What is Complaint Tracking Software?

In late 2023, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Navy Federal Credit Union claiming that the institution discriminated against Black and Latinx mortgage applicants. According to a CNN investigative report, ” the credit union had the widest disparity in conventional mortgage approval rates between White and Black borrowers of any major lender.” While a spokesperson for the lender claims that the report “does not accurately reflect [its] practices,” an attorney representing one plaintiff feels that his client was “denied their piece of the American Dream.”

Most organizations probably won’t face a million-dollar lawsuit anytime soon. However, staying on top of complaints is essential to attract and retain loyal customers, stay compliant, and maintain a positive public reputation. Complaint tracking software like Case IQ can help.

What is Complaint Tracking Software?

Complaint tracking software, also known as complaint management software, is a system for tracking, documenting, and resolving customer issues and complaints, all in one place. Complaint tracking software ensures that you track every customer interaction efficiently and accurately, creating a clear, searchable record.

On one secure, centralized platform, teams can:

• Receive complaints through your reporting mechanisms (e.g., hotline, email, webform)
• Assign complaint cases to the next available investigator
• Search for current and historical cases by customer name, complaint type, location, date, and more
• View all actions taken by your investigative team on a complaint case, with time and date stamps
• Store evidence (e.g., documents, audiovisual files) if an investigation is warranted
• Write and share a case summary
• Analyze case data to find patterns, hot spots, and areas of risk

Why You Need Complaint Tracking Software

Handling customer complaints is a daily task for most companies. From problems with products or services to concerns about employees’ conduct, each issue should be addressed quickly and respectfully.

Complaint tracking software is more efficient than other systems, helping teams exceed customers’ expectations with timely responses. Even if every complaint doesn’t result in a change or investigation, responding to each customer shows that the company values their opinion. Accepting feedback and being transparent and accessible will help you retain existing customers and attract new ones.

In addition, complaint management software analyzes complaint data so teams can constantly improve. Finding patterns and analyzing risk takes hours of painstaking data sorting when using other systems. Complaint tracking software lets teams report on problem areas in minutes so they can focus time and money on preventive efforts.

Top Complaint Tracking Software Features

Your company’s size, industry, and location affect what complaint tracking software suits its needs. However, all good systems share these three features.

Organized Workflows

Keeping all customer complaint cases on track can be tough, regardless of the company’s size. Robust complaint tracking software with guided workflows makes it easy to juggle numerous cases at once.

An organized workflow reduces time spent tracking down information and helps team members meet deadlines to ensure timely customer service. Look for software that can:

• Automatically assign complaint cases
• Move cases from one stage to the next to avoid bottlenecks
• Notify team members when they have impending deadlines
• Prioritize complaints for manager follow-up
• Store all complaint information in a centralized file

Easy Intake

Missing complaints is one of the easiest ways to infuriate already concerned customers. Complaint tracking software with easy intake ensures no report falls through the cracks.

Smart webforms and email-to-case capabilities ensure you capture all complaints and address them ASAP. Complaint management software can also integrate with your current hotlines and intake systems to make complaint handling even easier.

A strong intake system also ensures that your team gathers all the information needed to resolve each complaint. You’ll collect all the relevant information you need to get started without any manual data entry, so you can move on to triage and investigating sooner. This feature is especially important for misconduct allegations that need to be reported to regulators.

Trend Analysis

Preventing customer complaints is even better than resolving them. Look for complaint management software with trend analysis that allows your team to spot trends for continuous improvement.

For example, are customers having problems at one location or in one geographic region? Are there common complaints or complaint types?

Choose software (like Case IQ) that can help you visualize these trends and hot spots with graphs, charts, and heat maps. Knowing your problem areas lets you take preventive action to protect both customers and your business.

How Case IQ Can Help

Without the right tools, complaints management teams can’t do their job effectively. That’s why Case IQ’s modern case management software offers an end-to-end solution so you can take in, track, manage, and report on complaint data, all on one platform. Read more about how we can improve your complaint management here.

Do you have more questions about complaint tracking software? Check out these other resources:

• Handling Customer Complaints: A Best Practices Guide
• Managing Customer Complaints Effectively with Case Management Software
• What to Look for in a Complaint Management System
• A Guide to Complaint Management and Social Media
• 5 Revolutionary Ways to Use AI for Customer Complaint Management
• Are You Taking Too Long to Acknowledge Customer Complaints?