Is good complaints handling simply about having good systems and well-motivated people? That is part of the answer but it is not simply about these two elements. To improve your complaints handling performance you need to begin with the setting the right customer service culture. If your culture does not value complaints then no matter how good your staff are at resolving complaints the real benefits of good complaints handling will be lost. This article considers complaints handling leadership and culture. It offers suggestions to help organisations set the right environment for outstanding complaints handling.

Are you missing something?

How sure are you that you are receiving all the complaints about your service? Is your complaints system recording every complaint? Is every expression of dissatisfaction treated as a complaint?

Much has been written about the readiness of customers to demand a better service. There is a sense that nowadays customers are willing to complain when they don’t receive the service they wanted. But is that really what happens? Are the complaints you receive just the tip of the iceberg?

Complaints leadership is a good place to start

The reason I am posing these questions is because I often find when looking at complaints handling that the formal systems of the organisation only record some not all of the complaints. This suggests to me that the customer facing staff are not trained to recognise and deal with complaints. If a complaint goes un-noticed then customer loyalty is at risk. The customer may then simply bad mouth your service to anyone else who is listening. The problem is made worse because you don’t have the opportunity to resolve the complaint because you didn’t notice it. Having been brushed aside the customer may well not take this further with you.

There is a real need to make sure your customer service culture embraces complaints fully. Complaints are a gift. They are useful indicators or areas where you may be able to improve your service and so improve your business. Most managers will accept this as a truism but time and again in the press we read about the need to have senior management commitment. The BBC has recently been looking at this for their own complaints. Some Police Forces have too.

The reason that this returns as a perennial issue is because to set the right customer service culture needs leadership. This leadership needs to extend to complaints handling. To have great success your business has to be committed to solving complaints. You should be aiming for an approach which says: “your problem is our problem”.

This means that your most senior executives and management need to be committed. It is not by accident that international complaints handling standards compliance includes looking for the personal endorsement of the Chief Executive to that commitment. Responsibility also needs to be at a high level. A senior manager who has direct access to the CEO should be responsible. This commitment and drive from the top can make all the difference. Recently in the UK the Financial Services Authority has insisted that all banks have a director who takes responsibility for complaints handling.

Are your employees getting the right support?

This senior management commitment is vital but so is the commitment of the staff. Employees need to accept the benefits of and practice good complaints handling. That means complaints handling training for your staff, but also empowering staff to contribute to use the feedback to improve the product or service offerings. This training should also focus on assisting customers lodge complaints as well as on how to resolve them.

If the culture of the organisation is focused on customer service and complaints handling you may get more complaints in the short term. That is good news as it gives you more opportunities to put things right for the customers. Once you have the right culture you can then focus on improving your complaints handling.

Alison Miles-Jenkins
Founder & CEO