Excerpt from Complaint Management: The Heart of CRM

Download an exclusive 15 page extract from Complaint Management: The Heart of CRM by Bernd Stauss and Wolfgang Seidel.

The complaining customer whose problems are suitably resolved can become a business’ biggest champion. So why do most companies want to hear anything but complaints from their customers?

Listening to customers’ complaints, responding, analysing and strategically acting on the information to improve products and services are the marks of organisations committed to success. Complaints are the key to building strong customer relationships and retaining potentially lost revenue streams. Most companies avoid or minimise complaints at all costs, but those comments can provide a vital link to a thriving future.

Complaints are at the core of customer relationships and retention. Businesses that develop an active complaint management program as an integral part of their Customer Relationship Management system will learn to thrive amid change. If customers are the lifeblood of a company, their complaints offer concrete opportunities to build a strong, loyal audience and to refine products and services.

About the Authors

Prof. Dr. Bernd Stauss holds the first German chair for services management at the Business School Ingolstadt of the Catholic University Eichstaett-Ingolstadt. A prolific author of books and scholarly articles on service management and quality issues, he is also a popular speaker to business and industry.

Wolfgang Seidel founded "servmark – The Customer Evolution Company," in 1994. It is one of the leading consulting companies for complaint management and CRM. He also established Serv.EVENT, focusing on complaint management and CRM through conferences, workshops and discussion groups.