No product or service is perfect, so it’s common for businesses to receive a certain amount of complaints. Smaller companies can manage such issues directly, but in larger systems tracking all complaints and responding to them appropriately can become a challenge.

Smart companies take advantage of excellent software tools made specifically for this purpose and streamline issue tracking and complaint management to a considerable degree. It goes without saying that each company faces a unique type of complaints, and it should choose the most adequate software tools accordingly.

This review will clarify some issues related to this management software and compare the strengths and weaknesses of the most commonly used complaint management software products currently available.

What is Complaint Management Software?

Any software application that can be used to handle negative feedback and provide a meaningful response to it can be accurately described by this term. The feedback could be coming from customers, employees, or other stakeholders and could pertain to any aspect of business operations, product quality, or service delivery. Good software of this kind needs to filter the incoming complaints, direct them to the appropriate departments, and ensure that most of them are resolved satisfactorily.

Some complaint management applications are developed specifically for this purpose, while in other cases software suites could have a function or module dedicated to this role. Some applications of this kind may be installed locally on premises, while others are deployed in the cloud. Depending on their size and the scope of complaints they receive, businesses could use free complaint management software or subscribe to a more powerful software suite.

Who Uses Complaint Management Software?

A wide variety of organizations could benefit from the adoption of complaint management systems to help deal with incoming requests. Basically, any business entity dealing with the public needs protection in case one or more of the parties are unhappy with the provided value and demand that action be taken. Here are some examples of individuals and/or departments that stand to gain the most when the company starts using a complaint management solution:

• Customer service agents
• Sales agents
• Account managers
• Quality Assurance professionals
• Product delivery teams
• Legal departments

10 Best Complaint Management Software Products

Zendesk Support Suite

Widely considered one of the best customer service suites, Zendesk is trusted by organizations at any scale to centralize and organize all conversations with customers. It includes numerous tools that help to identify problematic issues based on multi-channel input and correct them before they escalate. The chosen approach is a combination of automation and live agent support.

Notable features:

• Complete customer support solution that enables both preventive and corrective actions
• Agent Workspace feature collates authentic feedback from all communication channels
• AI-generated answers are provided to simple inquiries
• Relevant complaints are escalated to draw the attention of knowledgeable agents

Key limitations:

• The software can be tricky to navigate at first
• Search function doesn’t always return the desired results

Pricing: Suite Team costs $49 per agent monthly, Suite Growth is billed at $79 per agent monthly, while Suite Professional costs $99 per agent/month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.3 (5,527 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4 (3,615 reviews)

HappyFox

This customer support software is all about simplicity, and it lets companies track issues throughout the system with unmatched ease. HappyFox integrates several key mechanisms that ensure customer satisfaction, from receiving tickets and responding to them to collecting analytic data and user feedback that can guide future actions and help prevent repeated complaints.

Notable features:

• User friendly help desk solution that lets businesses deal with complaints and requests
• Tickets can be customized to include any fields that make the most sense
• Assignment and monitoring of all tasks necessary for solving a complaint is very simple
• The solution includes an online knowledge-base that operates on a self-service principle

Key limitations:

• Notifications can sometimes be delayed
• Additional tutorials and training materials for new users would be helpful

Pricing: Mighty plan costs $26 per agent/month, Fantastic plan is priced at $39 per agent/month, Enterprise plan can be bought for $52 per agent/month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.5 (240 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6 (90 reviews)

Freshdesk

No matter from which channel a complaint might arrive, with this software it will be funneled into the same solution pipeline and resolved in the shortest time possible. Small issues are answered immediately through automation, while more serious complaints are brought to the attention of people who have the authority to take decisive action.

Notable features:

• AI-powered support desk platform that unifies all channels
• Tickets are automatically categorized and routed based on their priority level
• The software prevents multiple agents from working on the same ticket
• E-mail notifications keep customers informed about the status of the complaint

Key limitations:

• Paid plans are costlier than for alternative solutions with comparable features
• Specific functions or settings can be difficult to find

Pricing: Free plan is available for up to 10 agents, Growth plan costs $15 per agent monthly, Pro plan costs $49 per agent/month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.4 (2,746 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5 (3,005 reviews)

LiveAgent

This software aims to solve as many issues as possible through direct interaction with the user who is raising a complaint, be it through live chat, phone call, or another channel. In addition to comprising countless advanced tools for managing customer requests, it also utilizes gamification principles and agent ratings to keep the workforce motivated.

Notable features:

• Multi-channel help desk solution that ensures 24/7 availability for the customers
• Tickets are directed towards agents who are best equipped to solve them
• Documents, images, GIFs or video clips can be attached to tickets or messages
• Information about customers can be collected through custom fields

Key limitations:

• There is no channel for direct communication between agents
• Merged tickets can sometimes disappear from search results

Pricing: Small business package costs $9 per agent monthly, Medium business package is offered for 29 per agent/month, while Large business package is charged at $49 per agent per month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.5 (1,445 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7 (1,341 reviews)

Bitrix24

This is a fully featured online workspace that lets businesses interact with customers in many ways and respond to feedback without delay. While its primary role may be to facilitate efficient project management and task completion, it also gives users the possibility to set up a virtual customer support service center and respond to requests urgently.

Notable features:

• Versatile business management solution that includes CRM and contact center modules
• Call center with smart routing and contact tracking can be easily configured
• Customizable chat bots can be deployed to provide answers to common queries
• Knowledge management and document sharing features help with complaint resolution

Key limitations:

• Issue tracking and complaint management are not the main focus of the product
• The platform doesn’t easily integrate with third-party software

Pricing: Free plan is offered, Basic plan (up to 5 users) costs $49 per month, Standard plan (up to 50 users) costs $99 per month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.1 (490 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.1 (697 reviews)

Front

With this customer service software it’s easy to put every request into proper context and provide a response that directly addresses the issue at hand. Front makes things very clear by combining incoming requests from all sources and assigning responsibility for responding to the right person or team. Overall, it’s a very innovative tool that could revolutionize how companies deal with complaints.

Notable features:

• Powerful tool for customer support and long term relationship building
• Agents have full insight into the history of each client and the context of each complaint
• Teams can work collaboratively to respond to difficult customer requests
• Detailed analytics help to remedy persistent issues and improve customer service performance

Key limitations:

• Contact management feature is not well executed
• Mobile version lacks several important functions, i.e. calendar view

Pricing: Growth plan costs $49 per seat/month, Scale plan costs $99 per seat monthly, Premier plan is offered for $229 per seat monthly

User ratings:

• G2: 4.7 (1746 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5 (248 reviews)

Help Scout

Small and medium-sized companies that prioritize responsiveness would be wise to start using Help Scout to manage the requests and complaints from customers. This software is optimized for speed and flexibility, and it doesn’t require a long adaptation period. Thanks to this platform, end users can find simple answers on their own while challenging requests can be dealt with expertly and swiftly.

Notable features:

• Simple and practical platform that unifies knowledge management and feedback management
• Highly functional reporting system provides an instant outlet for customer input
• Live chat and in-app messaging ensure that both internal and external communication can flow without impediments of delays
• Collaboration features greatly improve productivity of customer support teams

Key limitations:

• English is the only language that can be used with this platform
• It’s not possible to assign the same ticket to multiple agents

Pricing: Standard package costs $20 per user per month, Plus package costs $40 per user/month, Pro package costs $65 per user monthly

User ratings:

• G2: 4.4 (377 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.6 (197 reviews)

Intercom

Adoption of this solution provides an instant boost to a customer service department, greatly reducing the pressure on it while positively impacting customer satisfaction and loyalty. It leverages the power of AI technologies to minimize the amount of human labor necessary for resolving all outstanding complaints in a fair and reasonable way.

Notable features:

• Specialized customer service platform with great potential for automation
• AI-powered resolution chat bots can handle a large portion of requests
• AI tools can be used to analyze the content of all conversations with clients
• Ticket routing and follow ups can be executed based on pre-defined rules

Key limitations:

• Poorly programed resolution bots can do more harm than good
• Style and formatting options for creating help articles are not great

Pricing: Price is calculated for each client based on company size, number of seats, type of package, and the number of people reached per month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.4 (2615 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5 (946 reviews)

Helpwise

A wide range of B2C-oriented companies could gain a valuable resource if they choose Helpwise as their virtual customer support platform. It helps to centralize and organize all communication streams, allowing the support team to act on those that warrant human intervention. Perhaps most importantly, this software enables a high degree of personalization even at corporate scale.

Notable features:

• Multichannel support platform that simplifies customer service and raises its quality
• Conversations can be tagged to define their type and priority level
• Automation rules can be set to shorten the reaction time and boost productivity
• Cloud-based telephony system provides users with instant assistance

Key limitations:

• Minor bugs occasionally occur, but are relatively quickly fixed with updates
• No native integrations with social network accounts are supported

Pricing: Standard plan costs $15 per user each month, Premium costs $25 per user monthly, and Advanced package is offered for $50 per user/month

User ratings:

• G2: 4.6 (153 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7 (27 reviews)

Drift

As one of the pioneers of conversational marketing focused on enabling more natural interactions between brands and consumers, Drift is among the most intriguing help desk tools presently in the market. Due to the capacity to move all conversations to the cloud and make the right connection at the right time, it’s among serious candidates for the role of a complaint management system.

Notable features:

• Solution based on a Conversation Cloud that allows natural interactions with customers
• AI-powered bots are capable of finding correct answers in the company knowledge base
• Insightful dashboards that show which agents are available and the entire history of interactions with the specific client, among other parameters
• Custom web forms can be created to collect information about customers’ expectations

Key limitations:

• Pricing model is impractical for very small companies
• Important messages and notifications are sometimes delayed

Pricing: Premium plan start at $2500, prices for Advanced and Enterprise plan available at request

User ratings:

• G2: 4.4 (906 reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5 (176 reviews)

FAQ – Complaint Management Software

Can small and medium companies derive full value from major complaint management systems?

Very small companies can handle the complaints directly, but as soon as their operations start expanding and the number of customers begins to grow, it makes a lot of sense to adopt a customer service solution than to drastically increase the number of human agents working with customers.

How important is automation for a customer service solution?

Automation greatly improves several aspects of help desk and complaint management solutions. Smart chatbots and canned responses can provide immediate answers to basic queries, while automated ticket routing and rule-based workflow management can increase the percentage of successfully solved complaints and positively impact customer retention.

How long does it take for a company to adopt a new complaint management software?

As with any other type of business software, a learning curve is expected for rank and file employees who use the system daily. However, when a complaint management system is properly set up and training activities are conducted, the adoption should be quick and painless.

Conclusion

Companies in practically every line of business depend on their reputation in the eyes of the customers and consequently must take any complaints very seriously. Since complaints range from simple requests that can be remedied instantly to potentially very costly demands, it’s highly recommended to use software tools that can sort out incoming messages from all channels and separate them according to their priority level. The software products presented in this article have that capacity (as well as many other useful features) – let us know which solution you believe is the best for this purpose.