SITXCOM003A Dealing With Conflict Situations

L ESSON P LAN Revision Complaint Handling Activity

C OMPLAINT H ANDLING Whatever your role in the Hospitality and/or Tourism Industries, it is vital that you learn the skills to manage, deal with and respond to customer complaints. The longer you work, the more refined your skills will become. As a general rule we do not like getting customer complaints because for many of us they possess negative overtones. Negatives Complaints can bring to mind many of the following feelings: Being in the firing line because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some customers are 'professional complainers'. Some customers have unrealistic expectations.

C OMPLAINT H ANDLING Positive things about customer complaints are: They provide valuable feedback on the quality of products and services. They give customers the opportunity to improve the business if staff listen to what customers actually want! Customers can have good suggestions, and listening to them may improve customer loyalty. If a complaint has been addressed and rectified, the customer may return, thus generating repeat business. If complaints have decreased, businesses can use this as an indication that quality and/or service has improved. Given that the majority of customers don't complain (they just never return), does the complaint that's being made show what the majority of customers think?

C OMPLAINT H ANDLING A typical dissatisfied customer will tell ten people when they are unhappy... Those ten people will in turn tell five others (on average)... This creates a negative word-of-mouth chain.... So, people = 61 people who are told about a dissatisfied customer. A typical business only hears from: 4% of dissatisfied customers. The other 96% go quietly away. And 91% never come back to the business. Remember... It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident. So if you do your maths, you can make your work much easier by making sure that people don't complain. But whatever you do, and no matter how good your service may be, people will sometimes complain...

C OMPLAINT H ANDLING Research shows that 7 out of 10 complaining customers will do business with you again if their problem is resolved satisfactorily. It takes a lot of motivation for people to complain. As the figures above show, most people do not complain at all, which does even more damage to the business than the original cause for complaint. Although we can't always anticipate or prevent customer complaints, we can put in place the strategies, procedures, knowledge and skills required to resolve them so that we do not fall victim to a negative word-of-mouth chain. Complaints are also an opportunity to address the problem, impress the customer with your satisfactory resolution of it, and build customer loyalty.

C OMPLAINT H ANDLING – DO’ S Listen with understanding and put yourself in the customer shoes Take responsibility Indicate that you are interested in the problem and that it is important to you “ Only the wearer knows how badly a shoe pinches ” Remember how uptight you may have felt and try wearing the shoes yourself Fix the problem Listen Carefully Show Concern Thank the customer Follow up

C OMPLAINT H ANDLING – DONT’ S Be Defensive: Becoming defensive only worsens the situation – by letting the customer getting it off their chest does make them feel better Interrupt Argue Making excuses

C OMPLAINT H ANDLING – DONT’ S A few final points to keep in mind when handling a complaint: Remember that within any organisation, procedures that you may be instructed to work by are guidelines, not law. There may be room to 'bend the rules' a little in order to make the customer happy. It is important that you understand how far you can go with this, and you may need to ask a superior before you take action. Try to be flexible in order to make a customer happy or resolve their complaint. Think beyond the boundaries - think about how you could WOW them in order to gain an even more loyal customer. Sometimes organisations have 'recovery' strategies in place for particularly difficult situations, for example, a give- away or compensation of some sort. Make sure you are aware of these 'recovery' strategies within your place of work. Don't ever forget those extra rules of courteous service! Smile and use positive body language Address the customer by name Use appropriate language

R ESPONDING TO CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS Customers complain for any number of reasons. When customers complain, they expect to be taken seriously and that their complaint be managed effectively. Complaints from customers are an opportunity to: Create a positive impression. Retain their business. Improve the process that caused the problem in the first place.

H OW CUSTOMERS EXPRESS THEIR COMPLAINTS Immediately the problem arises After they have left To another department Aggressively or pleasantly

I MMEDIATELY THE PROBLEM ARISES When customers complain immediately the problem arises, you have an opportunity to immediately respond and resolve the problem. If you do not handle the complaint well at this stage, the customer is likely to be dissatisfied with you and the organisation.

A FTER THEY HAVE LEFT Many customers complain after the event because it avoids direct confrontation. It can also indicate that the customer has later thought the problem was serious enough to warrant a complaint, but not so serious that you will lose their business.

T O ANOTHER DEPARTMENT This frequently happens when the customer has built up a relationship with a particular staff member in another department. It may also happen when the customer is unsure about to whom they should complain. It often indicates that the customer is looking for nothing more than acknowledgement of the problem and an apology.

T O ANOTHER DEPARTMENT This frequently happens when the customer has built up a relationship with a particular staff member in another department. It may also happen when the customer is unsure about to whom they should complain. It often indicates that the customer is looking for nothing more than acknowledgement of the problem and an apology.

A GGRESSIVELY OR P LEASANTLY Customers express their complaints in a number of ways. Sometimes it is aggressively and therefore offensive. At other times it will be pleasantly. However a customer complains, it is important not to take it personally, not to take offensive and to remain pleasant yourself.

C OMPLAINT H ANDLING S TRATEGY Most complaints are satisfactorily resolved when an appropriate complaint handling strategy is used. Listen to the complaint and acknowledge the problem (remember, don’t take it personally). Express concern and empathise. Take responsibility for resolving the complaint (even if the complaint has nothing to do with you).

C OMPLAINT H ANDLING S TRATEGY Indicate what action will be taken (fix it yourself or refer the problem on). Take action to resolve the complaint. Follow up (check the customer is now happy and if necessary, make a record of the incident).

H OW TO HANDLE COMPLAINTS A typical business only hears from: 4% of dissatisfied customers. The other 96% go quietly away. And 91% never come back to the business. Remember... It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident. So if you do your maths, you can make your work much easier by making sure that people don't complain. But whatever you do, and no matter how good your service may be, people will sometimes complain... Research shows that 7 out of 10 complaining customers will do business with you again if their problem is resolved satisfactorily. It takes a lot of motivation for people to complain. As the figures above show, most people do not complain at all, which does even more damage to the business than the original cause for complaint. Although we can't always anticipate or prevent customer complaints, we can put in place the strategies, procedures, knowledge and skills required to resolve them so that we do not fall victim to a negative word-of-mouth chain. Complaints are also an opportunity to address the problem, impress the customer with your satisfactory resolution of it, and build customer loyalty.