To run customer callbacks across locations, give every callback request one named owner, a visible state (open, contacted, resolved or reopened) and a clock that shows how long the customer has waited. Send the request to head office as well as the branch, so nobody at the branch can let it drop. Then track the oldest waiting customer and the time to first contact across every location, which shows where callbacks are slipping.
Why callbacks get lost in a multi-location group
Most groups already promise callbacks. A customer complains at the counter, on the phone or in an email, and someone says a manager will be in touch. The promise is easy to make and hard to keep across many branches.
Nobody owns it
"The team will call you back" means nobody will. A callback assigned to a shared inbox, a branch voicemail or "the manager on duty" has no single person who notices when it is late.
It lands with the branch that caused it
When the complaint is about a branch, sending the callback to that branch alone asks the people being complained about to handle the complaint. Many will do it well. Some will delay it, soften it, or close it without calling.
There is no clock
A callback with no visible waiting time feels equally urgent on day one and day nine. Without a clock, the oldest requests are the ones most likely to be forgotten, and they are usually the angriest customers by the time anyone calls.
"Contacted" and "resolved" get treated as the same thing
A voicemail left is not a conversation, and a conversation is not a fix. When one status covers all three, head office cannot tell which customers are still waiting for something to happen.
The three things every callback needs
An owner
One named person, not a team or a role. The owner can change, but at any moment there is exactly one person whose job it is. In a group, that is usually someone at head office or an area manager, with the option to hand a case to a branch manager who is trusted to handle it.
A state
Four states cover almost every callback:
- Open: the customer asked to hear back and nobody has reached them yet.
- Contacted: someone actually spoke to the customer. A voicemail does not count.
- Resolved: whatever was agreed has been done.
- Reopened: it turned out not to be fixed, and the case is live again.
Keep contacted and resolved separate. Most of the useful information in a callback process sits in the gap between them.
A clock
Show how long each customer has waited, and sort the list oldest first. The clock does more than any reminder email, because the case that has waited longest is always at the top of the page.
Who should own callbacks: head office, the area manager or the branch
Each choice has a cost. Head office ownership keeps the process independent of the branch, but head office may not know the local details. Area manager ownership puts it with someone who knows the site, but area managers already cover more branches than they can see properly.
Branch ownership is fastest and most local, and it puts the complaint in the hands of the people it is about. A workable split for most groups: head office owns every callback and can assign it, the branch manager can see and act on their own branch's cases, and only head office can close or reopen one.
Whatever the split, make sure a branch cannot make a case disappear. If a branch manager can delete a complaint, some complaints will be deleted.
How to make the call count
Call, and listen first
Let the customer tell the story again before explaining anything. They have usually waited, and the first minute decides whether the call helps or makes it worse.
Fix what can be fixed
An apology, a remake, a refund or a change at the branch: what the business offers is its own call. What matters is that the customer hears what will happen next and that it then happens.
Never ask for a review, or a change to one
The callback is about the customer's problem, not the business's rating. Do not ask the customer to post a review on the call, and never offer anything in return for editing or removing one. Google's Maps user-generated content policy does not allow merchants to offer incentives in exchange for the revision or removal of a negative review.
Record what was done
Write down what was agreed and when. If the case is reopened later, the next person should not have to start from nothing.
What to measure across locations
Track a small set of figures for every branch and for the group as a whole:
- Open cases, and the oldest one waiting.
- Time to first contact, measured from the request to the moment someone actually reached the customer.
- Cases resolved in the period.
- Cases reopened, which is the most honest signal of whether fixes are real.
Compare branches with each other, not with a target someone picked. A branch whose customers wait much longer than the rest is a staffing or ownership problem worth a conversation.
An illustrative example
Take a 25-location salon group where callbacks used to go to each branch's voicemail. A customer complains that a colour treatment went wrong and asks to hear back. The request now goes to head office, which assigns it to the area manager, and the clock starts.
The area manager calls the next morning, hears the customer out and books a free correction at a different branch. The case moves to contacted.
When the correction is done and the customer confirms it, the case is resolved. If the customer had come back unhappy, it would have been reopened, and head office would have seen it.
What not to do
Do not measure speed alone
A target on time to close rewards closing cases without fixing them. Measure time to first contact and reopened cases together, so speed cannot be bought by cutting corners.
Do not let "contacted" mean "tried"
If a missed call or a voicemail counts as contacted, the figures will look good while customers keep waiting. Contacted means a conversation happened.
Do not route callbacks only to the branch
The branch should know, and often should act. Head office should still see every request, so nothing depends on one person at one site.
Do not hide the clock
A process where only the owner can see how long a customer has waited relies on that owner never being busy. Put the waiting time where head office can see it.
What to expect
A callback process only has work to do when customers can ask for one. Whether they ask often enough to keep someone busy is something each group finds out in its first weeks. It depends on where the request is offered and whether staff mention it, and that is head office's decision.
It also needs a person. Software can show the owner, the state and the clock, but someone still has to pick up the phone.
Where Outhentik fits
Outhentik is built around this model. A customer who asks to hear back becomes a case at head office, with an owner, a state (Open, Contacted, Resolved, Reopened) and a clock, and branch managers can see their own branch's cases without being able to edit or hide the message behind them. The daily brief opens with the customers who have waited longest.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly should a business call back a customer who complained?
As soon as someone can give the call proper attention. There is no universal figure, so measure your own time to first contact, compare branches with each other, and look at the ones where customers wait far longer than the rest.
Should the branch manager handle complaints about their own branch?
They can act on them, and often should. They should not be the only person who knows the complaint exists, and they should not be able to close or delete it. Keep ownership and visibility at head office.
What is the difference between contacted and resolved?
Contacted means someone actually spoke to the customer. Resolved means whatever was agreed has been done. Keeping them separate shows which customers have been heard but are still waiting for the fix.
How do you track callbacks across many locations?
Give every request an owner, a state and a clock, keep them in one list that head office can see, and sort it by how long the customer has waited. Then compare time to first contact and reopened cases branch by branch.
Can we ask the customer to update their review after the callback?
No. Leave reviews out of the call entirely. Google's policy does not allow merchants to offer anything in exchange for revising or removing a negative review, and asking puts the callback's real purpose in doubt.
What if the customer cannot be reached?
Keep the case open, try again, and note each attempt. A case should only move to contacted when a conversation has actually happened.
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Outhentik gives head office a direct line from customers at every branch: a case with an owner for each customer who asks to hear back, every message read the same way, and a daily view of which problems repeat and where. Every callback has an owner, a state and a clock, and the branch it concerns cannot make it disappear.