Where to Start When Complaints Are Rising in a Contact Centre
- Graeme Colville
- Mar 28
- 4 min read
Complaints are rising.
You can see it in the numbers.
You can feel it in the team.
Conversations are getting harder.
Escalations are becoming more frequent.
There is pressure to act quickly.
The instinct is to respond fast:
Increase monitoring
Tighten quality
Add more coaching
Review scripts
But when complaints are rising in a contact centre, reacting too quickly often makes the situation worse.
Because you end up fixing how the work is done instead of understanding why the complaints are happening.
Where to Start When Complaints Are Rising in a Contact Centre
Where to start when complaints are rising in a contact centre is not with more control, but with understanding the pattern behind the complaints.
Before taking action, you need to answer one question:
What are customers actually complaining about?
Not at a surface level.
At a system level.
Step 1: Identify the Real Complaint Drivers
Start by grouping complaints into themes.
Look beyond categories like:
“Billing issue”
“Service issue”
“Agent behaviour”
Instead, ask:
What failed for the customer?
What were they trying to achieve?
What stopped that from happening?
You are not looking for volume alone.
You are looking for patterns.
Because complaints are rarely random.
Step 2: Separate Interaction Issues from System Issues
When complaints are rising in a contact centre, they usually fall into two groups:
Interaction Issues
Poor communication
Incorrect handling
Missed steps
System Issues
Unresolved problems
Delays after the interaction
Dependency on other teams
Process failures
Most organisations focus on interaction issues.
If you treat system issues as interaction problems, complaints will continue.
Step 3: Look for Repeat Demand Behind Complaints
Complaints often sit on top of repeat demand.
Customers complain when:
They have already contacted you
The issue was not resolved
They had to come back multiple times
This is a key signal.
If complaints are rising in a contact centre, ask:
How many of these customers have contacted us before?
What happened in the previous interaction?
Why was the issue not resolved?
This connects directly to:
Step 4: Map Where the Journey Breaks
Once you understand the themes, map the journey.
Look for where the failure actually occurs.
Common breakpoints include:
After the interaction: The issue is passed on but not completed
Between teams: Ownership is unclear
Within the process: Steps are missing or duplicated
Inside the system: Agents cannot complete the request
This is where complaints are created.
Not inside the interaction.
Step 5: Avoid the Most Common Mistake
When complaints rise, most contact centres respond by increasing control:
More quality scoring
More monitoring
More coaching
Stricter scripts
This improves compliance. It does not fix the underlying issue.
If complaints are rising due to system failures, tightening control will not reduce them.
It will often increase pressure without improving outcomes.
Step 6: Focus on Resolution, Not Just Performance
To reduce complaints, shift your focus.
From:
How well the interaction is handled
To:
Whether the issue is actually resolved
Ask:
Can agents solve the issue end-to-end?
What sits outside their control?
What delays resolution?
If the answer sits outside the interaction, the solution does too.
What This Looks Like in Practice
A customer contacts you about a service issue.
The agent:
Handles the interaction well
Follows the process
Provides a clear explanation
The interaction is scored positively.
But the issue requires:
A follow-up action
A system update
Another team
Nothing happens.
The customer returns.
Now they are frustrated.
By the second or third contact, they complain.
The complaint was not caused by the interaction.
It was caused by the system.
How to Confirm This in Your Contact Centre
If complaints are rising in a contact centre, you will typically see:
Increasing complaint volume
Repeat contacts for the same issues
Customers referencing previous interactions
Escalations increasing
Stable or improving internal metrics
This combination is a strong signal.
It means the problem is not performance.
It is resolution.
What to Do Next
Once you understand the pattern, take targeted action.
Focus on:
Fixing repeat demand drivers: Remove the need for customers to come back
Improving resolution capability: Enable issues to be solved in one interaction
Fixing broken processes: Close the gaps between steps
Reducing cross-team dependency: Simplify ownership
If you jump straight to solutions without understanding the pattern, you will fix the wrong problem.
How This Connects to the Bigger Picture
Complaints are not a standalone issue.
They are connected to:
Repeat demand
Escalations
Customer experience gaps
Performance vs outcome misalignment
This is explored further here:
The Bottom Line
When complaints are rising in a contact centre, the instinct is to act quickly.
But speed without understanding leads to the wrong fixes.
Start by identifying the pattern. Understand where the system is failing.
Then fix the problem at the source.
The CSAT vs Complaints Intervention helps you do exactly that - identify the patterns behind rising complaints, pinpoint where your system is breaking down, and focus your effort where it will actually reduce demand.
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