Arash Shahin - Assistant Professor, Department of Management, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

In this paper customer complaints management (CCM) as well as the associated key challenges have been studied as essentials for achieving customer retention and loyalty. Some models denoting the process of CCM have also been demonstrated and discussed and a complaint intensity framework has been presented in which, the joint distribution of complaint intensity and out come satisfaction scores could be conceptualized in four resulting quadrants and each quadrant suggests a different strategy for CCM. For empowering CCM suggestions have been proposed and return on complaint management (RoCM) has been described as a performance indicator for complaint management profitability. Major findings indicate that effective complaints management requires a cultural change in organization's atmosphere, as well as a systematic approach; different levels should be considered in the complaints management; employees participating in teams play an important role in succeeding the complaints handling processes; and CCM empowerment should include strategy, processes, and analysis.

Customer, Satisfaction, Complaints, Management, Handling, Empowerment