Manager's Toolkit #3

phone: 215.413.1969 fax: 215.413.2824 e-mail: wleebov@wendyleebov.com

		Manager’s Toolkit 3: Improving the Way Staff Members Handle Customer Complaints “By handling complaints well, we can turn lemons into lemonade.”
		Complaints give us a second chance to make things right for customers. It is no longer enough to have Patient Representatives be the main complaint handlers for your organization. We can all nip complaints in the bud by learning and using effective complaint-handling and service recovery skills. This toolkit provides tools to help managers implement ten management tasks critical to effective complaint handling and service recovery.
Content

Toolkit Content
Task A	Tool Up on Complaint Handling, So You Can Explain/Be a Role Model	Nine Steps to Nipping Complaints in the Bud
Task B	Establish Guidelines for Staff and Define Their Latitude to Act/Atone	Assess Current Complaint Handling Define Ground-Rules for Staff
Task C	Focus Staff on Complaint Handling Objective. Communicate Expectations	Leader’s Orientation Intro Staff Meeting Overview Memo to Staff
Task D	Orient Staff to Step-by-Step Process	Staff Workshop
Task E	Prepare Staff to Handle Customers’ Most Common Complaints	Staff Inventory of Common Complaints
Task F	Institute Protocols for Handling Everyday Situations Related to Complaints	Protocols: Referring Complaints, Documenting Complaints, Handling Phone Complaints, and Responding in Writing
Task G	Train/Coach Staff to Use Models and Protocols Skillfully	Leaders Workshop Staff Workshops: Handling Emotion and Problem-Solving
Task H	Institute Methods of Inviting Customers to Complain	Complaint Box Short Questions
Task I	Institute Methods for Customer Feedback on Response to Complaints	One-Question Check-up Postcard Evaluation and 2-week Inventory
Task J	Institute Ongoing Methods for Holding Staff Accountable	Add to Job Description Hiring for good complaint handling Ongoing awareness raising methods

Toolkit Pricing	$50/each Design for 90-minute Management Briefing (to orient management groups to each toolkit): $65 License to copy and distribute to multiple managers: $8/manager