Complaint Management – The Heart of CRM

Citation

Wirtz, J. (2006), "Complaint Management – The Heart of CRM", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 148-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876040610657075

Bernd Stauss and Wolfgang Seidel have succeeded in providing us with a brilliant, comprehensive and detailed treatment on a subject that is becoming increasingly important for the profitability of firms. The book deals with all aspects of complaint management, using systematic and step‐by‐step explanations.

The first four chapters lay the groundwork for the book. First, the importance of complaint management in relation to customer relationship management is established. Complaints are then defined, and the authors explain how dissatisfied customers react and how satisfaction with the complaint process can lead to customer retention. Chapter 4 outlines the goals and fundamental tasks involved in successful complaint management.

Chapters 5 to 8 describe the tasks involved in the direct complaint management process, while chapters 9 to 12 describe the tasks related to the indirect complaint management process. Specifically, chapter 5 details why complaints should be stimulated rather than minimized. It then goes on to elaborate on how this can be done through the establishment of various types of complaint channels including verbal, written, telephone and electronic channels. Chapter 6 discusses how complaints can be accepted, through organization of the receipt of the complaints and details step‐by‐step how complaint information can be documented. Chapter 7 deals with complaint processing, whereby the procedures have to be identified, analyzed, specified and visualized. The owners of complaints have to be determined and there must be mechanisms for monitoring the complaint process. Chapter 8 deals with how complaints should be handled at every stage, whatever form it takes, whether verbal or written, and whether it is justified or not.

Chapter 9 deals with complaint analysis and the authors detail quantitative methods to analyze complaints. Chapter 10 emphasizes the need for the control of complaint management in a planned fashion. It differentiates between evidence controlling, task controlling and cost‐benefit controlling. Chapter 11 concerns complaint reporting to internal target groups, and making information available to all authorized internal customers. Chapter 12 shares how complaint information can be used to make a contribution to quality management in the company.

Finally, chapter 13 deals with the human resource aspects of complaint management, chapter 14 discusses the organizational aspects of complaint management, and chapter 15 looks at the technological aspects of complaint management. Chapter 16 concludes by providing checklists for the entire complaint management system.

Managers who are serious about managing complaints and implementing such a system in their companies will find this book highly useful. It is like an instruction manual on what to do and how to do it. The book is filled with sample tables, forms, questionnaires etc., which managers can easily adapt to suit their needs. There are also tables that illustrate how to calculate the profits that can be reaped with the implementation of a complaint management system in the company. This can prove to be very useful in selling the idea of complaint management to the upper echelons of a company.

The amount of information presented however, could be a little daunting to the uninitiated, who may have to plough through the pages to retrieve the golden nuggets of advice. In addition, the practical advice is written in a sometimes academic style and certain chapters can get quite technical, especially when they involve elaboration of analytical methods. In conclusion, this book is designed to be part of the resource of every company that is interested in retaining its complaining customers.