Claims management is one of the issues of greatest concern to those seeking excellence in service. How a customer's complaints are handled will depend on whether they are permanently lost or their trust is restored. I will show you an effective process for handling claims.
Claims management is one of the issues of greatest concern to those seeking excellence in service. And it is true that, depending on how a customer's complaints are handled, their fate will be decided: lose it permanently, or regain their trust, and even build loyalty.
A hotel quality manager wanted to know how to generate a flowchart for customer complaints. A flowchart is an outline that indicates the steps to be followed each time a customer complains (in this case). For example: 1-the client complains, 2-containment actions are applied, 3-the complaint is registered, etc.
And as it is true that, when a client complains, he calls our attention and even makes us nervous, it is very necessary to give an effective treatment to every complaint. You can not leave them adrift of what occurs to the person who is at that moment in front of the client. Each claim must go through a specific path that will lead you to regain customer trust.
This is the main objective that you should have in the face of a claim: Retrieve Customer Confidence. Because if the client complained, it is because he is not satisfied, but he is giving you the valuable opportunity to repair that lack.
Here are the key aspects that your complaint flow diagram must include to achieve this goal:
1. Containment action
2. Compensation
3. Analysis of causes
4. Preventive actions
We will delve into each one to fully understand their importance.
The containment action is a measure that must be taken immediately, in order to minimize the inconvenience that the client currently has. Like when a child falls, the first thing we do is lift and comfort him. Later we will see how to treat your wound. Thus, if the client complains that he cannot sleep due to the outside noise there is, we should try to cancel that noise immediately.
Then, seek compensation. The client had a nuisance, now he no longer has it thanks to the containment action, but to pay off our debt, we must offer him something that “pays” the initial nuisance. The time you couldn't sleep can no longer make it up. So we want to give you something that will gratify you. Perhaps we can offer you a free drink by way of apology. The goal of this step is to show you that we are hurt by your discomfort and want to repair it.
The third element is the analysis of causes. Our client is already contained, but if things continue as before, it is likely that what caused the complaint will happen again and that other clients will have the same annoyance in the future. So we must identify why this happened, what allowed something to not work as intended. This analysis can be very simple or rather complex, but we must always do it. It is also important that all the personnel involved participate in this step and make their contributions from their specific roles and tasks.
The last step, which derives from the previous one, is to take the necessary actions to eliminate the cause of the problem and thus prevent its recurrence, that is, preventive actions. Again this can be something simple (like setting a maintenance work schedule outside of sleeping hours, for example) or something more expensive (like a soundproofing work for the establishment). The important thing is to initiate actions that minimize or eradicate the cause. Logically, depending on the impact that the nuisance may have, it will be seen which actions are the most appropriate. If the final solution is a high-cost work, and the problem affects a single hotel room, you could choose to assign that room only as a last resort and, in that case, clarify to the guest that there is such a nuisance, being able to choose to take it or not.
Finally, I want to give you a very important ingredient that goes through this whole process, and that is communication with the client. For the client who filed the complaint, it is important to know what they are doing and what they will do with their problem. Otherwise, you will have the feeling that they did not care. Therefore, each step must be communicated in a timely manner. I give you an example to finish.
The customer calls reception:
- There is a very annoying noise that has not let me sleep during the whole nap.
- Excuse me sir, right now I'm in charge of solving it and then I stop by your room. (informs what he will do)
With the noise stopped, the receptionist goes to the room:
- Good afternoon, I'm sorry about what happened. It happens that there is a work in the building next door, but I already spoke with the foreman to postpone that work. (reports what he did)
- Well, I thank you, but I'm not going to be able to sleep anyway.
- I'm really sorry, I would like to offer you something to repair this annoyance. If you wish, you can stop by the bar and we invite you with a drink before leaving.
- Agree.
- And of course, this inconvenience will be registered to implement actions that prevent it from happening again. We will keep you informed. (informs what he will do)
Once the problem has been analyzed and the actions have been implemented, even though the client is no longer hosted, the action is communicated. In this way he will perceive that his problem was taken into account, that he tried to compensate him, and that his case served to improve the service for him or other clients in the future.
So I invite you today to define your complaint resolution flowchart, taking into account these four aspects. In addition, you must indicate who is responsible for each action and what general criteria will be applied (for example, what things can be offered as compensation without consulting the superior and in which cases they should consult it), how the registration will be carried out, etc.
Once you have a first diagram, meet with your team, explain the importance and objective of each of the 4 points and present the diagram. Listen to their point of view and make modifications with them that they consider appropriate.
You will see that, little by little, with these clear guidelines, they will gain confidence in how to resolve these situations, acquiring more and more autonomy in the management of claims.
