In order to increase satisfaction with our products and services, we must take complaints, the valuable voice of our customers, analyze their causes, and make improvements. Therefore, it is required to create a report to prevent recurrence.
However, many people may worry that they do not know how to write a complaint report or that they do not have enough time to devote to making a report.
In this article, we will focus on the items and templates that should be written in a complaint report for below people.
- “I want to make the complaint report easy to read.”
- “I am so busy dealing with complaints that I do not have time to make a report.”
- “I am looking for a template that is useful for creating reports.”
If you are in charge of a company, this article will help you understand how to create a complaint report easily, so that you can respond to and improve the situation smoothly.
Contents
- 1 What is a complaint report?
- 2 How to write a complaint report
- 3 Required 10 items and examples in a complaint report
- 4 Free complaint report templates
- 5 Three things to keep in mind when writing a complaint report
- 6 The essential tools for “quick” and “appropriate” complaints handling
- 7 Summary of how to write a complaint report and templates
What is a complaint report?
A complaint report is a document that describes and reports the details of a customer complaint, how it was handled, and how it can be improved.
In preparing the report, it is required to analyze the causes and propose remedial measures while confirming the history and timeline of how the complaint occurred. Furthermore, complaints must be handled promptly, so they must be prepared smoothly.
In addition, when a complaint report is shared, it can be used to identify current issues and to improve future products and services. Therefore, do not stop with the creation of a complaint report, but be sure to share it with your team members.
How to write a complaint report
The following is a guide to writing a complaint report. This is a must-see because it is basic content that is required regardless of the industry or type of business.
Objective review of the facts
First, objectively check the facts about the complaint.
If you take a complaint from customer at face value and respond to it, you may not be able to solve the essential problem. Therefore, you must clarify the facts by confirming the situation with the customer and other parties involved.
For example, when you receive a complaint that the customer was lied to by a sales person, you should pursue the cause of the problem by referring to the contact history between the customer and the sales person, such as “How was it communicated verbally?” and “Is there any record of it by e-mail or recording?”
As described above, confirming the facts with multiple people will help you find the correct cause and ultimately lead to a response that satisfies the customer.
Organize the contents in chronological order
Next, organize the events leading up to the complaint in chronological order.
The complaint report is supposed to be shared after it is created. Therefore, in order to make it easy for the reader to understand “what caused it and what happened,” the contents of the complaint should be described in chronological order.
However, if you create the report on paper, you will have to rewrite it every time new information is released, and the document will be difficult to read. Word or Excel files also require employees to open the file every time a correction is made, which can be a burden on them.
IT tools make it easy to update information and create easy-to-read reports in a short period of time. Therefore, those who want to create reports efficiently should introduce IT tools such as Stock, which is intuitive and easy to use.
Consider future responses and improvement measures
Finally, use the details of the complaint to develop a plan for future action and improvement.
The purpose of preparing a complaint report is to understand the nature of the complaint and apply it to future business activities. Therefore, it is necessary not only to summarize objective facts, but also to describe responses and improvement measures.
In addition, the entire team must take thorough measures to prevent recurrence. So, be sure to share this information with internal members of the company after it is prepared.
Required 10 items and examples in a complaint report
Below are example sentences containing the 10 items that should be included in a complaint report.
Complaints Report
＜Summary＞
(1) Created date: Friday, September 1, 2023 1:00 p.m.
(2) Person in charge of receiving the complaint: Josh, Manager, △△△ Store
(3) Date of complaint: Thursday, August 31, 2023, 11:45 a.m.
(4) Place of occurrence: △△△store
(5) Customer information: Female in her 50 years-old / visits the store 3 times a week / has been coming for 10 years
＜Details＞
(6) Complaint details:
・She said “The attitude of the new cashier is bad, and what about the training system?”
・Specifically, the cause are the greeting of casher was too small, the way she put the items in the basket was too messy, and it took too long to hit the register,” etc.
・The customer also pointed out inadequate support, saying, “No one comes to help new employees when they are confused”.
(*No problems with money or defective products)
(7) Response at reception:
・We confirmed the above points and apologized.
・We told the customer that we would confirm the facts at the store and report back on the measures taken, and asked for the customer’s contact information.
(8) Cause of complaint:
(i) It was the first day of work for a new staff member, but one staff member was absent on the day, leaving the store with a small number of staff to deal with the situation.
(ii) It was a busy time of the day, and we were unable to allocate manpower to help the new staff member.
(iii) When the new staff member was asked for his/her opinion, he/she stated that “the other staff members seemed busy and it was difficult to ask questions” and “there were many customers and I was in a hurry, so I could not serve them as I had learned”.
(9) Purpose of customers:
・She wanted shopping before dinner and finish the checkout and go home as soon as possible.
＜Next step＞
(10) Suggestions for improvement:
i) Consider the following two points as a training system for new staff.
・Mentors should be assigned to new staff members.
・New staff should be in charge of display instead of cash register during busy hours (12:00-14:00, 17:00-20:00) for one month.
ii) Regarding shifts, the following one point should be considered.
・Call out to staff on days when there are vacancies.
3 items are particularly important in a complaint handling report: “Cause of complaint,” “Purpose of customers”, and “Next step”. These items are directly related to preventing recurrence, so be sure to include them.
Free complaint report templates
Below we will introduce free templates for complaint reports. Using a template will save you time by solving the need to think of items and structure from scratch.
Business in a box｜Template of customer complaints report
This is a template that items are divided “Customer information” and “Complaint information”.
It has a simple and practical layout that can be used in all kinds of situations. Another advantage is that you can download it in Word format, so you can freely change the font size, etc.
SampleForms｜Complaint report template
This is a template that you can write the contents of complaint and incident in detail.
Since complaint and incident are clearly divided on this template, you can write the situation that complaint is occurred in more detail.
However, if the text and layout do not fit your company, we recommend using a template that you have created yourself instead of an existing template. For example, you can easily create a report that suits your company by using Stock, which allows you to recall a template you have created with a few clicks.
Three things to keep in mind when writing a complaint report
Below are some points to keep in mind when writing a complaint report. Use the following points to create an effective report that can be used in future business activities.
(1) Respond promptly
To solve customer dissatisfaction and build a relationship of trust, a prompt response is required.
Specifically, the shortest way to do this is to reduce the number of man-hours from the time a complaint is received to the time it is responded to. However, in the past, it took time to prepare and share reports, which often delayed the response.
Therefore, proactively use templates and introduce IT tools that enable easy sharing of complaint reports. You also need to manage tasks appropriately to avoid delays in response.
(2) Be aware of the background behind the creation of the report
It is also important to be aware of the background behind the creation of the report.
When writing a complaint report, be clear about who you are writing to and for what purpose. For example, if you are writing for the purpose of sharing the report internally, you need to provide specific improvement measures and ensure that the team addresses the issue.
Also, if you are writing a report for external use to a customer, be aware of the customer intentions based on the complaint and be sure to respond in good faith.
(3) Maintain reports in an easily accessible location
Keep your reports in an easily accessible location.
Customer complaints are important feedback that can lead to improvements in products and services, so you must be able to look back on them later. However, if the reports are managed in Excel or Word, the number of files increases with each report, making management complicated.
Therefore, using a “notebook tool” that allows for easy-to-read hierarchical management with folders so that the report you need can be quickly retrieved. However, since complaint reports contain personal information, choose a tool with strict security.
For example, a tool such as Stock, which has obtained ISO 27001, an international security certification, can be used with confidence because it meets strict standards.
The essential tools for “quick” and “appropriate” complaints handling
The following is a essential tool for prompt and appropriate complaint handling.
In order to link complaints to business improvement, a system must be in place to share reports with all parties involved. If reports are not shared properly, not only will the situation not improve, but the same mistakes will be repeated.
In addition, since complaints require careful handling, it is necessary to create a system that facilitates consultation and progress reporting between supervisors and subordinates on a daily basis. Therefore, “tools that enable internal sharing of reports as well as exchanging messages and managing tasks” are essential for handling complaints in the future.
In conclusion, the only tool that should be introduced to handle complaints is Stock, which can easily share reports and link “Message” and “Task” for each material.
By setting up “template” of your team in “Note” of Stock, which can store all kinds of information, you can easily recall it with just a few clicks. In addition, “Message” and “Task” are tied to the Note, so you can manage and share reports and even track the progress of complaints in one place.
Stock｜A seamless tool for creating, sharing, and managing reports
The simplest tool to stock information "Stock"
https://www.stock-app.info/en/
Stock is the simplest tool to stock information. Stock solves the problem, "there is no easy way to stock information within the company".
With Stock, anyone can easily store all kinds of information, including text information such as requirements, images, and files, using the Note feature.
In addition, by using the "Task" and "Message" functions, you can communicate with each topic described in the Note, so that information is not dispersed here and there and work can always be carried out in an organized manner.
＜Why do we recommend Stock?＞
- A tool for companies that are not familiar with ITYou don't need to have any IT expertise to get started.
- Simple and usable by anyoneStock is so simple that anyone can use it without any unnecessary features.
- Amazingly easy information storing and task managementIt is amazingly easy to store information such as shared information within a company, and intuitive task management is also possible.
＜Stock's pricing＞
- Free plan ：Free
- Business plan ：$5 / User / Month
- Enterprise plan ：$10 / User / Month
Summary of how to write a complaint report and templates
We have focused on how to write a complaint report, essential items and points to note.
It is important to share the complaint report within the company and use it for future correspondence and improvement. In addition, in order to regain the trust of customers, it is necessary to respond promptly and show sincerity.
Therefore, by utilizing “tools that enable the creation, sharing, and management of reports,” the time loss from the time a complaint is received to the time of response can be significantly reduced. However, tools with multiple functions tend to be difficult to operate, and as a result, they cannot be mastered and cannot be handled smoothly.
So, your company should choose to implement “Stock,” which allows non-IT companies to effectively create, share, and manage reports even for those who are not to use softwares.
Free registration takes only 1 minute, so using Stock and set up a system that can handle the creation and sharing of complaint reports smoothly.
