Personal Development for Communication Technology Pratik Man Singh Pradhan | Module Code: CT1039NI | Week 6 - Lecture

Effective Complaint Management Cause people complain no matter what

Objective  Complaints and organization  Why handle complaints?  Complaints – what are they?  How to handle customers complaints?

Task 1  You are an IT manager in Subisu, a internet provider company. You face a situation where the whole internet system is down. Lots of complaints are coming from your clients.  How would you effectively handle this situation?

Complaints  A complaint is an “expression of dissatisfaction made to an organisation, related to its products or the complaints handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected.  Complaints are an important way for the management of an organisation to be accountable to the public, as well as providing valuable prompts to review organisational performance and the conduct of people that work within and for it

Complaints - What Are They? A complaint will arise for either or both of two main reasons:  A product or service is ‘faulty’ and does not function correctly  A product or service does not meet the expectations of the customer

Complaints are opportunities…not problems! A complaint will arise for either or both of two main reasons:  A product or service is ‘faulty’ and does not function correctly  A product or service does not meet the expectations of the customer

Complaints are opportunities…not problems! - 96% of Dissatisfied Customers never bother to complain - Each happy customer will tell at least 6 more people

Effective complaint handling is fundamental to the provision of a quality service

Why Handle Complaints? There is now a greater focus on how complaints are handled by organizations as:  The focus changes from being product driven to being customer driven  The business environment has become more competitive  Service has become the main differentiating factor

Benefit of effective complaint handling  Resolves issues raised by a person who is dissatisfied in a timely and cost effective way  Provides information that can lead to improvements in service delivery and  Where complaints are handled properly, a good system can improve the reputation of an organisation and strengthen public confidence in an organisations administrative processes.

The public wantsThe organisation needs A user friendly complaint handling system A user friendly system for accepting feedback To be heard and understoodClear delegations and procedures for staff to deal with complaints and provide remedies To be respectedA recording system to capture complaint data An explanationTo use complaint data to identify problems and trends An apologyTo improve service delivery in identified areas Action as soon as possible

Effective complaint handling system  Step 1: enabling complaints  Arrangements for enabling people to make complaints are customer focused, visible, accessible and valued and supported by management.  Step 2: responding to complaints  Complaints are responded to promptly and handled objectively, fairly and confidentially. Remedies are provided where complaints are upheld and there is a system for review.  Step 3: accountability and learning  There are clear accountabilities for complaint handling and complaints are used to stimulate organisational improvements.

Enabling complaints  Customer focused  Values feedback through complaints  Open to feedback and committed to seeking appropriate resolution  This commitment should be communicated to all staff, stakeholders and clients  Organisation should have complaint handling process and management that values the benefit of an effective complaint handling system and supports the process

Enabling complaints  Visibility:  Information about how and where to complain is well publicised to customers, staff and other interested parties  Front line staff should be aware of the complaint handling process

Enabling complaints  Accessibility:  The complaint process should be easy for complainants to access and understand  Complaints should be handled at no charge  Information about complaints process should be in a variety of forms of communication, formats and languages appropriate to the needs of customer  Complaints should be accepted in number of different ways including in person, over the phone, , fax and letter.

Responding to complaints  Responsiveness:  Complaints are acknowledged in a timely manner, addressed promptly and according to order of urgency, and the complaint is kept informed throughout the process  Guidance should be provided to staff on how to respond to and prioritise complaints

Responding to complaints  Objectivity and fairness:  Complaints are dealt with in an equitable, objective and unbiased manner.  This will help to ensure that the complaint handling process is fair and reasonable.  Unreasonable complainant conduct is not allowed to become a burden

Responding to complaints  Confidentiality:  personal information related to complaints is kept confidential  The information should be only used for the purposes of addressing the complaint and follow up actions.

Responding to complaints  Remedy:  If a complaint is upheld, the organisation provides a remedy  Mechanisms should exist for enabling appropriate remedies to be provided when complaints are upheld and staff should be familiar with them

Responding to complaints  Review:  There should be an independent internal review or appeal process.  Details of external rights of review or appeal for unresolved complaints should be made available to complainants

Accountability and learning  Accountability:  There should be clear responsibilities for handling complaints  Organisations should have a ‘fit for purpose’ centralised system for recording and tracking complaints along with reasons for any decisions

Accountability and learning  Continuous improvement:  Complaints are a source of improvement for organisations

Internal & External Customers  It should be noted that complaints from internal customers need to be handled effectively  From an organizational point of view, poor handling of complaints from internal customers can lead to:  De-motivation of those who complain  Poor performance  Generation of defective products and services  Late delivery to the customer

How to handle customer complaints effectively  Follow the LAST model  L- listen  A- Acknowledge  S- Solution  T- Thank

How to Handle Customer Complaints Don’t be defensive Be composed at all times Don’t take criticisms personally Offer an apology even if the disservice is not your fault Show empathy by using such phrases as: “I can understand how you feel”, “I appreciate what you’re saying.”

How to Handle Customer Complaints Address customers by name All communication should be in the first person. Use “I am sorry” not the royal we Don’t make excuses or blame others in your organization Give the customer your full attention and establish eye contact Paraphrase their complaint in your own words to determine whether you have correctly understood the situation.

How to Handle Customer Complaints If you don’t know the answer to their problem, don’t lie. Do call back when you say you will, even if for some reason, you haven’t been able to obtain a satisfactory answer by then Make the customer part of the solution - not part of the problem

How to Handle Customer Complaints Tell them what you can do…not what you can’t do Find out what it will take to turn their dissatisfaction into satisfaction If they agree to that solution, act quickly before they change their mind Follow up And remember: You can never win an argument with a customer

Find out what your customers really think Surveys, focus groups One complaint statistically represents 24 similar ones Test your own service delivery

Listen carefully and assume nothing Never assume anything in communications Do not dismiss any of the customers complaint as irrelevant Give value to actual customer experience

When all else fails - how to make compensation 95% of customers who have a complaint that was handled efficiently and promptly will not only continue to do business but will become even more brand-loyal (Wharton Business School) Product replacements, goodwill gifts, free of charge services, etc… Good service is Good Business, Catherine Devrye, 2001

THE END