Industry Standards for Number of Customer Complaints

Hi,

Does anybody know of any industry standards for customer standards - for examples if ours were 100 CPMU would it be excessively high or below the industry standard?

Thanks,

Gaia

It depends on the product (cost has a high influence on whether someone will complain and more can go wrong with some chilled complicated products and I would also argue own brand will be higher as some retailers will accept and compensate any complaint) but from experience 20 CPMU max for sandwiches, 30 CPMU max for ready meals, you're talking single figures for confectionery.

Anyone else got their rule of thumb on products they've worked on?

Hi,

Does anybody know of any industry standards for customer standards - for examples if ours were 100 CPMU would it be excessively high or below the industry standard?

Thanks,

Gaia

If you work in the passeneger airline business then it's a little high, but not bad for elastic bands.

The main thing is you measure and establish your baseline and then try to improve peformance. Ask your customers how you rate against the competiion. I'm sure they will benchmark their supply base and share data with you.

Anyone else got their rule of thumb on products they've worked on?

Low value dairy/desserts less than 10 CPMU.

But you are quite right it is dependent on value of the item. Also if there is a claim of quality such as "Finest" or "The Best".

I have always looked at long term trends and year on year performance. This gives an overall view of performance and also makes it easier to identify areas to focus on.

If you produce own label then there is a considerable difference in the ability of the retailers to report complaints. For instance JS has a very good system of capturing and reporting complaints and a good standard for one of their products may be less than 100 CPMU when with some of their competitors for an identical product it may be less than 5 CPMU.

Regards,

Tony

It depends on the product (cost has a high influence on whether someone will complain and more can go wrong with some chilled complicated products and I would also argue own brand will be higher as some retailers will accept and compensate any complaint) but from experience 20 CPMU max for sandwiches, 30 CPMU max for ready meals, you're talking single figures for confectionery.

Anyone else got their rule of thumb on products they've worked on?

When you say 'single figures' for confectionery, do you have any more specifics? From where are you basing this information?

I suggest that you actively seek the highest number of complaints that is possible for every product. This is because it is not a “bad” thing to receive complaints. It is worse if you do not receive complaints because the unhappy customers are simply moving on to other brands without letting you hear about it.

I also suggest that you seek positive feedback as well and conduct root cause analyses for the positive feedback just as you must for complaints. Essentially, what I am saying is this: Feedback from consumers is always a good thing and you should take advantage of the opportunities for improvement that the feedback provides. Eventually, positive feedback will outgrow “complaints” if the right improvement actions are taken.

I suggest that you actively seek the highest number of complaints that is possible for every product. This is because it is not a “bad” thing to receive complaints. It is worse if you do not receive complaints because the unhappy customers are simply moving on to other brands without letting you hear about it.

I also suggest that you seek positive feedback as well and conduct root cause analyses for the positive feedback just as you must for complaints. Essentially, what I am saying is this: Feedback from consumers is always a good thing and you should take advantage of the opportunities for improvement that the feedback provides. Eventually, positive feedback will outgrow “complaints” if the right improvement actions are taken.

I think this is a very enlightened view gcse-fhp; root cause analysis of positive feedback...I would never have thought to do that, but I get it.

Regards,
Simon