The 5 Most Common Complaints Handling Challenges And Its Solution

By Author: Smith
Total Articles: 82
Comment this article

Organizations pursue quality in a variety of ways. Companies can be proud of several aspects of their firm, such as reliable products, excellent services, and environmentally friendly methods, to name a few. However, regardless of how much painstaking work is devoted toward a wide range of quality measures, customer happiness is the most important factor for many firms.
Customer complaints are likely the most obvious way for businesses to learn about a customer's problems. ISO 10002:2018 Quality management, Customer satisfaction, Guidelines for complaints handling in organizations, an international standard, assists organizations in resolving complaints. While some may be seen as annoyances, businesses must be aware of their customers' complaints and be prepared to respond to and resolve their expressed concerns.
Many of these principles might sound familiar to users of other quality management standards, especially ISO 9001. This is because the complaints-handling process defined in ISO 10002:2018 is suitable for use as one of the processes of an overall quality management system. An efficient and solution-oriented ...
... complaints management system aids in the detection of defects and the improvement of the quality of an organization's products and services. It also impresses and strengthens client loyalty.
The failures of an ineffective system are evident. Complaints are documented and handled inconsistently (if at all), slow (or no) follow-up is performed, customers are provided different information, and there's no coordinated action, reaction, or resolution. Customers are leaving. Implementing a complaints management system that manages, reports, and resolves complaints can be challenging, particularly for small organizations. Fortunately, the issues raised have remedies. Here are five of the most prevalent complaint-handling concerns, along with effective solutions.
1. Unclear customer access: Customers find the procedure of filing a complaint and reaching the appropriate person with the authority to act on it to be complex, frustrating, and time-consuming. To solve this challenge, make it simple for customers to file complaints by providing a website, a toll-free phone number, and/or an email address. A customer's complaint system should be easy, obvious, and direct.
2. Unfinished data from complaints: Customers file complaints through many channels (email, fax, phone, internet, sales reps, workers, and letters), and insufficient, erroneous, and incomplete information is collected. This information is necessary for complaint resolution and to comply with ISO 9001. Additionally, complaints from different sources mean that many are lost and others are ignored. To solve this challenge, install a standardized system, ideally one that is automated, with an electronic form that allows clients to easily fill in the essential information. Consider automating the existing paper-based method if you still use it. Install complaints management software to ensure that the correct information is gathered and saved in a central repository.
3. Insufficient documentation: Inadequate documentation results from confusing consumer access, inaccurate data, and the lack of a structured record-keeping system. Accurate and full records and ISO 10002 documents (past and present) are required for concerns to be handled and resolved. These are required for compliance with ISO 9001 and other standards, and for responding to a product liability claim. To solve this challenge, an electronic system, such as Document Control Software, guarantees that documents are kept, records are kept, as well as 9001 criteria are satisfied. A good electronic system helps a user through the complaint-handling process by offering best-practice workflow and forms that require the user to enter the relevant information. Document control is simple, consistent, and inexpensive. It saves time and reduces errors.
4. No capability to escalate complaints: A complaint may be made, recorded, and documented, but it doesn't get resolved or raised to an adverse outcome because the system doesn't direct the problem to someone accountable for addressing it. To solve this challenge, create a structured electronic complaints escalation process that clarifies when a complaint should be escalated, to whom the complaint must be escalated, what data must be captured and forwarded, as well as the timeframe for escalating the complaint.
5. Lack of management strategy: If management does not comprehend customers' problems or see the need to track complaints, initiate corrective action, and monitor responses, it is nearly difficult for a company to develop and maintain an effective complaints management system. To solve this challenge, Senior management must look at the larger picture, accept the idea of a complaints management system, and commit to it. Appropriate rules and procedures will be implemented to indicate to all staff the importance of customer satisfaction. A complaints-handling software solution with comprehensive analytics and reporting capability delivers a real-time perspective of the quality system and helps management to design a proactive strategy for improvement.