Complaint Reporting

Abstract

Complaint reporting pertains to the regular reporting of complaint-relevant facts to internal target groups. In addition to active reporting (Information Push), one of the tasks of complaint reporting is to carry out special analyses at the request of internal customers and to give them access to all the complaint-relevant information (Information Pull).

With regard to the contents of the active reporting, a distinction must be made between complaint-related and complaint management-related information. Complaint-related information provides details about the complaint volume, the complainants, the complaint channels chosen by the complainants and the complaint objects and problems. The complaint management-related contents provide information about the strengths and weaknesses of complaint management and its economic contribution to success.

With respect to the formal presentation, different forms are available: detailed lists and tables, aggregate results and performance figures, and “hit lists” that provide a concise summary of the key information (e.g. top problem categories).

The reporting intervals depend on complaint volume, the problem urgency and the informational requirements of the internal customers.

Complaint reports should be prepared in a target group-specific way. The main target groups are the executive management, business units and functional areas that are affected by the reported customer problems, complaint management itself and all employees of the company.

In order to ensure that the information from complaint reports is used, internal information barriers must be identified and removed. In addition, the use of information can only be expected in a corporate culture that understands errors not primarily as risks, but as offering an opportunity for improvement.