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CONTENTS
1. 2. 3.
3.1 3.2 Introduction and how to use these materials Learning materials, what are these about? Respond to customer complaints Who is the customer What types of complaint may be made How should you process customer complaints What policies, procedures , legislation, regulations or codes of practice are applicable What is effective communications for resolving complaints A register of complaints/disputes is maintained and customer is informed of outcome of investigation Refer complaints to appropriate personnel Complaints that require referral Complete documentation and investigation reports Being condent about your skill levels Assessment Bibliography and source material 03 04 05 05 06 07 07 10 13 14 14 16 19 20 21
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4.1 4.2 4.3
5.
5.1 5.2
6. 7. 8.
1. INTRODUCTION
HOW TO USE THESE MATERIALS
This workbook relates to processing customer complaints and is appropriate to people employed in a range of workplaces in the rural, regional and remote sectors of Australia. Skills and knowledge developed will ensure your ability to process customer complaints is appropriate to your workplace and industry sector. Resources and activities provided are designed to develop your skills and provide formative assessments to monitor progress. Sector Primary Industries Business/Retail/ Services Unit code AHCMER301A BSBCMM301A Completion of appropriate summative assessments provided by your Registered Training Organisation (RTO) will enable you to achieve competency in the unit applicable to your sector. These student materials apply to the following industry sectors and units of competence.
2. LEARNING MATERIALS
WHAT ARE THEY ABOUT?
The learning materials discuss issues related to the Processing of Customer Complaints including: Respond to customer complaints How should you process customer complaints Refer complaints to appropriate personnel
working as an individual and as a member of a team completing individual tasks to support team goals developing creative, innovative and practical solutions showing independence and initiative in identifying and solving problems applying a range of strategies to problem solving initiating innovative solutions demonstrating individual responsibility for completing tasks being resourceful taking initiative and making decisions collecting, analysing and organising information taking responsibility applying learning to technical issues (e.g. learning about products) and people issues (e.g. interpersonal and cultural aspects of work) developing a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of products and services using IT to organise data using information communication technology to communicate with team members or clients
Self-Management Learning
Technology
3. RESPOND
TO CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS 3.1 WHO IS THE CUSTOMER?
Customers may be either internal or external. An internal customer is someone in your workplace to whom you provide a service. An external customer is the person traditionally viewed as a customer. It is the outside person who comes into your store or business and may include customers with routine or special requests, regular and new customers, people from a range of social, cultural or ethnic backgrounds, or people with varying physical and mental abilities. Every customer has the potential to be satised or dissatised with your service. It is human nature that if a person is satised they wont tell anyone. However if they are dissatised, they will complain to at least 5 of their friends. Of course telling 5 friends will ensure that they also tell 5 friends each and so the bad service story is constantly repeated. In addition there are some other bad news facts that relate to dissatised customers: only 5% of dissatised customers complain to the business the tip of the iceberg the remainder complain to their friends dissatised people tell ve times more people than satised ones most people have no idea who to complain to in an organisation
So what do people want? It is not difcult to improve services related to customer complaints. People want to be taken seriously, they want to know that their complaint is being listened to and will be acted upon. It is also very sensible to apologise to the customer and assure them that the problem will be xed. So from a complaint come some good news facts: speedy responses to complaints can signicantly increase customer loyalty customers who complain and are satised by the complaints process are more loyal than those who had no problem initially resolving complaints on rst contact can cut complaint handling costs in half a strong link exists between good complaint management processes and business improvement
The major advantage of an effective and speedy complaint resolution process is that you will gain a reputation for resolving a complaint quickly, efciently and fairly. The complainant will certainly talk to other people who are likely to become customers, therefore, you will spend less time and money attracting new customers. Its also worth remembering that it costs about ve times more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one. Think of the savings in advertising! It is also worth seeking suggestions and compliments as well as complaints. You can also gain from discovering the things you are doing well. Have a look at the short video clip below, Dealing with customer complaints by Chip Conley. Even though the author is referring to American businesses, the same principles apply to any business in any country. http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2045 Essentially Conley is saying that it is OK for a customer to complain and when receiving complaints you should drop everything and immediately contact or deal with the offended party. He advises that you will go a long way to solving the problem with swift personal attention and giving the person appropriate respect. Even if you cannot solve the problem, immediate response can halt deepening resentment and the viral effects of negative word-of-mouth conversations about your workplace.
ACTIVITY 1
Complete the table below listing complaints that have been received in your workplace. As we proceed through the workbook, we will look at these complaints again and see if they could have been handled differently. Describe the complaint Why did it occur How was the complaint resolved
All of the above points reect what should occur in any workplace. However to make sure everything happens correctly, you need appropriate record keeping forms, technology and administration.
4.1 WHAT POLICIES, PROCEDURES, LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS OR CODES OF PRACTICE ARE APPLICABLE TO CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS?
Customers want their complaints to be easy to report, acknowledged, and dealt with quickly, fairly and sensitively. A written complaint handling policy is a good way to ensure that complaints are taken seriously and dealt with appropriately and consistently. It also helps to support staff, so be sure you understand your businesses policy. Here are some tips for developing a customer complaint policy. make it easy for all customers to complain decide which staff have the authority to resolve a complaint, and make sure they know what to do. The more a complaint is escalated to someone higher in the business, the more dissatised the customer may become set a time frame to respond to a complaint. Taking too long makes the problem worse give one person responsibility for managing the complaint from beginning to end, so the customer does not have to repeat their complaint to different staff. ensure staff know your policy and how to treat complaints fairly. Poor complaint handling, for example blaming the customer for the problem or marginalising them by saying no one else has complained, will only worsen the problem A complaint handling policy can: state why your business welcomes complaints, listing the benets to customers, staff and the business state who the policy covers and who is authorised to resolve complaints dene a complaint
commit to quick, fair and condential complaint handling state who is responsible for taking, recording, resolving, analysing and reporting on complaints explain how to log complaints explain the complaint procedure and what to do about complaints set timelines for complaint handling and keeping customers informed list acceptable ways to resolve complaints explain what will happen if the complaint cannot be resolved internally be reviewed regularly for effectiveness and updated state where people can get further help
The information above has been sourced from The SA Government Equal Opportunity Commission www.eoc.sa.gov.au/eo-business/shops-and-services/shops-and-services-toolkit/developing-your-customer-complaint-policy Look at the web site and specically click on the Sample Complaints Handling Policy
ACTIVITY 2
Use the sample Complaints Handling Policy as a guide to develop a policy for your workplace. Complete the interactive section below outlining the points that you would include in your own complaints handling policy.
Clearly the policy is the broad outline of how a complaint is handled. The next step is to develop procedures. There may be a number of different procedures used by a business eg: for a verbal complaint for a written complaint for a product complaint for a complaint about a service or staff
The South Australian Government Equal Opportunity Commission also provides a useful checklist regarding developing complaint handling procedures. Click on to the link below. www.eoc.sa.gov.au/eo-business/shops-and-services/shops-and-services-toolkit/developing-complaint-handling-procedure
ACTIVITY 3
Complete the table below related to 4 complaints that have occurred in your workplace. Select complaints from those you have listed in Activity 1. The intention is for you to gauge your understanding of the complaints handling process. Complaint selected from Activity 1 List the tasks completed in the complaint handling procedure What changes do you think would improve the process
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In the above 2 activities you have looked at a policy as well as procedures for complaints handling. Compare your list of tasks related to the complaints you discussed in Activity 3 with the list below. Did you include all or most of the following in your procedure checklist? You should have because these are the most basic issues that need to be covered to resolve a complaint: thank the customer. say why you appreciate the customer feedback apologise as soon as you understand the nature of the problem (dont apologise beforehand, as this can look insincere) afrm that the complaint will be resolved to their satisfaction ask for information to solve the problem take immediate action. Speedy resolution of a problem is one of the best ways to retain customer loyalty check if the customer is satised - even if this requires follow-up action take action to prevent recurrence of the problem and make appropriate changes to your products or your procedures
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ACTIVITY 4
For each of the skills above describe a situation where you have demonstrated your ability to achieve this competently in the workplace The skill Describe a situation when you did this in the workplace related to dealing with a customer complaint What do you think you could do to improve your skills
Listen and develop a clear understanding of what the complaint is about Acknowledge the problem and be empathetic and calm to help alleviate the customers stress Take notes without ltering or interpreting the information
Give the customer opportunities to ask questions.Tell the customer you want to help improve the situation. Ask how they would like to proceed Explain how the complaint procedure works
Ensure the customer is comfortable with the process. Decide what can be done to x the problem and tell them Contact the customer within an agreed time-frame to ensure the problem was resolved Maintain a courteous and professional approach
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However we are all human. Problems will occur and customers will complain. It is well documented that there are many benets to be derived from welcoming complaints and handling them well. The benets include: fewer mistakes in the future and less time spent xing them improved product quality better understanding of customers needs happier customers greater customer loyalty more customers through word-of-mouth advertising better understanding of your business less time and money spent attracting customers improved business reputation more repeat business
All of the above points can be achieved by effectively solving customer problems along with keeping an accurate register of complaints, the actions taken and the outcomes. The record keeping process is important. A persons memory is not enough to maintain an accurate record. If you questioned the people in a business who had been involved in a particular complaint, they are likely to have a different memory of the complaint, the process and the outcome. Some businesses or workplaces believe that if they dont receive many complaints, their customers must be satised. However, if the business is not keeping a formal record of complaints received, how would they know if performance is improving, worsening or staying the same!
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5. REFER COMPLAINTS
TO APPROPRIATE PERSONNEL 5.1 COMPLAINTS THAT REQUIRE REFERRAL TO OTHER PERSONNEL OR EXTERNAL BODIES ARE IDENTIFIED AND REFERRALS ARE MADE TO APPROPRIATE PERSONNEL FOR FOLLOW UP.
Up to this point in the workbook we have talked about problems and complaints that are able to be handled in house by workers / managers in the business. Not all complaints will be able to be dealt with appropriately in this way. Can you think of reasons why a complaint needs to be handled by a third party? Reasons could include such issues as: 1. warranty claim being disputed 2. complaint is a police matter 3. customer is not receiving appropriate service from the business Generally speaking a complaint is not escalated to an external body until resolution has been attempted between the customer and the business. A tiered approach to resolution is the most effective as it ensures the complaint is appropriately managed from tier to tier as needed. Tier 1: Initial complaint handling complaints should be lodged and resolution sought by staff who are in daily contact with the customer and are familiar with the problem staff should be empowered with clear delegations to resolve complaints, wherever possible, at rst contact complaints should be logged for later analysis or for escalating to Tier 2 if needed. Tier 2: Internal review or investigation if the customer is still dissatised, unresolved complaints should be reviewed or investigated by more senior staff or a designated complaint ofcer who will consider options such as conciliation, mediation or direct negotiations. Tier 3: Refer unresolved complaints for external review Complaints that are not resolved internally may be dealt with by: an alternative dispute resolution procedure (eg mediation) referring the complaint to external agency (eg ombudsman) informing the complainant of appeal procedures or other legal remedies
In ensuring that complaints are fairly heard and correctly recorded, every business must consider a number of factors. Read the following lists and then complete Activity 5. 1. User friendly procedures for lodging complaints a complaint system must be visible and easily accessed by the public the process must be simple to understand customers must be able to lodge complaints in a number of ways
2. A means of recording complaints both managers and staff should provide input about which information will be useful in the complaints management system forms need careful planning to log key elements of information, including verbal complaints
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3. Commitment and clear lines of authority all staff, including the CEO, must be committed to the fair resolution of complaints the system should clearly dene who is responsible for dealing with complaints at each tier 4. Staff empowerment frontline staff responsible for resolving grievances should be trained in communication skills and dispute resolution assign specic accountabilities to staff, using job statements and team mission statements 5. Remedies communication - engage in prompt communication rectication correct the error or put right the misunderstanding mitigation moderate the severity of the detriment suffered. Satisfy the reasonable concerns of the person who has suffered detriment eg with an apology or public acknowledgement compensation (monetary) if a loss is sustained directly or indirectly as a fault of the business complainants should be told about alternative remedies, especially if the business is unable to resolve the complaint. This involves telling the complainant about rights of appeal or their right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman (or other external review agencies).
6. Performance standards give realistic timeframes for complaint inquiries, responses and follow up, with progress reports if there is a delay set time limits for each step of the complaint handling procedure, with acknowledgements by phone or letter 7. Policy and procedures policies and procedures should be easy to understand and assist staff in resolving, conciliating and investigating complaints from the simple to the complex To ensure a business is absolutely correct in the process of handling complaints they are recommended to become familiar with Standards Australia Quality Management: Customer Satisfaction: Guidelines for complaints handling in organisations: Australian/International Standard AS ISO 10002: 2006. This publication by Standards Australia lists principles of a complaints handling process for those making and receiving complaints and describes current best practice. A simple list of suggestions is included below: examine how effectively your workplace currently handles complaints. are staff involved in developing a complaint handling system, and deciding who will handle complaints anticipate common complaints and work out standard solutions write down your complaints handling procedure and prepare a standard complaint form are staff trained in the procedure and have the skills to resolve complaints. display a sign saying your workplace welcomes genuine complaints about product quality or service clearly advise your customers where and how they can report problems ensure your customers can report problems to you at any time keep a record of all problems and complaints trial the system, and use customer and staff feedback to improve it over time
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ACTIVITY 5
As you have worked through the activities you have looked at customer complaints dealt internally within the business. In fact your workplace may never have had to deal with a complaint externally. This activity requires that you think about complaints that may occur in your workplace that would be dealt with by external agencies. Complete the table lling in all sections. Describe the complaint/problem What external agency do you think needs to deal with the complaint What is the best outcome that can be achieved
5.2 COMPLETE DOCUMENTATION AND INVESTIGATION REPORTS ARE FORWARDED AND APPROPRIATE PERSONNEL ARE FOLLOWED UP TO GAIN PROMPT DECISIONS.
In activity 5 you were asked to consider complaints that have occurred or may occur in your workplace, that are dealt with by external agencies. You were asked to state what agencies would deal with the problem. There are a number of agencies that you should have considered. Read the information below. If you now realise that the problem would be more appropriately resolved by one of the agencies listed then go back to Activity 5 and change your answers. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) The ACCC role is to promote competition and fair trade in the market place to benet consumers, businesses and the community. Its primary responsibility is to ensure that individuals and businesses comply with the Commonwealth competition, fair trading and consumer protection laws. The ACCC website has three main sections as below: For Consumers: Want to know about your consumer rights or how to make a complaint? Need more information about how businesses should act when selling you goods and services? For Business: Small business support, franchising, mergers, authorisations, your obligations, professions and industry codes of conduct... For Regulated Industry: Communications, gas, electricity, aviation and airports, water, postal services, insurance, rail, wheat exporters...
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Each section then has a wealth of easy to access information using the drop down quick link. Check out more at www.accc.gov.au Fair Trading / Consumer Affairs Agencies Each state has a Fair Trading/Consumer Affairs agency which safeguards consumer rights and advises business and traders on fair and ethical practice. In addition to direct services for individuals, the legislative framework sets the rules for fairness in the countless daily transactions between consumers and traders. The types of complaints that can be made to these agencies varies. Generally if a customer or business cannot resolve a complaint internally or with mediation then the Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs departments are the next stop. Types of complaints may include: product quality or misunderstanding of its purpose, service dissatisfaction, price or quantity errors, delivery issues, manufacturers warranty, or service. The process followed by an external agency in investigating a complaint is likely to be similar to the points below. if a consumer has made unsuccessful attempts to resolve a dispute with a business they can lodge a written complaint with an external agency if a complaint does not involve unlawful action then conciliation is attempted between the business and the consumer the external agency cannot make ofcial judgements like a court or judge If a complaint appears to involve a breach of the law, it is investigated. The process requires full and accurate documentation of the information gathered and enables each party to present their evidence. The following hyperlinks are provided for each appropriate state department. NSW Fair Trading Site: www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/default.html Consumer Affairs Victoria: www.consumer.vic.gov.au Qld Fair Trading: www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au South Australian Ofce of Consumer and Business Affairs: www.ocba.sa.gov.au Australian Capital Territory Fair Trading (Department of Justice and Community Safety, Ofce of Regulatory Services) www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/977245 Northern Territory Consumer Affairs (Department of Justice) www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/977243 Tasmania Fair Trading (Department of Justice) www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/977231 Western Australia Consumer Protection (Department of Commerce) www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/977236
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ACTIVITY 6
You are currently residing/employed by a business in a state of Australia. You are a customer that has been unable to resolve a complaint by going to the business directly. Your complaint is as follows: You purchased a vacuum cleaner 10 months ago which is no longer working. You have retained all of the purchase dockets and took the vacuum back to the place of purchase to be xed under warranty. The store has advised that they no longer stock that model of cleaner and dont deal with that manufacturer anymore.
Research the Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs web site applicable to your state. What are your rights and options to resolve your problem?
What are you going to say to the business when you re-approach them?
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6. BEING CONFIDENT
ABOUT YOUR SKILL LEVELS IN THE WORKPLACE
After nishing all of the activities in this workbook you should be able to competently complete nal summative assessments. Do you feel that you are condent about your skill levels in the workplace related to dealing with complaints? Use the table below to help you check your skills. Before commencing your nal assessments it is important to review any sections in which you feel unsure. Remember: it is always OK to ask your supervisor or your assessor questions. In the table below, read the list of skills and knowledge you should have after completing this workbook 1. Put a tick in the column if you can do this now and a brief comment re why you believe you have this skill 2. Put a tick in the next column if you feel you need more practice and a brief comment as to why 3. If you require further training, complete the third column listing what training is needed. Show this list to your supervisor or assessor and ask for more time or training before completing the summative assessments Need practice Skills/knowledge you should have Comment on why What additional training do I need
Communicating ideas and information by discussing the customers concerns and issues. Utilise culturally appropriate communication skills to relate to people from diverse backgrounds and people with diverse abilities Collecting, analysing and organising information by recording the nature of the complaint in accordance with enterprise requirements Planning and organising activities to achieve complaint resolution Working with others and in teams regarding referring complaints to another staff member or relevant body Using mathematical ideas and techniques ie to calculate price reductions and refunds Solving problems by seeking to negotiate an outcome satisfactory to all parties Using technology to complete processes
Using appropriate literacy skills to read/understand a variety of texts; to prepare general information and papers; to edit and proofread texts.
Yes
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7. ASSESSMENT
You have now reached the end of this workbook. All of the information and activities you have covered apply to the skills related to dealing with customer complaints in any business. Please ask your assessor for the nal assessment/s for this workbook.
FEEDBACK
This workbook has been developed to guide users to access current information related to gaining skills appropriate to their workplace. Please complete the following table notifying us of any errors or suggested improvements. Subject Name Book Number
Process Customer Complaints
Book 1
Additional comments
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8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
AND SOURCES FOR CONTENT IN MATERIALS
RAN ONE www.ranone.com/les/Dealing%20with%20Customer%20Complaints%20Article.pdf NSW Government www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/publications/service_principles_and_obligations/complaint_handling/ essential_features_of_a_complaint_handling_system NSW Fair Trading www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/Businesses/Dealing_with_customers/Complaints.html E Corner http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2045 The Equal Opportunity Commission www.eoc.sa.gov.au/eo-business/shops-and-services/shops-and-services-toolkit/ developing-your-customer-complaint-policy www.eoc.sa.gov.au/eo-business/shops-and-services/shops-and-services-toolkit/developing-complaint-handling-procedure UTube How to handle Customer Complaints www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fO1NF9xnf4&feature=related Australian Competition and Consumer Commission www.accc.gov.au Consumer Affairs Victoria www.consumer.vic.gov.au Qld Fair Trading www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au South Australian Ofce of Consumer and Business Affairs www.ocba.sa.gov.au NSW Fair Trading Site www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/default.html Australian Capital Territory Fair Trading (Department of Justice and Community Safety, Ofce of Regulatory Services) www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/977245 Northern Territory Consumer Affairs (Department of Justice) www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/977243 Tasmania Fair Trading (Department of Justice) www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/977231 Western Australia Consumer Protection (Department of Commerce) www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/977236