Complaint Management

Clearing a client’s complaints backlog with a high success rate

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The challenge

A leading provider in the energy sector received a high volume of complaints and lacked the resources internally to deal with the backlog that was mounting up. The IT system used by the client was not designed for complaints handling and was not helping the backlog situation. As the client, like all providers in the sector, was targeted on complaint closures by OFGEM, they were actively receiving penalties. They needed a complaint management solution which would provide a better experience for their customers, leading to increased retention and also helping them to meet OFGEM complaint closure targets.

The solution

Sigma Connected established a team of 70 FTE to focus purely on complaint closures. This was to tackle both the backlog and also to bring down the closure times for new complaints. In each client office, Sigma set up an executive and ombudsman complaints team of 8 FTE to manage escalations and support faster resolution of complex energy management complaints. Additionally, they overlaid Sigma Connected’s bespoke complaints handling system onto the client’s billing system, which ensured timely resolutions with a full audit trail.

The result

There was a significant reduction in re-open rates of complaints, meaning that they had been successfully resolved in the first place. This resulted in improved customer satisfaction with over 10,000 complaints closed within the first 4 months and Sigma Connected’s closure rates 50 % higher than the client’s internal team.