Getting Ready to Track Customer Complaints

One customer describes an unsatisfactory job over the phone, another sends a photo by message the same day, and a third comes into the shop to explain the problem in person. All three complaints are heard; yet a few days later it can be hard to remember which one got a reply and which one is still waiting.

Complaint tracking can start not with opening a notebook or a program, but with preparing answers to a few questions. Before tracking begins, this article looks at where complaints land, how they are recorded, who takes ownership, how the first reply to the customer can be planned and how a recurring complaint can be noticed.

Complaint Tracking Can Start with Preparation

A lost complaint may stem less from indifference than from an unclear routine. The person who takes a complaint may not be the one who resolves it; when the handover stays verbal, the matter can easily be forgotten.

Clarifying a few points before tracking begins can help the new routine hold together in its first weeks: which channels complaints come through, where they are written down, who is responsible and when the customer hears back.

Seeing Where Complaints Land

The first step is to list the ways complaints reach the business. Phone calls, messages, emails, face-to-face conversations and remarks passed to staff on site can pile up with different people. Once the list is drawn up, it can become clearer which channel stays in whose hands.

We covered ways to track which channel a customer comes from in our article on how customers find your business; the same channel list can be used for complaints. With complaints that come by phone, unanswered calls can also slip through.

Choosing a Single Place to Record

Whatever channel a complaint comes through, writing it in the same place can make tracking easier. That place can be a simple list, a shared spreadsheet or a customer program; what matters is that everyone knows and uses the same place.

When choosing the record location, it is worth checking whether everyone who takes complaints can reach it easily. For someone working on site, a record that can be added from a phone may be more practical than a notebook kept in the office. We described tools to turn to when records grow busy in our customer service automation guide.

What Each Record Should Contain

The simpler the record, the easier it can be to keep. The fields below may be enough to start with; they can be added or removed depending on the type of work.

Writing the subject briefly and close to the customer's own words can help whoever reads the complaint later understand the situation correctly.

Owner, Reply and Closing Rules

Once the record location is ready, a few rules can be set for how a complaint moves from record to resolution.

Three rules can stand out.

1. Every complaint should have an owner

The person who takes a complaint and the person who resolves it may differ. Writing a name on the record can let everyone see where the matter is waiting.

2. The reply date should be written at the start

Even if a solution is not possible right away, writing down when the customer will be updated at the moment of recording can help keep a waiting complaint from being forgotten.

3. A standard for closing should be set

Agreeing in advance whether a complaint closes when the customer is informed or when the customer confirms the outcome can help records be read the same way.

Preparing the First Reply to the Customer

For a customer who complains, the first reply can matter as much as the fix itself. A short message saying the complaint was received, who is handling it and when there will be an update can keep the customer from calling again while waiting.

A text prepared in advance for this message can help keep replies from being delayed on busy days. It is advisable to write it in plain language that shows the customer was heard and that contains no blame. How soon the first reply is made can be set according to how busy the business is; what matters is that the whole team knows this timeframe.

Noticing Recurring Complaints

When records sit in one place, it can be easier to see the same issue coming back from different customers. A recurring complaint can often point not to a single customer but to a step in the work that needs attention.

Some complaints can grow out of a question whose answer was missing. If customers ask about the same topic again and again, the ready-made reply method from our article on what to do when customers keep asking the same question can help here too. If complaints about late delivery keep recurring, it may be worth revisiting whether a product is kept in stock or ordered in, drawing on the difference between keeping stock and working to order.

Summary

Before starting complaint tracking, it is advisable to see the channels complaints come through, choose a single place to record them and decide which details each record holds. Assigning an owner to each complaint, writing the reply date at the start and agreeing on a closing standard in advance can make tracking easier. A short, plain first reply can ease the customer's wait, while recurring complaints can show which step of the work needs attention.