Improving Escalated Complaints

In November 2022, Kura embarked on a significant project to manage sensitive and high-importance complaints within the utility industry. This initiative aimed to maintain and enhance our client’s reputation with key advocacy groups and public bodies. Kura’s successful improvements led to us taking on additional responsibilities previously managed by a different outsourcing partner.

The previous outsourcing partner’s handling of this work had cast doubt on the feasibility of successfully outsourcing such critical tasks. Kura needed to rebuild confidence with the customer advocacy organisation and prove that our utility partner’s decision to entrust us with this responsibility was justified. This confidence was essential, as it directly influenced industry rankings regulated by the ombudsman. Key challenges included:

• Poor Case Management for SME Premises: Cases related to SME premises were poorly handled, resulting in constant escalations.
• Inadequate Communication: The customer advocacy organisation repeatedly requested updates to obtain precise information.
• Insufficient Case Details: Updates provided lacked crucial details, hindering the advocacy organisation’s ability to offer the best advice to consumers.
• Increasing Complaint Volumes: A growing inventory of complaints, mainly those outstanding for over 100 days, were not effectively managed.
• Risk of Regulatory Intervention: The challenges above posed a significant risk of regulatory intervention if clear improvements were not made.

To tackle these challenges, Kura implemented several strategic improvements:

• Enhanced Case Management: We restructured the management of SME-related cases to prevent escalations and ensure efficient resolution.
• Improved Communication Protocols: We established robust communication channels with the customer advocacy organisation to provide timely and comprehensive updates.
• Detailed Case Reporting: We ensured that all updates included crucial details necessary for the customer advocacy organisation to provide optimal advice to consumers.
• Effective Complaint Management: We introduced systems to manage and reduce the inventory of outstanding complaints, particularly those pending for over 100 days.
• Regulatory Compliance: We implemented measures to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and mitigate the risk of intervention.

Through these efforts, Kura demonstrated its ability to manage high-importance complaints, build confidence in the customer advocacy organisation, and reinforce our utility partner’s decision to entrust us with this responsibility. This contributed to maintaining and improving our client’s industry standing and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Identifying and Addressing Skillset Gaps

Kura thoroughly reviewed the team’s skillsets and identified gaps, particularly in the specialist knowledge required for handling SME premises processes. During this deep dive, it was discovered that the inventory of these complaints had been understated, necessitating advisor upskilling to manage these effectively. To address this, Kura:

• Reviewed SME Inventory: Analysed the volume of SME complaints and identified the need for additional resources with SME-specific skills.
• Advisor Upskilling: Initiated the upskilling of advisors to improve their understanding of SME processes and products.
• Skill Matrix Creation: Developed a skill matrix to ensure all advisors possessed the necessary knowledge and skills to handle their assigned complaints.

Improving Communication and Update Management

Kura identified that the primary cause of escalations was a communication gap between Kura and the customer advocacy organisation. At the same time, Kura provided updates via telephone and the customer advocacy organisation required written updates. The updates were also offered sporadically throughout the day without a governing system. To rectify this, Kura:

• Transitioned to Written Updates: Shifted from telephony to written updates as per the requirements of the customer advocacy organisation.
• Established Systematic Update Process: Implemented a structured process to ensure timely updates were provided.

Addressing Aged Complaints

Aged complaints, mainly those outstanding for over 100 days, were a significant concern for the utility partner and the customer advocacy organisation. When Kura took ownership, 33% of the complaint inventory was over 100 days old, negatively impacting industry ratings and causing additional rework. To tackle this, Kura:

• In-depth Review of Aged Complaints: Examined all complaints over 70 days to identify barriers and blockers to resolution.
• Aged Support Calls: Set up dedicated support calls with the utility partner to expedite the resolution of these aged complaints.
• Ringfenced Aged Complaints: Assigned all complaints over 100 days to three specific agents removed from inbound duties to focus solely on these cases.
• Implemented Glide Path: Developed a glide path to reduce the number of aged complaints systematically.

Enhancing Collaboration and Governance

To ensure a cooperative relationship and address the challenges faced by the customer advocacy organisation, Kura:

• Engaged with Stakeholders: Attended meetings with representatives from the customer advocacy organisation and the utilities partner to showcase our expertise and focus on customer experience.
• Daily Case Reviews: Established daily calls to review each case being responded to, ensuring thorough and timely updates.
• Weekly Touchpoints: Implemented weekly touchpoints with the utility partner to review feedback from the customer advocacy organisation.
• Analyst Involvement: Initially tasked analysts with tracking and providing feedback to the client to identify communication gaps, which helped build confidence. After a month, this responsibility was transitioned to operations.

Through these comprehensive measures, Kura successfully improved the management of high-importance complaints, enhanced communication, reduced aged complaint volumes, and forged a productive relationship with the customer advocacy organisation and the utility partner. This approach addressed the immediate challenges and reinforced Kura’s capability to handle critical outsourcing tasks effectively.