Customer complaint groups play a fundamental role in delivering enhanced customer service by resolving complaints and getting customer feedback. However, the complaint groups that support a high volume of customer orders find it increasingly challenging to have an effective structure and resolution processes that provides maximum customer satisfaction. Best Practices ®, LLC undertook this research to identify service claim resolution benchmarks that will help complaint groups to reduce overall claim volume and cost. Additionally the study also probes key strategies and tactics for translating Voice-of-the-Customer and customer complaint data into business insights and improvements.

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Best Practices, LLC
Strategic Benchmarking Research & Analysis
Customer Complaint Resolution Excellence:
Capturing Insights to Drive Business
Improvements

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Table of Contents
Project Background
 Project Overview
 Benchmark Class Profile
 Key Findings
Study Findings
 Complaint Resolution Groups: Structure, Roles & Responsibilities
 Listening to Customer Complaints to Glean Improvement Insights
 Service Claim Resolution Benchmarks
 Reducing Complaint Volume
 Complaint Process Automation & Analytics
 Driving Improvements via the Complaints Process
 Lessons Learned: Turning Customer Complaints into Business Improvements
 About Best Practices, LLC

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Key Topic Areas Probed:
Study Objective & Research Methodology
Research Objectives:
• Establish performance benchmarks for
complaint and service claim resolution
processes among leading manufacturing
organizations, especially ones that support a
high volume of customer orders
• Gather innovative approaches to reduce claim
volume and cost, improve supply chain
effectiveness, and achieve maximum customer
satisfaction (including insights for serving key
customer segments)
• Adapt lessons that improve complaint
resolution processes (including process
automation) and maximize the impact of Voice-
of-the-Customer information and other critical
data gleaned throughout the complaint
resolution cycle
This benchmarking research, conducted
through a field survey instrument and a
series of interviews with selected
participants, delivers performance metrics,
insights, and lessons learned on:
•Complaint resolution group structures,
roles, and responsibilities
•Service claim resolution benchmarks
•Processes for reducing complaint volume
•Complaint process automation and
analytics
•Driving business improvements through
the complaints process
This benchmarking research study examines complaint resolution excellence, focusing
on the areas of service claim resolution performance and the reduction of overall
complaint volume. The study also probes key strategies and tactics for translating VOC
and customer complaint data into business insights and improvements.

4. Universe of Learning:
Benchmark Class Profiles &
Demographics

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Participating Companies:
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Sixty representatives from 58 companies participated in this research. All participants
contributed survey data. Deep-dive interviews were also conducted with several
participants to harvest additional key insights. The vast majority of benchmark companies,
which are listed below, support either national or global manufacturing operations.
Universe of Learning: Companies Participating in Study
3M
Abbott Laboratories
Amway Global
Agilent Technologies
Alere
Ashland Inc.
Autoliv
Avaya
Avery Dennison
Baxter Healthcare
Bayer Healthcare
Becton Dickinson
British American Tobacco
Cargill Corn Milling
Chevron
Coca-Cola
Cooper Power Systems
Covidien
DePuy
Douglas Pharmaceuticals
Dow Corning
Edwards Lifesciences
Exel
FedEx
Fresenius USA, Inc.
GE
Genentech
Genzyme
GlaxoSmithKline
Hewlett-Packard
Hospira
IBM
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson Health
Care Systems
LORD Corporation
Lubrizol
Markem-Imaje
MedImmune
NAMSA
Netcom
NextGenTel
Novartis
Pyrotec
Redcats USA
Roche Diagnostics
Rockwell Automation
SABIC Innovative Plastics
Sandhill Scientific, Inc.
Sartorius Stedim Biotech
Sazerac Company
Sigma-tau Pharmaceuticals
Solvay Advanced Polymers
Sun Motor Group
Tata Motors
Telecom New Zealand
Terasen Gas
Thermo Fisher Scientific
W.R. Grace

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Research Participant Job Titles Include:
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Job Titles of Research Participants
Research data and insights were contributed by a seasoned class of respondents, from
vice presidents to managers. The diversity of the job titles and functions among
benchmark partners – including Customer Service, Supply Chain Management, Quality, and
Business Process Improvement – suggests the cross-functional character of complaint
resolution excellence and execution at many leading companies.
VP, Global Quality
VP, Quality
VP, Quality & Regulatory
VP, Supply Chain
Executive Director, Customer Service
Director, Customer Experience
Director, Global Quality
Director, Logistics
Director, Operational Effectiveness
Director, Quality Systems
Director, Regulatory Compliance
Director, Supply Chain Management
Director, Wholesaler Channel Operations
Managing Director, Strategic Planning & Quality
Head of Customer Service
Head of Finance, SCM & Operations
Head of Service, Global Supply Chain
Service Claims Team Leader
Group Business Process Leader
Customer Service Lead
Senior Manager, Regional Operations
Senior Product Complaint Manager
Manager, Customer Advocacy
Manager, Customer Assistance
Manager, Customer Quality Assurance
Manager, Customer Service
Manager, National Customer Service & Marketing
Communications
Manager, Operations
Manager, Process Improvement
Manager, Quality
Manager, Quality Operations
Manager, Quality Systems
Manager, Remote Services
Manager, Supply Chain
Business Process Manager
Corporate Manager, Technical Sales & Client Care
Department Manager, Customer Development
Global Category Manager, Sourcing
Operational Regulatory Manager
Program Manager, Customer Issue Resolution
Business Lean Master
Master Black Belt
Customer Advocate
Analyst, Supply Chain
Consumer Affair Associate
Logistic & Customer Support, Supply Chain

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Customer Complaint Resolution Benchmarks:
• Benchmark Companies Receive Service Claims on less than 2% of Customer Orders: Participating
companies manage an average of 25,812 total customer orders each month, fielding an average of 375 service claims.
• Non-Centralized Structures Common for High-Volume Customer Support: Companies that support a large
number of product orders and manage hundreds or thousands of service claims per month tend to distribute complaint
management across the organization, in hybrid and especially decentralized management models. Companies employing
a centralized complaint management structure managed an average of just 8,547 customer orders and 169 service claims
each month. In contrast, companies employing de-centralized complaint management structure managed an average of
64,605 customer orders and 1,725 service claims each month.
• Benchmark Companies Deny Only 21% of Customer Service Claims: Of these denied claims, study
participants report an average denied claim recovery percentage of 51%. For companies currently recovering on less than
half of the claims they deny, there exists a substantial portion “unrecovered” revenue on all of these denied claims.
Increasing recovery percentage represents a valuable opportunity to significantly boost revenue. Possible explanations
for low recovery percentage of denied claims include:
•Tracking/Reporting Issues: Some denied claims which are classified as “unrecovered” may
ultimately be paid beyond an organizations standard tracking period
•Terms & Conditions Policy: Comparatively short reporting window for customers
to report common service claim types (shipment errors, damages, late deliveries, shortages,
etc.) may cause recovery problems
The following key findings emerged from this study.
SAMPLE: Key Research Findings and Insights

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Designated Complaint Management Groups Often Lead Key
Resolution and Long-term Improvement Activities
Q3. Which group at your company has the primary leadership role for the following complaint
management activities?
(n=59)
Benchmark Participants:: 25% 24% 2% 5% 19% 25%
Primary leadership for many of the key complaint management and continuous
improvement activities probed in this research resides either in customer service or in a
designated complaint management group at a majority of companies.
Customer
Service
Designated
Complaint
Management
Group
Sales
Department /
Account
Managers
Distribution
Centers
Six Sigma /
Continuous
Improvement Other
Service claims credit
approval or denial 46% 14% 22% 3% 3% 12%
Root cause analysis 25% 39% 3% 2% 19% 12%
Complaint trends analysis 24% 43% 3% 3% 16% 10%
Customer-complaint-
driven Continuous
Improvement 22% 34% 3% 3% 24% 14%
Includes mainly Quality Assurance departments

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Late Deliveries Most Common Source of Service Claims
Q4. Please rank which areas generate the largest number of service claims:
(“6" = most service claims and “1" = least service claims)
4.27
3.64
3.54
3.54
2.98
2.05
(n=57)
Late Deliveries
Shipment Errors
(e.g., wrong address)
Shortages
Damages to Shipment
(during transit)
Pricing Discrepancies
Overages
Benchmark companies most often confront service claims arising from shipment
problems that may be, though are not necessarily, carrier-related. According to the
benchmark class, the areas which generate the largest number of service claims were
late deliveries, followed by shipment errors (e.g., wrong address).

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Companies Typically Allow 30 Days to Report a Service Claim
Q9. How many days does your company's Terms & Conditions policy allow for a customer to
report the following service claim types? (Responses given in days)
(n=37)
The Terms & Conditions policies at most benchmark companies provide a two-week to
30-day window for customers to file shipping-related service claims. Policies generally
allow for a longer reporting period around pricing discrepancy issues. Companies in
regulated industries such as healthcare tend to provide longer reporting windows around
Quality and Product Safety issues.
Shipment
Errors
Late
Deliveries
Shortages Overages
Damages to
Shipment
Pricing
Discrepancies
High 180 180 365 365 365 365
75th Percentile 30 30 30 30 30 44
Average (Mean) 35 39 49 49 43 54
Median 30 30 30 30 23 30
25th Percentile 14 14 14 14 9 30
Low 1 1 2 2 1 1

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Flexible Approaches Common for Key Customers
Q10. How rigidly or loosely do you enforce your Terms & Conditions policies for key
customers and accounts? (Please choose the option that best describes your complaint
management group's approach to key accounts)
(n=49)
20%
35%
43%
Rigid Enforcement
Somewhat Rigid Enforcement:
Somewhat Flexible
Enforcement
Loose Enforcement, 2%
Almost half of benchmark partners adopt a “Somewhat Flexible” approach to enforcing
Terms & Conditions polices for key customers and accounts, whereby reporting
requirements for various service issues may sometimes be relaxed. In contrast, only
20% of companies deploy a “Rigid” approach to enforcing policies for this critical group.
“We only relax our reporting policies on rare occasions.”
“We hold all customers up to the same reporting
standards and timelines.”
“We often relax our reporting policies.”
“We hardly ever enforce our reporting policy.”
Voices from the Field:
The Marketing group does a lot of work around
managing key customers: they do a lot of focus
groups and other key-customer-related things.
That’s less often done in the complaint system, at
least in our company.
--Director, Quality Systems

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Best Practices, LLC
6350 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 200
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
www.best-in-class.com
About Best Practices, LLC
Best Practices, LLC is a research and consulting firm that conducts work based on the
simple yet profound principle that organizations can chart a course to superior economic
performance by studying the best business practices, operating tactics, and winning
strategies of world-class companies.
Link for Report: Capturing Insights to Drive Business Improvements