Understanding complaint management
Aaron Hoare 
Date published: Dec 04, 23
In a recent webinar with our friends at the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), we learned about the importance of complaint management for ISO-accredited organizations and some best practices for documenting them.
In this article, we’ll go over some of the key points discussed surrounding complaint management as part of a quality management system, but for the real detail, we highly recommend watching the webinar on demand. Not only will you have access to the full complaint management presentation, but you’ll be able to listen in on an informative Q&A session with quality managers and other compliance professionals.
Our speaker, Melanie Ross, has over two decades of expertise in the realms of quality control, quality assurance, and quality management, having served in diverse industries such as chemical, biological, aerospace, and oil and gas. In each of these sectors, her prime responsibility was the creation of management systems, encompassing the establishment of internal audit programs, vendor qualification processes, and the deployment of lean six sigma. At present, Melanie holds the role of Technical Products Developer at ANAB, where she designs and delivers training courses, supports business development through client outreach, and acts as a technical resource for customers, assessors, and other stakeholders.
Watch the full webinar where Melanie Ross discusses the importance of effective complaint management and the role this has to play in continuous quality improvement.
Watch on demandComplaint management in an accredited quality management system
Many ISO certification and accreditation standards contain requirements for management of complaints by an organization. However, many organizations report that implementing an effective complaint management system can be a challenge.
Regardless of the standards that govern your management system, complaint management is a requirement that has to be implemented. Oftentimes, though, complaints slip through the cracks or get corrected without being recorded.
Receiving and processing complaints is not only for customer satisfaction. It shouldn’t just serve as a tick box gesture to keep customer happy on a basic level. Instead, gathering and acting on complaints is an exceptionally valuable opportunity for organizational improvement. You could certainly make the argument that complaint management is the most important part of the feedback loop that makes continuous improvement possible, and isn’t continuous improvement ultimately what we are all striving for in quality?
What is a complaint?
The official definition found in ISO 9000:2015, clause 3.9.3 is: “A complaint is the expression of dissatisfaction made to an organization, related to its product or service or the complaints-handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected.”
All of this is to say that a response or resolution to a complaint is expected. So, anytime an organization takes action based on negative feedback: that is complaint management! Even if it’s not a formalized process in the organization, it still qualifies.
Requirements for complaint management
The requirements for complaint management come from a variety of different standards, and they are ultimately unique to your organization. Two of the most common standards used by organizations are ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/IEC 17025 and they both require complaint management. But other key standards, like ISO 15189, ISO 13485, BRCGS food standards, and many many more also have requirements around the handling of complaints.
Let’s look at the 9001 standard first since it is the core standard, if you will, on which many of the other standards are based. In clause 10.2.1 of ISO 9001:2015, it states: “When a nonconformity occurs, including any arising from complaints, the organization shall…” and it goes on to identify six actions that the organization shall take. That is the core of complaint management within ISO 9001.
ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is similar in its requirements for complaint management. In clause 7.9.1, it states “The laboratory shall have a documented process to receive, evaluate, and make decisions on complaints.” Additional clauses in 7.9 identify aspects of the complaint management process that are required. The key here is to identify that a complaint has been voiced by the customer whether through a formal complaint submission or otherwise.
Any time a customer expresses dissatisfaction, the provider must document it, evaluate it, and take action!
Identifying a complaint
According to ISO 9000 clause 3.9.2, complaints are a common indicator of low customer satisfaction. But the absence of complaints does not necessarily imply high customer satisfaction. For example, some errors are corrected without anyone formally noting this. Here is a list of complaints that are usually recorded as a correction, but not always as complaints:
- Product or service quality
- Product or service availability
- Customers service issues
- Timing of delivery
- Shipping errors
- Reporting errors
- Accounting errors
- Level of service
When complaints are listed as corrections, organizations miss an opportunity to improve systems and processes. When identifying complaints, look for a gap between what was promised (contract review) versus what was delivered (product or service). It could also be that there was a mismatch between customer expectations and the actual experience. This is an opportunity for an organization to evaluate its processes to determine if any improvements can be made.
Finding value in complaints
There is value in almost all complaints and expressions of dissatisfaction. Complaints often highlight a problem in the management system. They are essential as a part of root cause analysis: a complaint will often hep you get to the bottom of a non-conformance quickly.
You will want to focus on the processes that are the subject of the complaint. Make sure, however, that you avoid placing blame on personnel. If a customer is dissatisfied, a process or system has failed. Use the complaint to enhance the customer experience by determining the cause and correcting the action. These are the fundamentals of effective CAPA, and complaint management is key to CAPA processes. Download our CAPA toolkit today for valuable resources on corrective and preventive action.
Access our CAPA toolkit for free where you’ll find a wealth of resources to help you perfect your corrective and preventive actions
Download nowUsing complaints for continuous improvement
As part of an effective complaint management system, one of the first things you should do is categorize complaints. It’s helpful to note, for example, whether or not the complaint has occurred before. This can help identify trends in complaints.
You may even realize that there are repeat customers/organizations making the complaints, and this can be helpful in customer relations and retention. If similar customers are regularly having similar complaints, this should move to the top of your priority list for corrective and/or preventive action.
One key to using complaints for continual improvement is to develop a robust complaint handling process or procedure.
Strategies for complaint management
In clause 10.2.1 of the ISO 9001:2015 standard, we see steps organizations can take when complaints occur. Organizations need to:
- React when a nonconformance occurs
- Evaluate the need for action to eliminate the cause
- Implement any action needed
- Review the effectiveness of any corrective action taken
- Update risks and opportunities
- Make changes to the management system
ISO 17025:2017 offers further guidance on strategies for complaint management in clause 7.9.3, and naturally some of these are specific to the focus of the standard: testing and calibration laboratories. When developing your complaint management process, you should:
- Describe the process for receiving, validating, investigating, and deciding necessary actions
- Track and record the complaints
- Ensure appropriate action is taken; this can be accomplished by establishing a complaint owner
Melanie offered a few additional strategies for complaint management at the end of the webinar. She suggests that your team:
- Listens and understands
- Apologizes where appropriate
- Resolves the complaint
- Notifies the complainant of actions taken
- Verifies the effectiveness of actions
- Incorporates the complaint management process into day-to-day operations
- Ensures that personnel understand that complaint management is a good thing and leads to process improvements
- Realizes that complaints can often be turned into training opportunities
Using quality management software to get complaint management right
Many ISO certification and accreditation standards contain requirements for management of complaints by an organization. Yet regardless of the standard requirements, it is important for organizations to receive and duly process complaints, not only for customer satisfaction, but as opportunities for improvement to the overall management system.
Complaint management should be at the center of any effective quality management system. And the most effective quality management systems take advantage of powerful, eQMS software. Ideagen Quality Management has an intuitive module for complaint management. Using Ideagen QMS, you can make sure that complaints are handled effectively and used as a tool to drive continuous improvement.
Learn more about Ideagen Quality Management today or book a demo with our team to better understand how it can take complaint management in your organization to the next level.
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