Improving complaint management within a customer service team
The customer service team I was part of struggled with customer complaint management. The process was slow and both employees and customers would get frustrated. Here's how a colleague and I stepped in.
The project
I supported the customer experience by working as a team player, mapping the journey and leveraging both employee and customer pain points.
Role
Customer service specialist
Language
English, Italian
Tools
SAP Enterprise software
Timeline
1 month
The context
The problem
Managing complaints in a busy customer service team can be challenging.
Customer service reps need to respond with empathy and find viable solutions fast, while keeping multiple stakeholders in the loop.
The idea
With guidance from our team lead, a colleague and I started thinking about ways to improve the entire experience for all parties involved.
The research
We surveyed our customer service colleagues in person to identify their pain points.
We also asked other teams involved in complaint resolution (planning, plant personnel, logistics, payments) how they expected to interact with customer service.
We found that:
- customer service reps struggled to receive investigation updates in a timely manner
- other teams struggled to keep track of progress due to their high workload
- lack of control over the process was causing additional stress and straining the relationship
Mapping the process
We observed how complaints were being handled in the Enterprise software to identify gaps.
We noticed that both internal and external follow-up was getting lost in a sea of other, more pressing, daily tasks.
Wrapping up an investigation was a drawn-out, underwhelming experience for customers.
Defining a new approach
My colleague and I worked to redefine a timeline that would put the customer service rep back in control of the experience.
The new approach involves:
- proactively engaging with stakeholders instead of waiting for updates
- managing expectations by sharing a detailed action plan upfront
- anticipating questions with a closer feedback loop
The language
Every time a customer service rep follows up internally, they’ll also write an email to bring the customer up to speed on the investigation.
To make this process smoother, my colleague and I created email templates that each team member could personalize according to the situation at hand.
Our tone of voice is:
- professional, but caring
- matter-of-fact, but helpful
- serious, but not staid
- respectful and empathetic
The feedback
My colleague and I presented our project to a group of around 30 customer service reps during a team meeting.
We introduced the new timeline, went through the email templates and opened the floor for feedback.
Our colleagues helped us slightly tweak the timeline and adjust the content in some of the email templates.
After the meeting, we distributed the templates to all members.
My colleague and I translated them into Italian, while other senior reps created versions for their respective native languages.
The impact
After one month of testing, my customer service team reported working faster and easier thanks to the new guidelines.
Our customers, too, were pleased with the closer follow-up, increased level of care and professionalism.
The project was implemented in another customer service team within the organization.
How might you benefit from this approach?
- Partially automate content while adding your personal touch
- Closely monitor customer complaints and identify improvement areas
- Discover valuable employee and customer data for your CRM system
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