Work Towards Resolution of the Complaint
When a customer complains the aim should be to resolve the issue as swiftly as possible. This requires that the issue the customer is facing should be understood and appropriate action be taken to ensure that the customer is satisfied with the solution.
The person receiving the complaint should actively listen to the customer to understand the source of the issue. If the issue has been raised before and they have a solution ready, propose the solution to the customer. If the issue is unique or has not been handled before, there should be defined procedures to flag the issue to the relevant department for review.
For this to happen the customer services and sales departments should be trained on company policies on receiving and handling complaints. This ensures that the customer receives a consistent message from everyone in the organization and their bad experience is not compounded by poor complaint handling or mixed messages.
The policies and guidelines should cover all aspects from receiving and logging the customer complaint to product return, replacement or refund if necessary so that the customer can be satisfied.
Additionally, if complaints show a repeating pattern then investigations should be made to the cause of the complaints. If there are issues in the product, work towards resolving them. If there are opportunities to improve process and improve customer experience, implement changes. Short term and long-term fixes need to be implemented to ensure customers are won.