Am I your top priority?
That’s the question consumers want answered whenever they make a complaint or leave a negative review. They will determine the answer to that question by your response to their input.
An unhappy consumer will measure where they fit into your priorities using several factors:
- Do you respond to their complaint?
- How quickly do you respond to their complaint?
- Your efforts to resolve the complaint.
- Their sense of being heard and valued as a customer.
Understanding the Value of Consumer Complaints
If your company has a haphazard approach to complaint management, you have likely underestimated the value consumer complaints have to offer. It is estimated that for every complaint you receive, there are 25 more customers who had the same experience but didn’t tell you about it. You should look at complaints as potential road signs to positive change and improvement, rather than simply expressing meaningless negativity.
A company that has an effective complaint management process recognizes the value of information mined from complaint data. Complaints may uncover many risk factors otherwise unknown or overlooked by management.
- Inefficiency in current processes
- Noncompliance with regulatory standards
- Noncompliance with company protocols
- Areas for improvement in customer experience
In addition to gaining insight into areas needing improvement or correction, properly handled complaints often turn unhappy customers into loyal advocates for your brand. This transformation is more critical than you might suspect. According to some statistics, this transformed customer will tell six people about their positive experience. If they had remained an unhappy customer, they would probably express their displeasure with your company to more than double that number of individuals.
How Are Your Complaints Currently Handled?
Now that we have established the value of consumer complaints, how do you best manage the complaint process and cash in on that value? Effective complaint management usually involves three dynamics: people, process, and review. It is important to establish your current state of affairs in these areas in order to establish goals for improvement in the future.
- People Handling Complaints
Who receives and responds to complaints that come in through various channels? Do you have a centralized customer service center? Or, are complaints channeled to local or department leaders for resolution? What types of skills and areas of knowledge are necessary for effective complaint management? Do you need to make changes in who handles complaints from different sources or related to various topics?
- Complaint Handling Process
Gone are the days when complaints came through only two or three channels. With the digital age, complaints come through a variety of channels, from social media posts and messages to review sites to email, surveys, and beyond. How are you currently monitoring these various channels? Who are they routed to for follow-up? Have you established a follow-up process and timeline?
- Complaint Reporting & Analysis
This is the area of complaint management that is found most lacking in many of today’s businesses. Even if you have a sound system in place for the processing and response to complaints, it usually stops there. That means the valuable data that can facilitate companywide improvement is lost. The data needs to be funneled to a management-level reporting system and assigned for analysis and response recommendations.
Consumer-Centric Complaint Management in 2021
Manual monitoring of multiple digital channels is near impossible. For those companies leading the way in consumer-centric complaint management, innovative technology is an important asset. Technology should not only collect and route complex voice and text data but also assist in the analytics of the data collected.
A digital platform to collect input from multiple sources in real-time is critical, but that is just the beginning. The prompt processing of each complaint is just as important. The information needs to be immediately routed to the proper person for response and resolution. Deciphering the intent of messages has been a stumbling block to technology for many years. The
implementation of machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been critical in automating this process.
AI is used in deciphering voice input and complex language with human-like decision-making. Machine learning works in tandem with AI to improve the digital process over time. As the software routes information, it adjusts its interpretation of the data based on end-receiver responses to data. It learns from errors in routing and readjusts its interpretation of data in the
future.
Complaint Management Using AI and Machine Learning Technology
As communication speeds increase and the channels of communication continue to multiply, consumer expectations also move to higher levels. In order to meet those expectations of near-immediate response, companies need to up their game with innovative machine learning and AI technology. Guest-Note was developed for “such a time as this.” Contact us to schedule a demonstration of how Guest-Note can propel your complaint management system into the future today.
Listen to your Customers 