Customers take a closer look at complaints

Six enthusiastic customers and an independent chairperson met regularly from last November to the end of May to take a close look at our complaints-related communications. Group members Jacqui and Jill explain:

 

Jill: “The first thing we did was think about what a good response might look like from a customer point of view. We checked what the official requirements were, but then also thought about the emotional impact, and how a letter might make a customer feel. We came up with nine elements we thought a good response should have. We then used this checklist to review examples of complaint letters and emails that Saxon Weald had sent.”

 

Jacqui: “The main thing we found was inconsistency in the quality of the responses. Some were spot on, but some lacked any empathy or weren’t clear enough. We also found that some didn’t give enough detail of how they had reached their decision or what would happen next.”

 

Jill: “In total, we came up with 27 recommendations which we think would improve things. Some of us presented these to Saxon Weald’s customer experience committee. It was a bit daunting at first, but we felt they really listened and appreciated our work.”

 

Jacqui: “It’s been a great experience for me personally. You get to meet new people, help improve things for others and have a bit of fun along the way. We all want to carry on and be involved in the next group.”

 

Here’s a sample of the group’s recommendations:

• Complaint acknowledgements to always include details of who the issue has been passed to for investigation.
• Produce guidelines for staff on the best way to carry out an investigation and set out their findings.
• Make sure staff have training in showing understanding and empathy in their communication.
• Establish a quality assurance system for monitoring complaint responses.
• Adopt the group’s quality criteria and use it as a checklist before sending a complaint response.

 

We have been reviewing the recommendations to see which ones we can put in place. The majority are achievable, with just two or three less likely to be adopted. We’ll invite the task and finish group to come back and check in six months’ time to see the progress we are making. We’re confident they will see the difference their hard work has made.