If your business has seen an increase in the number of customer complaints you’re receiving, that’s normally a sign of something not working in your business as it should.

Negative feedback can make or break businesses, with so many review sites and options to leave comments on the internet through many means such as Google My Business, Trustpilot and sites such as these.

But all feedback is relevant – both good and bad. As bad feedback and customer complaints is an indicator for change within your business.

It’s common for companies that have grown quickly for example to experience this pain – as the processes and systems, as well as the staff that are in place were simply not designed to cope.

Unfortunately, the three components above all go hand-in-hand together. And to correctly manage this increase, it’s essential for a business to look at the process as a whole:

  1. First of all, when a customer complains does the person dealing with the complaint understand the issue and can they either assist or pass the information to the correct department?
  2. Are complaints being documented? This is an essential aspect of the complaints procedure, as without a record of complaints it’s impossible to implement change to ensure future complaints are lessened or eradicated.
  3. How do your staff deal with customers complaining? Are they comfortable with these types of interactions? Can they emphasise with the customer and interact with them in a professional and educated manner?
  4. Once complaints are received, are they then followed up, both back to the customer and internally?
  5. Does the company look at resolving the reason for the complaints? For example, if it’s a manufacturing problem, can it be resolved? If it’s a documentation issue, can they be improved? If it’s an issue with a member of staff, can that person be offered training or guided on how to ensure that it doesn’t happen in the future?
  6. Can your business be more pro-active? Many customers complain because they feel they are simply not listened to. And many won’t pick up the phone up until they have reached breaking point. By making a pro-active call on a regular basis to customers, it allows feedback to be given in a more controllable manner, and also gives the customer the confidence that they are valued.

At PCH Quality Systems, we have a history in helping businesses manage customer complaints by implementing systems and processes to help pinpoint the reasons from the source. Through system management, staff training and implementing the correct reporting software and documentation, we can help your business turn negative feedback into an opportunity to improve your business for the better.

To find out more about our customer complaints service, check out our customer complaints page. And to find out how we can help your business, why not give us a call on 07941 359 054 today.

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