Managing customer expectations is a very challenging job that requires constant attention. However, just as important is keeping track of all the customer complaints that are raised and what was done to address them. Over time this is a great way of understanding what went right / wrong with the project.
While there are a number of companies out there that have a defined process in place to capture and address customer complaints there are instances where information falls through the cracks. So it becomes the onus of the project manager to ensure that a record is kept of all such interactions ( both good and bad ).
To Automate or Not?
Another question you need to ask yourself is whether it would make sense to automate a process that captures and keeps track of customer complaints. The idea is to track, step by step, the escalation route a customer complaint takes when entered into the system.
I do understand this is a question that should be directed to the team handling process automation within the organization instead of project managers, however being the end users of such a system it would be interesting to understand what you think of it.
Now lets presume you agree, and that you have a system up and running, how do you think this information should be handled?
Being confidential in nature you might want to consider closing off access to only allow certain people within your team from interacting with this system. Senior Managers and group heads can then pull out reports that could give them an idea of how well / or badly a customer's perception of the project is and can be invaluable in providing early warnings of when a projects starts to fail.
What are the Benefits of putting such a system / tool in place?
- Greater control over the format of complaints coming in
- Ability to track how complaints are being handled and the escalation routes being taken
- Provide early warning signals to senior managers
- Ability to understand what went wrong / right with the project.
- Transparent communication / Improving client relations