M3-C3

Chapter #3 | The choices we make. Supporting customer concerns

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At the end of this chapter you'll be able to:Implement systems to gather customer feedback to improve your service strategy Understand and apply legislative requirements to your customer service strategy Manage customer complaints effectively

Even a task as seemingly simple as boiling an egg involves making many choices. I mean really, do you add salt to the water? Do the eggs go in when the water is hot or cold? Do you put the eggs in ice water when they’ve cooked? How long do you cook them for to get the perfect consistency? Let’s take a moment to think about all of these decisions that need to be made. Just to cook an egg! And how do you know you’re making a good decision? Well, by the egg itself. You get instant feedback just by peeling and eating. If egg boiling involves that many decisions, imagine how many need to be made to help a customer, or fix a complaint. Unfortunately, we can’t eat our customers to find out if we’re getting it right. But we can peel back the layers and identify what works and doesn’t work so that we can be proactive. And we can prepare ourselves, and our team, for when we need to react to someone at their boiling point. If, after reading this, you want to know how to boil the perfect egg then check this out here.

Get inside your customer’s brain! By really listening to your customers, you can not only build stronger relationships, but also increase their satisfaction. But how do you know how they feel about you? How do you get their feedback? Surveys are a great way to make this happen. Here are the pros and cons of customer service strategies used to seek feedback from your customers:

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Although no one likes receiving a complaint – they present you with opportunities to identify and rectify specific problems with your current systems, product or process. Complaints can also help you to develop your relationship with your customer. They allow you to demonstrate that you value their trade by taking their concerns seriously and dealing with their complaint.

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SERVICE

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STANDARDS

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KNOWLEDGE

DELIVERY

Chapter #2 | Understanding your customer

COMMUNICATION

Delivering superior value to your customer is an ongoing challenge for all organisations – it's not just about a great product but the service also. Even with the best intentions, we may find ourselves falling into a gap between us, and our customer’s perception of us. Customers tend to compare the service they experience with the service they expect – the shortfall is when the experience doesn’t match the expectation. So, what are the gaps?

Customer burnout if done too often Low response rate Tedious experience for customers

Popular and widely recognised Shows customer commitment Easy to implement

Higher response rates through personalised approach The ability to ask follow up questions Shows customer commitment

Cost & Time Difficult to reach certain respondents Interviewer bias

Inflexible design No clarification options Respondents must have access to online

Allows for specific questions High representativeness Low cost

Low Cost Innovation Customer Relations

Minority Opinions Unrefined Ideas

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Do you care more than they do?

100%

69%

50%

24%

What’s the damage? Upset a customer and here’s what could happen:

said they would be likely to let you know about it directly

50% of customers said they completed surveys partly because there was an option to win something, The other 50% care a lot and think it’s important to provide the feedback.

said they would also tell a few friends while the issue was fresh

would also keep talking about it even after they stopped being mad

We made a survey to survey people about filling in surveys. Confused? Well, just check out some of the results.

86%

31%

would also vent on social media

of the men surveyed favoured letting you know directly. Only 40% of women chose the same option – favouring telling others first.

Checkout this toolbox for feedback

KNOWLEDGE A gap between customer expectations and the organisation’s perception. This happens when you don’t correctly perceive what the customer wants and needs. This can happen because of poor market research into customer needs, or because of too many layers between management and customer contact teams – teams are not engaged enough in decision-making on service quality shortfalls.

STANDARDS A gap between your perception and service quality specifications. This is when management or a service provider might correctly perceive what the customer wants, but may not set a quality or quantity based standard for the performance.

DELIVERY A gap between the service quality and the service delivery. This may come from poor training of service team members, or their incapacity or even unwillingness to meet set service standards.

COMMUNICATION A gap between the service delivery and external communication. Consumer expectations are highly influenced by statements made by company representatives and advertisements. The gap arises when these assumed expectations are not fulfilled at the time of delivery of the service.

SERVICE A gap between the expected service and the service experienced. This gap arises when your customer misinterprets the service quality. For example, a customer has fallen over in a shopping complex. Centre-management regularly contact the customer to show concern, and ensure care is provided, but the customer may interpret this as an indication they are just worried about the insurance claim rather than them specifically.

Have a plan Have a clear, flexible and open door policy on complaints. Develop a strategic plan that views complaints as opportunities. It’s always great to make sure that it’s easy for people to let you know what they think – whether it’s good or bad feedback – using different avenues. It could mean easy access on your website or social media platform, or by asking questions when working directly with you.

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Log and analyse them Have a process to log and analyse complaints – no matter what avenue they come from. It’s about being able to see the bigger picture so that you can track consistencies in what your customers are saying. Find a trend and fix it, and instead of just helping out one person, you can raise your profile with every customer on that list, as well as all of the new ones who might have ended up with the same problems. It could help you identify needs across your team as well, such as more training. This has the added benefit of lifting your team’s profile and morale.

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Give it in real time Real time feedback helps your team members measure day to day performance. They can also adapt behaviours by promptly identifying what may be working for your customers and where team members can improve. Direct from the horse's mouth The best way to ensure customer feedback truly resonates with your team members is to hear the voice of the customer. Receiving direct feedback from your customers allows your team members to fully understand the level of customer satisfaction. It helps to create a real change in behaviour to assist in the resolution of complaints from unhappy customers. There’s no use in hiding Don’t keep it hidden – good or bad. Feedback should be transparent in all aspects of the organisation. Organisational wide transparency reinforces learning and allows all teams and team members to see the bigger picture and where the problems are. Share it in good time Let them know quickly. This supports an environment of continuous improvement which focuses on delivering excellent customer service. Learn and act on it Feedback is only useful if it is actionable and you do in fact take the appropriate action. Always follow up on the feedback from your customers on every issue – big or small. Close the loop – your customers will know how you feel about their needs and wants, and that a resolution to their complaints and concerns is a priority. It will increase customer engagement and satisfaction. Check out why communicating customer feedback is so important to your team.

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In Robert Bacal’s book, “If It Wasn’t for the Customers I’d Really Like this Job,” he outlines a four step model known as ‘CARP’ for calming upset customers and diffusing situations. The key is to go through each of the steps and try to avoid jumping straight into problem solving where things can get lost along the way.

Check out some more tips for handling complaints like a pro!

Problem solve If everything else has gone to plan, then we should be ready to get this problem solved – and with the right solutions! This is a real discussion where we work together to get and give information, decide on different courses of action and then make a decision on the best one.

Acknowledge How much better does it feel when you are understood? It’s frustrating when you can tell that someone is not really taking something in – especially when you were already angry to begin with! If we can show the customer that we acknowledge where they’re at, it can really avoid their frustration building and things getting personal. Empathy and listening attentively can help to establish a rapport with someone when their emotions are heightened.

Refocus Ok, so at some point we need to get back to the point or we’ll be here forever! Start to move beyond any emotions and transition to dealing with the real problem. Now that they know you understand where they’re at and why, shift the attention away from emotions. Aim to get them back on track to the issue at hand.

Control When both parties stop listening, things can never really be resolved. So, how do you know you’re in control? Well, a good indicator is if both sides are not just talking, but also listening to each other. Taking control is important in your interaction as it allows you to move beyond the angry person in front of you to get to a point where you can gather information in a constructive way.

Tips for handling complaints like a pro! • Say thanks – they could have highlighted the fact that changing something would make a big difference to lots of people. • Empathy is about understanding and putting yourself in their shoes. Try to see both sides. • Yes, some people may be trying to ‘rip you off’ but it’s only the minority. The majority are at this point because they have a real and valid issue. • Customer first, then internal stuff second. No one cares if Jackie was on a break and that’s why she didn’t do something. Don’t waste time trying to figure out who is at fault – keep your internal stuff between you and your team. • The solution may not be obvious, so take the time to figure out what they really need. • Make sure there is real action resulting from each complaint. What do we need to do differently? What can we learn about it? • Listen to your team. They care about the organisation and are the closest to your customers. • Regularly ask for suggestions and feedback. • Remember you have a lot of influence, so the way you approach things will set the expectations. If you need to vent, do it with your leadership team, so you don’t set a standard of complaining about customers with your team. A negative mindset will likely lead to a negative approach.

Whether you have a system in place to gather feedback from your customers on service and product, its means nothing if you don’t consistently provide feedback to your team members – real time feedback. Feedback can provide the foundation for a culture of excellent customer service and help keep your team members engaged.

SEE IT AS A GIFT

LOG AND ANALYSE THEM

TRAIN THEM TO MANAGE IT

HAVE A PLAN

GIVE THEM AUTHORITY TO PROCESS

Give them authority to process Do you know what you can and can’t say when handling a complaint? Do you know how much you can do to find a resolution for someone when handling a complaint? And what about your team? If we’re not getting it right, chances are we’re not sure what to do or if we’re allowed to do it. Provide them with all the tools to know how to prioritise and manage what’s in front of them.

Train them to manage it Make sure that your team really feels confident to handle the difficult situations and support them in taking action. Remember, this stuff is actually pretty difficult. Unlike most interactions, this starts on a negative and requires the right skills to turn the situation around.

See it as a gift It might sound corny, but look at complaints as if they’re a gift (and not the crappy socks nan keeps giving you on your birthday kind). If you look at it as an investment of time, when your customers are willing to give you theirs, it’s always important to reciprocate by taking their feedback on board.

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When managing customer service, it can be easy to forget the legalities that go along with it. We often focus on equal opportunity and anti-discrimination inside the organization, forgetting this is just as important with its external customers. Anti-Discrimination legislation differs from state to state, so be sure to review the specific act that relates to your location. Use these tips to ensure you are treating your customers equally. 1. Develop an understanding. We all receive those anti-discrimination policies and procedures to sign on our first day on the job but they are very rarely revisited. To create real understanding with your team, revisit these documents and discuss what constitutes discrimination and examples of behaviours that are considered discrimination. 2. Be flexible. Reasonable customer requests to have products or services adapted to their needs should be considered. 3. Treat everybody equally. It sounds like a no brainer, but set an example for your employees. 4. Listen to customer feedback. If there is a problem, you will hear about it. Be sure to listen to what your customers are saying and act accordingly, often the problem can be resolved. If you are receiving the same feedback, it may indicate that it’s time to revisit point 1. Anti-Discrimination legislation has caused a number of businesses to land in hot water as a result of the way their customers were treated. Check out this article detailing how Murrays Australia, a bus services organisation, were found guilty of discriminating against a customer requiring wheelchair access:

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Congrats on getting through your unit to this point! So what have you done in this chapter? Well, you’ve:Looked at legislative requirements to improve your service strategy Identified effective ways to manage customer complaintsSo what now? We recommend you put into practice some of the new skills, techniques and principles you’ve just learned. This is the best way we know, to ensure you know what you need to be successful on your journey – know what we mean? Now, let’s get into the next chapter!