SOP example: Handle a client complaint
One of ten examples from our library of 150+ pre-made SOPs. Copy it, change it to how your company works, and give it an owner.
Scope
This SOP covers every complaint a client raises about your company's work, service, billing or people, by any channel. It starts when a complaint is received and ends when the client confirms it is resolved, or the owner closes it, and the outcome is recorded. Rules that differ by state (for example refunds or notice periods) say: check your state.
Roles
- The Escalations agent: Logs each complaint, tracks it to closed, reminds owners of due dates, drafts client replies for approval and reports open and overdue items.
- The Customer Success lead: Owns the complaint, assigns the fix, approves client replies within the limits set by the delegation rules and closes the case.
- The project lead: Looks into the cause, fixes the work and reports what was done.
- The owner: Decides on serious complaints, refunds or credits above the delegated limit, and anything with legal risk.
- The SOP writer agent: Keeps this SOP current from the SOP library and updates it when the process changes.
The steps
- Receive the complaint and pass it to the Customer Success lead the same day, whatever the channel it came in on.
- Log it: client, date, channel, what went wrong, what the client wants, and how serious it is.
- Send the client a short acknowledgement. The exact text waits for approval by the person the delegation rules name before it is sent.
- Assign the complaint to the project lead with a due date.
- The project lead finds the cause and proposes a fix, and a credit or refund if one is fair.
- The Customer Success lead reviews the proposal. Anything over the delegated limit, or any legal risk, goes to the owner to decide. Check your state for refund rules.
- Send the client the answer and the fix. The exact text waits for approval by the person the delegation rules name before it is sent.
- Carry out the fix and record what was done and when.
- Ask the client to confirm it is resolved. If not resolved, go back to step 5.
- Close the case, record the cause and the outcome, and note any change needed to prevent a repeat.
KPIs
- Time to first reply: Measure the time from the complaint being received to the acknowledgement being sent, from the Escalations agent's log. Target: set per business.
- Time to close: Measure the time from the complaint being logged to the case being closed, from the log. Target: set per business.
- Overdue open complaints: Count open complaints past their due date, from the log, each week. Target: set per business.
- Repeat complaints: Count complaints reopened or raised again by the same client on the same issue, from the log. Target: set per business.
The AI-first version
- The Escalations agent spots the complaint in incoming messages, logs it, and flags the Customer Success lead at once (machine)
- The Escalations agent drafts the acknowledgement. The person named in the delegation rules approves the exact text before it is sent (assisted)
- The Customer Success lead sets how serious it is and assigns the project lead (judgment)
- The project lead finds the cause and fixes the work (judgment)
- The Escalations agent reminds owners of due dates and lists overdue complaints, worst first, for the Customer Success lead (machine)
- The owner decides on serious complaints and on credits or refunds above the delegated limit (judgment)
- The Escalations agent drafts the answer to the client. The person named in the delegation rules approves the exact text before it is sent (assisted)
- The client confirms whether it is resolved (external)
- The Escalations agent closes the case after confirmation, records cause and outcome, and the SOP writer agent updates this SOP if a pattern shows a process gap (assisted)
How to use this SOP
Run it for a month as written, then fix what didn't match reality. In the AI-first version, machine steps go to an agent, assisted steps are drafted by an agent and checked by a person, and judgment steps stay with a person.