A Complaint is a Gift?! Customer Service skills for any business

Company Profile Akron General Medical Center Location – 2 Health & Wellness Centers – Main Hospital – Community Centers, Tallmadge, Hudson, Green, Stow, etc. – Physicians Offices Healthcare

Company Profile IS Department Supports: Mainframe 200 servers PCs over 100 mobile carts (nurse stations)

About the Help Desk Location of Help Desk -IS Building Financial Building Help Desk Hours – M-F 7 am – 5 pm – After hours supported by on-call and operations staff What software is used to track incidents? – CA Unicenter Servicedesk.

About the Help Desk Total Help Desk Calls by Year Total Incoming Calls ,748 First full year we collected data Total Incoming Calls ,635 A 17% increase over 2004 Total Incoming Calls ,550 A 33% increase over 2005 Total Incoming Calls ,571 A 6% increase over 2006 * Note: These figures are for calls to on Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM through 5:00 PM. They do not include calls from 5:00 PM through 7:00 AM or weekends, voic left on the helpdesk line, or s to the help desk.

Tracey Touma 10 years at Akron General Medical Center Started with Integrations Team Moved to Help Desk 8 years ago Customer Service is my passion ITIL Certified Completed AGMC Mentoring Program Degrees from University of Akron: – Bachelor of Science in Technical Education – Minor in corporate training – Masters in Information Systems Involved on Corporate Culture Committee

A Complaint is a Gift Consider a complaint as a gift Opportunity to allow you to recover from the situation and exceed the expectations of the dissatisified customer Strengthen the faith of the customer in your organization Not all people express their dissatisfaction in the same way

A Complaint is a Gift Loyal Customers Activity Standup / Sit down LOYAL CUSTOMERS A loyal customer RETURNS despite offers from the competition A loyal customer REFERS others A loyal customer RELATES to you as a partner

Service Recovery Satisfied Customers tell ______ people Unsatisfied Customers tell _______ people

Service Recovery Treating customers well when things go well Treating customers exceptionally well when something goes wrong – is service recovery Turn problem situation so that an upset customer is satisfied – restore faith and strengthen their loyalty and will tell others

Talkers vs. Walkers Talkers arent satisfied and will let you know – 1 out 2 dissatisfied customers will talk – Give the greatest opportunity to exceed expectations – Also added benefit to organization by exposing problems (others may be experiencing the same problem but unnoticed before)

Talkers vs. Walkers Bigger Challenge Dont tell you Just dont return

Taking the Heat with a Talker Hear them out Empathize Apologize Take responsibility for action Works well with talkers – vent their anger and taking the HEAT allows you to first satisify the individuals personal and practical needs.

Taking the Heat with a Talker Hearing out or actively listening to customer Do not interrupt Gather necessary information Take notes if necessary – What happens if you fail to hear them out

Taking the Heat with a Talker Empathy is one of the most powerful tools Most effective when it involves active listening and responding in a way that demonstrates that you understand how a person feels. – Why can this be difficult

Taking the Heat with a Talker Apologies are an important part of Service Recovery BUT only after the first two steps have occurred. – Why Key components for an apology Sincere Simple Compassion

Taking the Heat with a Talker Take Responsibility for Action – Means fixing or resolving the problem – Follow through and follow-up – Employees need to be empowered to use Tool Kit – Need to have a Tool Kit Service Recovery Tool Kits could include discounts, movie tickets, phone cards, vouchers, etc.

Taking the Heat with a Walker Customers reluctant to express their dissatisfaction directly to the service provider. But not hesitant to tell others Need encouragement to voice their complaints Once they start to talk then you can use the HEAT

Complaints are a gift Complaints are truly a unique gift. It gives the organization an opportunity to learn, to grow to be better and to provide their customers with the best possible service QUESTIONS