Driving a better customer experience through improving a complaint management service

The challenge

Our client, a leading energy company, was struggling to deal with the volume and complexity of complaints it was receiving, especially those relating to Smart Meters.

Complaints regarding Smart Meters added a new layer of complexity, time and sensitivity as they sometimes involved visits to the customer home.

The client worked with a number of outsource partners who were all receiving the same mix of complex complaint types.

They needed help finding a solution to improve their complaints resolution.

The solution

Sigma Connected set up a different operating model with several distinct teams of complaint handlers, working directly from the client’s IT system to ensure there was a single customer record.

With Sigma providing individuals with high levels of skill and knowledge, the distinct teams worked specific complaint types, including Smart Meters, which enabled them to become experts in dealing with complaints of that kind.

Unique staff engagement programmes ensured low attrition (around 30% annualised) and low absence (around 4%). These low attrition rates among staff resulted in more experienced, skilled and knowledgeable complaint handlers.

The result

Sigma managed to achieve or surpass the many targets our client set for the project.

On average, Sigma complaint handles achieved 0.3 closures per hour, while 85% of cases were fully resolved over the phone, well above the 70% goal set by the client.

Lower re-open rates, at approximately 15%, reflected the quality of resolutions and appropriate outcomes, ensuring a better customer experience.

There were also fewer Ombudsman escalations (1%), which was below the 2% target set by the client, with even fewer complaints upheld by the Ombudsman.

Sigma went one step further and by implementing thorough Root Cause Analysis we also supported the client with continual improvement of both the complaints handling and key service delivery which assisted in the long-term reduction of complaints.