Not only is effective complaints management good business practice, complaints management is also a compliance requirement for companies that adhere to ISO standards or are regulated by the FDA.
Top 4 Complaint Management Challenges and How To Solve Them
Article from | isoTracker Solutions Ltd
A comprehensive complaints management system is essential for identifying product or service shortfalls and resolving them efficiently.
As part of an overall quality management system (QMS), complaints management offers vital feedback and data about both current and potential future quality or service weaknesses.
Not only is effective complaints management good business practice, complaints management is also a compliance requirement for companies that adhere to ISO standards or are regulated by the FDA.
Common complaints management challenges
Complaints management can be very challenging but with the right approach, it’s also a very informative and valuable part of your QMS.
We look at the top four challenges companies face and how best to overcome them.
Lack of procedure
Without a standard procedure for recording, investigating and resolving complaints, agents are left to their own devices and each incident may be handled differently.
Inconsistency can lead to confusion and ineffective communication between agents, managers and customers.
A good complaints handling procedure also makes it easier to measure when complaints have been resolved satisfactorily.
Insufficient information
Recording too little information or leaving out relevant details hampers effective complaint resolution.
It also leads to dissatisfied customers, who may be called on to provide the same information multiple times.
Proper record keeping in relation to complaints can also be an FDA and ISO compliance requirement.
Outdated systems
An outdated or ineffective complaint management system can lead to issues such as miscommunication, data loss, improper recording of information and failure to track complaint handling through to resolution.
To be effective, a modern complaint management system should be intuitive to use and properly integrated with other business systems. Agents should also be thoroughly trained in its use.
Security is also vital because the system will record personal information about the complainant. For this reason, centralized digital systems that are encrypted and have strict access control are best.
Late resolution
A complaint that is resolved weeks or even months after it’s received paves the way for further customer dissatisfaction and new complaints about how long it takes your business to resolve issues.
Corrective and preventive action (CAPA) needs to happen quickly, and must include giving necessary feedback to the customer.
Complaints management software is helpful in this case because it can send automatic reminder to the relevant user about complaints that still need to be resolved or followed up on.
Effective complaint management
With standardized procedures, proper staff training, and constant monitoring, most challenges associated with complaint management can be easily overcome.
Complaint management software is ideal for streamlining this process. A suitable complaint management system is also a requirement for ISO and FDA compliance.
These are some of the key capabilities of the best complaint management software:
- central, standardized recording and storage of complaints, enabling tracking of all information pertaining to their investigation, resolution and closure
- creation, distribution, and tracking of corrective action (CAPA) requests, through to their satisfaction and closure
- automated workflows, for ensuring nothing is overlooked
- automatic email task notifications with regular reminders and automatic escalation if due dates are missed
- up-to-date analysis of key complaint and CAPA performance metrics.
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of ManufacturingTomorrow
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