When dealing with a wide variety of people, not all encounters you have with customers will be perfect. Sometimes, your product, service or conduct may underwhelm or even upset your customers. In these instances, it is very important to know how your business should handle customer complaints. This is for two main reasons. Firstly, you ideally want to maintain the positive reputation and good will your business has built. Secondly, you must recognise any legal obligations and adhere to them. In this guide, we’ll give you some tips on dealing with customer complaints .
Important Steps
Firstly, all businesses should have in place an avenue for complaints. This might be an online form, a phone number, a contact in your office, or some form of instructions on your website as to how to lodge a complaint. Once you have this channel in place, there are a number of steps which should be followed. The Better Practice Guide for Complaint Handling outlines these seven steps. The Commonwealth Ombudsmen website lists these as follows:
- A prompt acknowledgement of the complaint
- Quick assessment and prioritisation of the complaint
- Planned investigation of the complaint
- The investigation should resolve factual issues and consider options for complaint resolution
- The response to the complainant should be clear and informative
- If the complainant is not satisfied with the response, internal review of the decision should be offered and information about external review options should be provided
- A business should act on any systemic issues
Principles of Complaint Handling
Additionally, this seven step process is only as useful as the attitudes and values it is adopted under. Businesses should bear in mind the following principles when dealing with complaints:
- Fairness
- Accessibility
- Responsiveness
- Efficiency
- Integration
Legal implications
Without a complaints handling system, a business may be subject to claims in tort under vicarious liability. Accordingly, any misconduct of employees must be dealt with promptly. A failure to comply with complaints handling recommendations may also result in a breach of Australian Consumer Laws. The Australian Government Consumer Laws website contains more information on this. It is wise for all business owners to be aware of this information.
Ultimately, a complaints handling system is key to keeping a fruitful and positive working relationship with customers. It preserves good business. Therefore, you must plan the right business structure from the outset. If you are unsure about how to handle customer complaints, it may be worth consulting a business lawyer to help refine your approach to these problems.
