"Anytime a customer comes into

contact with any aspect of a business,

however remote, is an opportunity to

form an impression."

‘Moments of Truth’, Jan Carlzon

Current accounts in meltdown: Why the biggest

names on the high street are being hit with a deluge

of customer complaints

Furious passengers locked in delayed

Ryanair plane for six hours without food

or water

Energy supplier banned from taking on

new customers by the industry regulator

due to poor customer service.

A statement that something is

unsatisfactory or unacceptable

Product

People

12% of customers

have had a problem

75% bring it to the

attention of

someone

5.6 / 10

75% bring it to the

attention of

someone

“I didn’t think it would

it would make it any

difference”

Asking the right

questions, to the right

people in the right way

Tactical

• Focused on a specific ‘event’ – i.e. a

complaint

• Freshness of recall

• Focusing on the experience

• Higher frequency of data collection

• Consider the method – self

completion vs. interview

Strategic

• Not all dissatisfied customers

complain / most complaints do not

reach management

• Complaints question set as part of

overall perception set.

• Typically as part of an annual survey

• Cost effective and efficient

• Granular?

‘Strategic’ vs. ‘Tactical’ Research

Questions you can ask (Strategic survey)

• Have you had a problem or had reason to complain? Yes / No

• What was the nature of the problem?

• Did you make them aware? Yes / No

• Who did you tell? (Individual or dept)

• How satisfied or dissatisfied were you with: -

– The way the problem was handled? Scale of score / Probe low scores (Why?)

– The speed of the resolution? Scale of score / Probe low scores (Why?)

Questions you can ask (Tactical survey)

• Have you recently made a complaint? Yes / No

• Is the complaint closed or still ongoing?

• What was the nature of the complaint?

• How did you make the complaint?

• Who did you tell?

• Requirement test - How satisfied or dissatisfied were you?

• Requirement test – How important is this need to you?

• Overall satisfaction with the way the complaint was handled

• Additional questions focused on the experience

90.0% of these customers brought it

to attention

Problem Handling

How did you raise your problem?

77.8%

11.1%

11.1%

0% 50% 100%

By phone

Face to face

Via email

2018 2016

16.7% of customers have had

a problem (26.5% in 2016)

Relatively low compared to 26% on TLF database.

“There has been a catalogue of

errors on one job. The final straw

was long lead times, deliveries

going wrong and wrong items.”

“They used to be quite exclusive to

members but now they are passing out work to others which is pushing

me to use other suppliers who give

better customer service and lower

prices.”

“Problems with the latest product. It’s not

their traditional product – I think they

bought it in from Czech Republic or

somewhere. It’s in the low end range

and there were delays and issues with

the overall quality.”

What was the nature of your problem?

“The quoted lead time

wasn’t achieved and they

didn’t answer the question I

asked in my e-mail.”

Problem Handling – Scores have increased for

handling but have dropped for speed of resolution

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way the problem was handled?

0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

14.3% 14.3%

0.0%

14.3%

28.6%

14.3% 14.3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2018 Mean: 7.3

2016 Mean: 6.0

Completely dissatisfied Completely satisfied

0.0% 0.0%

16.7% 16.7%

0.0%

16.7%

0.0%

16.7%

0.0%

33.3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2018 Mean: 6.8

2016 Mean: 7.2

Completely dissatisfied Completely satisfied

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way the speed of resolution?

Impact on satisfaction

No (85) 75.3% Very satisfied (9-10) (13)

74.6%

Overall (164) 69.2%

Yes (79) 62.6%

Satisfied (6-8) (36) 66.5%

Overall Satisfaction Index Have you raised a complaint in last 3 months? Satisfaction with the way the problem/issuewas handled

Dissatisfied (1-5)

(24) 53.3%

Process of problem handling

Satisfaction Gaps – Doing best at what

matters most

-2.3

-3.7

-2.5

-3.2

-4.4

-5.2

-4.0

-4.2

-3.1

-3.3

-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0

9.4

9.3

9.4

9.3

9.1

9.3

9.6

9.3

8.8

9.3

7.1

5.6

6.9

6.1

4.7

4.1

5.6

5.0

5.7

6.0

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

It was easy to make a complaint

Being told what was going to happen next

The person you spoke to was understanding

The person you spoke to was able to answer

your questions

The length of time it took to deal with your

complaint

Being kept up to date with what was

happening

The outcome of your complaint

[Group Member] making you feel like a

valued customer

[Group Member]'s reputation

[Group Member] providing value for money

Importance Satisfaction

Satisfaction gap

CSI tracking over time

46.6% 50.0%

52.5%

49.6%

56.4% 56.2%

49.8%

44.5%

52.7%

56.4%

61.0%

49.0%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

January

2014

February

2014

March

2014

April

2014

May

2014

June

2014

July

2014

August

2014

September

2014

October

2014

November

2014

December

2014

January

2015

Quarter 4, 2013:

49.2% Quarter 1, 2014:

54.9% Quarter 2, 2014:

49.1% Quarter 3, 2014:

56.9%

Problem handling golden rules

Is it all about the way it

is handled?

Outcome vs. Speed

Successful outcome

and dealt with quickly?

Successful outcome

but took forever?

"Anytime a customer comes into

contact with any aspect of a business,

however remote, is an opportunity to

form an impression."

‘Moments of Truth’, Jan Carlzon

Summary

• Complaints – ‘Opportunity’ or ‘Threat’

• We’d love to eliminate complaints but we can’t

• Tip of the iceberg – many who have a problem don’t complain

• Heavy financial implication for poor complaint handling

• Measurement of complaint handling is an essential tactic

• Measurement alone is not enough – action needs to be taken

Thank You

chriselliott@leadershipfactor.com