Customer Care Module 5
Customer Complaints Management
Practice
Customer Complaint
A customer complaint is an expression of
dissatisfaction by a customer/consumer to a
concerned party (product seller or service
provider).
Types of Customer Complaints
1.Performance/Operations related complaints
These are complaints that are directly resulting
from the quality of a product or service. These
complaints come from the failure of a product to
perform or defects in a service offered by an
organization.
Types of Customer Complaints
• Such complaints have to be investigated focusing
on identifying the point from which the problem
comes. By the end of an investigation a company
has to locate the problem that has led to the poor
quality that has sparked customer complaints.
• If the problem has been found in the value chain
then the complaints made belong to this
category.
2. Marketing related complaints
• Most of the times organizations do market their
products or services.
Types of Complaints Cont..
• Marketing messages should try as best as they can
to talk about a product or service in the most
accurate way possible.
• This is meant to avoid misleading people into
believing the product or service does what it does
not.
• Or in other cases, promising to provide additional
benefits along with a product or service and
failing to deliver on those promises.
• Customers or clients may react negatively to that
by lodging complaints.
• Complaints that are a result of a marketing
campaign that people believe to have been
misleading belong to this category of complaints.
• These complaints require revisiting the concerned
marketing campaign to find out if the complaints
are true or not so they can be handled the right
way.
Types of Customer Complaints Cont..
3. Customer Touch Point related complaints
• These are complaints that come from the points
in an organization where customers or clients
come into contact with the organization.
• These are places where customers or clients
interact with individuals who are affiliated to a
business.
• In other words these are complaints related to
front line staff, websites, and everyone that
engages with customers directly.
• Such complaints are not directly related to the
quality of a product or service.
• They may result from interactions between a
company and its customers.
• These complaints may be caused by staff
members’ attitudes or behavior.
• Dealing with such complaints requires making
proper investigations to find out the truth about
the problem.
Types of Customer Complaints
• Dealing with these complaints will help in making
customers take a brand positively, to love a
brand, and to advocate about it.
• Improving the front line/administration behavior,
attitude and performance is therefore very
important.
Types of Customer Complaints
4. Business/Firm/Company Related Complaints
• These are complaints that do not relate to the
product or service a company offers, its
marketing campaigns or its customer touch-
points.
• These complaints are aimed at a business as an
entity.
• They may come from people who are not even
customers or clients of a business.
5. Illegitimate/False Complaints
These are complaints that are brought to the
attention of a company but after investigations
they are proved to be false or not caused by
anything that represents the company in
question.
Such complaints are as important as those that are
legitimate hence they have to be dealt with to
ensure that customers understand that it is not
the fault of a company.
Dealing with illegitimate complainants my be
challenging because it involves proving customers
wrong hence it calls for great care.
Types of Customer Complaints
Sometimes customers come to complain angry. Care
needs to be taken in dealing with such customers
or clients. The following can be done to
successfully deal with angry complainants.
1. Emotional bonding – trying to make a customer
feel you understand their emotions. That can be
done by showing that you respect their anger by
showing empathy.
2. Try to understand their complaint – This is when
you try to understand why the customer is angry.
You need to pay attention and make enquiries at
this stage so that you understand the problem.
Types of Customer Complaints
6. Complaints about Complaint Handling
These are complaints which come as a result of
failure to handle a complaint of the first five
natures. When customers bring complaints to a
business they have expectations about the
outcomes. When the outcomes do not meet their
expectations they may lodge another complaint.
For example complaining about delays in dealing
with an initial complaint.
Dealing with Complaints
Any company needs to effectively deal with
complaints to ensure that good relationships
continue to exist between them and their
customers. Complaints must be welcomed by
businesses because they are bonuses. Customers
may choose to complain or not. When they don’t
they usually just walk away from a business or
services. Or worse still they may bad mouth your
business to other people who may decide not to
do business with a company due to stories from
their friends or relatives.
Dealing with Complaints
Importance of complaints
I. Foster customer loyalty
II. Service or product improvement
III. Accountability across an organization
IV. Improving the image of a business.
Complaint Handling System
Business need to have a system in place to ensure
that complaints handling is done in the best
manner possible. Without a good mechanism in
lace it would be difficult to deal with
complaints.
Dealing with Complaints
Any complaint handling system needs to have the
following elements.
I. A policy – this should spell out how everything
relating to complaints will be dealt with. In a
policy their should be among other things the
assignment of responsibilities, procedures for
receiving complaints, the manner investigations
will be performed and the nature of response
giving.
II. Complaints procedures – these are the ways
through which customers can channel their
complaints. They can be phone numbers, emails
How do you use customer complaints as
opportunities for quality improvement?
1. Listen and empathize:
The first step to using customer complaints as
opportunities for quality improvement is to listen and
empathize with the customer. This means
acknowledging their problem, expressing your concern,
and apologizing sincerely. Listening and empathizing can
help you diffuse the negative emotions, build rapport,
and show respect for the customer. It can also help you
understand the root cause of the complaint, the impact
on the customer, and their expectations for a resolution.
2. Record and analyze:
The second step to using customer complaints as
opportunities for quality improvement is to record and
analyze the complaint. This means documenting the
details of the complaint, such as the date, time, product,
service, customer name, and contact information.
Recording and analyzing the complaint can help you track
the frequency, severity, and patterns of complaints, as
well as identify the sources of variation, waste, or error in
your processes. You can use quality management tools
3. Respond and resolve:
The third step to using customer complaints as opportunities
for quality improvement is to respond and resolve the
complaint. This means communicating with the customer
about the actions you will take to address their problem,
providing them with a realistic timeline, and following up with
them until the issue is resolved. Responding and resolving the
complaint can help you restore the customer's trust, loyalty,
and satisfaction, as well as prevent similar complaints from
occurring in the future. You can use quality management
techniques such as corrective actions, preventive actions, or
service recovery to help you with this step.
4. Evaluate and improve:
The fourth step to using customer complaints as opportunities for
quality improvement is to evaluate and improve your quality
management system. This means measuring the effectiveness of
your response and resolution, collecting feedback from the
customer, and reviewing your processes and performance.
Evaluating and improving your quality management system can
help you identify the gaps, weaknesses, or opportunities for
improvement in your products, services, or processes, as well as
implement changes or improvements that will enhance your quality
and customer satisfaction. You can use quality management tools
such as surveys, audits, or PDCA cycles to help you with this step.
5. Learn and share:
The fifth step to using customer complaints as opportunities
for quality improvement is to learn and share your findings
and actions. This means capturing the lessons learned from
the complaint, documenting the best practices or standards,
and sharing them with your team or organization. Learning
and sharing your findings and actions can help you create a
culture of continuous improvement, foster collaboration and
innovation, and spread the benefits of quality management
across your business. You can use quality management
techniques such as training, coaching, or recognition to help
you with this step.
THE END
References
Inbold Solutions (n.d.) Importance of Building a Strong Relationship With Your
Clients. Retrieved on Wednesday, 27th May 2015 from:
http://inboldsolutions.com/importance-building-strong-relationship-clients/
Easy Marketing A2Z (2014). Customer Complaints Five Major Types That You
Must Know!
Retrieved on Wednesday, 27th May 2015 from:
http://www.easymarketinga2z.com/2014/03/customer-complaints-five-major-
types-that-you-must-know.html
Stone, B. and Jacobs, R. (). “Building Customer Relationships” in Successful
Direct Marketing Methods. Retrieved on Wednesday, 27th May 2015 from:
http://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/searchCRM/downloads/Stone_DMM_Chapter_6_ex
cerpt.pdf
Wysocki, A.F. Kepner, K. And Glasse, M. W. (2015). Customer Complaints and
Types of Customers
Retrieved on Wednesday, 27th May 2015 from: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr005
