnel, support personnel, other departments, and outside regulatory agencies.

With the Service plan it is easy to see escalation points and interfaces to other personnel and departments. This is critical information to understand when streamlining a process.

Other aspects of the process were analyzed, such as where do the customers call first to report a complaint, how do they find the number to call, and how many calls did they have to make before the complaint was resolved.

Analysis of Complaint Data
A complete analysis of complaint data for the past four years was conducted. Starting at the beginning of this process, a review was conducted of what information was being captured from the interaction between the complaint handler and the customer.

The review continued by investigating how the complaint data itself was captured and logged into a complaint database.We also looked at what types of reports were generated from complaint data and the frequency of distribution.

We also analyzed the claims data, searching for potential causes for the claims and the trend and frequency of claims. The data revealed certain tendencies that indicate that a new method for the administration of claims would have positive effects.

Recommendations
Aa synthesis was developed of the analysis, investigations, and review of the activities associated with the claims process in the holding company. Based on this, several recommendations emerged which were customized to the specific needs of each of the subsidiaries.

The recommendations included:

establish a Centralized Center

negotiate with the regulatory agencies in various states so they can direct the customers with complaints to the Center

establish stronger links with the service recovery process and the Center

establish diagnostic activities to prevent future complaints

implement prevention planning
establish targets for complaint reductions

The new system for administration and resolution of complaints has resulted in:

more effective and timely resolution of customers' complaints

focus on prevention and avoidance of recurring problems

integration of the different work units involved in the claims process

reduction of costs associated with the handling of claims

increased customer satisfaction

Managing Partner, Management Resources Inc.

---

Customer Service - How Good Are YOU?

At 8.30 am a wealthy client (on his way to... Read More

Developing A Customer Complaint System

Background The company was experiencing an increase in the number... Read More

Whats The Customer Service Buzz About Your Business?

If you're a regular reader of my column you know... Read More

The Dissatisfied Customer

We, as small business people, naturally dislike complaints from our... Read More

Automating Your Customer Support

My regular readers will know that one of the things... Read More

Putting The Serve Back Into Customer Service

Good service is easy to spot and hard-to-find. Mediocre service... Read More

How To Handle Customer Billing Snafus

Q: I just discovered that for the past six months... Read More

A New Way To Handle Complaints, Or Is It?

What a lot of money we have been wasting on... Read More

Committed To Your Customer? Prove It When They Complain!

Businesses like to brag in their advertising about quality of... Read More

Customer Service - Winning Customer Experiences

Winning Customer ExperiencesMuch research has been done on what the... Read More

Whats For Lunch?

As an entrepreneur, I'm always intrigued by small businesses, home-based... Read More

Ten Ways to Help You Improve Your Customer Service

1. Stay in contact with customers on a regular basis.... Read More

Identify Your Silent Customer Service Message

With the growing number of people in every business sector,... Read More

The Art of Giving Great Service

Sales is tough to get right, and depends on retaining... Read More

Treating the Customer Dissatisfaction Epidemic: How to Go Beyond Simply Masking the Symptoms

Corporations in every sector are spending more than ever before... Read More

Caring for Your Customers

You probably think I am going to say something like,... Read More

What Every Manager Should Know About How to Learn from the Complaints of Customers and Employees

Listening to complaints, whether they're reasonable or not, is a... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to See Customers Problems from Their Creative Side

Customer Service is a blessing and a curse; a blessing... Read More

Why Communication Skills Dont Work In Customer Service

Every time my firm conducts communication skills training, we know... Read More

Customer Service Tips for Mail Order Businesses

Can we be too good to our customers?... Read More

Leverage Customer Capital First

If you're still dreaming about raising outside capital for your... Read More

Making Your Contacts Work For You

The best way to explain this concept is to tell... Read More

Doors by Catering to Your Clients

Clients? they are the most important influence in the success... Read More

Stay - Say - Pay

Would you like to have customers that stay with you... Read More

We Got It Wrong: Never Under Promise & Over Deliver

You know how it is, you believe something for so... Read More