Quick Response Needed - SFI INTERNATIONAL

By Jane Lindhe (from a BRW Article that appeared on 29th April 2010)

Companies have fewer than 24 hours to respond to a customer complaint before potentially losing the business, a survey of 15,000 households by complaints management software company SFI International has found.

SFI, which works with companies such as McDonald's, Coles, Dulux, Mazda and Yamaha, found that time constraints and new methods of communication, such as social media, have led customers to demand more from companies' complaints management systems than they did three years ago.

SFI director Peter Gillson says about one in five customers uses the medium to vent frustrations and that figure is likely to increase substantially as people become more technologically savvy.

"Customers almost hit 'send' on a complaint email and wait for the response to hit their mailbox," he says. "They used to be willing to wait longer; now they view 24 hours as a long time.

"Companies that focus on responding quickly with empathy for their customers have the best retention rates, he says. SFI's survey showed 73 per cent of customers will be more loyal to a company that responds satisfactorily to a complaint. However, there is a 56 per cent chance that a complaint that is mismanaged will lead to brand damage.

Generally service companies were far more inept at dealing with customer complaints than retailers, the survey found.