How to create a customer complaint form (with template)
Improve your business by requesting customer feedback. Creating complaint forms is simple with SurveyMonkey.
No business is immune to customer complaints. Whether it’s a product defect, poor service experience, or a billing issue, addressing complaints effectively can turn a frustrated customer into a loyal advocate.
Companies typically use customer complaint forms to manage and resolve complaints, ensuring no issue goes unnoticed. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to create a customer complaint form, best practices for designing your own, and how to handle submitted complaints effectively.
What is a customer complaint form?
A consumer complaint form is a structured document that allows customers to report issues they’ve experienced with a company, product, or service. Companies can use them to collect necessary contact details about the customer, the nature of the complaint, and the date of the incident.
Customer complaint forms also play a crucial role in customer service. SurveyMonkey research shows that 89% of customer experience (CX) pros say their company's customer service contributes to customer churn.
With an accessible and easy-to-use complaint form, companies can encourage feedback, improve customer service, and retain customers.
How to create a customer complaint form
Use a template
The fastest way to create a customer complaint form is to use a complaint form template, like our Online Complaint Form Template.
Here’s how to use our customer complaint form template:
- Customize the survey fields: Edit the form to match your business needs. Include all necessary fields you'll need, like the customer's name and contact information.
- Add branding: Include your company’s logo, brand colors, and contact details.
- Test the form: Make sure customers can access your form on desktop and mobile. Send your form to a small group and ask them to describe their experience when filling it out.
- Share your complaint form: Embed the form on your website or send it via email.
Build your own customer complaint form
If you prefer to create a custom complaint form, include these key elements:
- Customer information fields for name, email, phone number
- Complaint details text box for date, time, and location of the incident
- Issue description text box for a detailed explanation of the problem
- Document upload fields to share supporting evidence like photos, receipts, or documents
- Resolution preference radio buttons or checkboxes to indicate the best resolution type (refund, replacement, apology, etc)
- Follow-up preferences to determine how to contact the customer about their complaint
Encourage customers to provide accurate and necessary information when completing the form for a smooth submission process. It might be harder to respond to incomplete submissions, so collect as much relevant information as possible with your complaint form.
Benefits of customer complaint forms
Companies often use customer feedback to help them better understand customer experience and improve their customer service continuously.
A customer complaint form makes it even easier to collect important feedback that you can use to:
- Streamline the complaint process: Your complaint form collects all necessary details from the start, reducing back-and-forth communication and speeding up resolution. Companies can manage complaints more efficiently, ensuring that no issues fall through the cracks.
- Boost customer experience: Customers feel like companies value their feedback when they use a dedicated complaint form, encouraging customer loyalty and trust over time.
- Address CX gaps: Companies can use customer complaint forms to pinpoint common areas of improvement and take proactive measures to improve their products, services, or customer interactions. Identifying recurring issues early helps prevent negative patterns from escalating and damaging the company’s reputation.
- Improve internal workflows: By reviewing customer feedback, companies can uncover inefficiencies, miscommunications, or service gaps that need improvement. Refine your customer service program by improving training for employees and providing a stronger overall service strategy.
Best practices for customer complaint forms
To maximize the effectiveness of your complaint form:
- Keep it simple: Avoid overwhelming customers with too many fields.
- Use clear language: Make sure instructions are easy to understand.
- Ensure mobile-friendliness: Optimize forms for smartphone users.
- Allow attachments: Let customers upload photos or documents as proof.
- Follow up promptly: Set up automated responses to confirm receipt and provide updates.
- Respond in a timely manner: Most companies respond to complaints about financial products and services within 15 business days.
- Enhance customer relationships: Utilize feedback forms to improve service quality, document work completion, and assist in community engagement, which helps in resolving complaints.
How do I respond to a customer complaint form?
Handling complaints effectively is just as important as collecting them. Here’s how to respond professionally:
- Acknowledge receipt: Send an automated or personal confirmation email.
- Investigate the complaint: Gather details from relevant teams. Supporting documents can enhance the understanding of the complaint and should be reviewed carefully.
- Provide a resolution timeline: Let customers know when they can expect a response.
- Offer a solution: Whether it’s a refund, apology, or corrective action, ensure the
response aligns with company policies. - Follow up: Confirm that the customer is satisfied with the resolution.
Better customer service with SurveyMonkey
Your customer complaint form is a powerful tool for improving customer satisfaction and maintaining brand trust. Streamline the complaint resolution process with a customizable form that's easy to access and respond to.
Earn better customer service feedback, close experience gaps, and delight customers with SurveyMonkey. Get started for free today.
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