Question

How does customer complaint affect quality of the product?

Answer 1

A first step is making it easy for consumers and customers to notify you of a problem; by phone (through a toll-free number) or the Internet, adequately staffed 24/7 by employees who have the authority to rectify a problem. These people must be trained to gather key information and determine appropriate follow-up action, while also identifying scammers, product misuse, and/or abuse. Suppressing negativity with instant, sincere, and positive visibility will minimize most complaint escalation. This activity shouldnotbe viewed as an expense without an understanding of the impact toward customer/consumer loyalty.Another practical solution is totest the complaint-handling process periodically. Having aninternal or third-party individualtest the system with a fabricated customer and/or consumer problem common toeach category will help to assure the overall integrity of the program. Another solution is to empower key customer and consumer front-line employees with a compensation level intended to resolve complaints immediately; rectifying obviousproblems while not admitting fault.Beyond the handling of complaints is the analysis of complaints—which is a critical part of any continuous improvement and food safety risk assessment. Analyzing customer problems likely will lead to direct solutions associated with making a better product. Timely follow-up on a consumer-related complaint will provide proper due diligence in the eyes of most FDA Investigators. Keep in mind that many FDA inspections are initiated as a result of consumers contactingthem. Analysis trending also should be ongoing to warn of any repeated food safety issues. The failure to properly close an illness-related complaint may lead to unnecessary regulatory action while increasing liability risk by providing incriminating evidence.