Customer Service and Complaint Handling, Plus Dane Group, Ellesmere Port and Neston

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1 Customer Service and Complaint Handling, Plus Dane Group, Ellesmere Port and Neston Brief for Skills and Knowledge training, February (PDT-13-25) Background Plus Dane owns and manages over 18,000 homes across Merseyside and Cheshire. We employ over 800 people, and have an asset value in excess of 525m, a combined development fund in excess of 205m and a turnover of over 55m. We maximise investment in neighbourhoods to enhance people's quality of life, opportunity and choice. We do this by delivering seven promises drawn up with tenants, residents and neighbourhoods: Increased investment in existing property Ensure neighbourhoods enjoy good wellbeing Increased community safety measures Further supporting vulnerable customers Working in partnership with residents so they are involved in everything we do Increased creation of local work Increased supply and choice of homes to suit a broad spectrum of lifestyles These priorities will be delivered in each of our neighbourhoods, with local people having a direct say in how neighbourhood investment supports their area. We consistently demonstrate our core values of Passion, Innovation, Excellence and Respect through our behaviours and actions. These Values are shared with those living in the neighbourhoods and are introduced to new colleagues through the recruitment and induction processes that we use to ensure we employ the right people for the job. To support our staff to deliver these promises in our neighbourhoods, we are committed to their personal development. Staff members are given the opportunity to develop in a number of ways; through mentoring from their line manager, formal training courses, qualifications, work shadowing, attending external seminars and volunteering for different community projects. Plus Dane Ellesmere Port and Neston (EPN) is part of Plus Dane Group. Plus Dane EPN is a housing association that has operated under a management contract with Plus Dane Group since It was previously the housing services team under Cheshire West and Chester Council. The management contract is operated under a Performance Management Framework. Customer Service is measured as part of this framework. There are around 160 customer facing staff who work in roles such as Neighbourhood Officer, Income Officer, Customer Access Officer, Customer Advisor, Neighbourhood Adviser, Repairs Operative or as a manager in one of those teams. Staff will work in customers homes, respond to visitors to the Plus Dane EPN office, or speak to customers on the phone. The senior team at Plus Dane EPN have identified the need for Customer Service and 1 of 5

2 Complaint Handling training as part of a desire to maintain the best customer satisfaction ratings. Our Customer Service and Complaint Handling related development needs The Customer Service Manager worked to analyse recent complaints and developed a number of key objectives and outcomes for a training intervention. These are outlined below. Delivery The training provider should suggest a programme for delivery from March to July 2015 that will deliver the outcomes outlined below. In terms of delivery, school holiday periods should be avoided and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are preferred. Training should be engaging and based in the reality of delivering customer service in the housing world. Recognisable examples and scenarios should be used to demonstrate any points that are being made. A clear method of embedding the learning should be demonstrated in the proposal, along with a method of engaging managers to maintain momentum for making the customer journey excellent following the training intervention. Our staff are based in Ellesmere Port and Neston and training will be delivered from our offices and depots in Ellesmere Port. Submission and Evaluation of Proposal Please submit your proposal with costs for the work by 9 March If your proposals are attractive to us we will invite you to meet with us in March 2015 for competitive interview. The proposal will be judged on quality and content of response to the brief and specific questions (60%), Price (30%) and Interview (10%). Its value is estimated to be around 15,000. Please contact Clare Mawdsley-Geoghegan, Learning & Development Manager at clare.mawdsley-geoghegan@neighbourhoodinvestor.com if you would like to ask any questions or discuss this further. 2 of 5

3 Objectives and Outcomes for Customer Service and Complaint Handling Training Current Situation Objective for the session Outcome Customer just wanted an answer to a question, comment or complaint but did not get one Customers could be on the phone or face to face. To practise skills for responding to a question, a comment or a complaint in as timely a way as possible, and in a way that suits the customer. Tactics for when it is not possible to give the customer what they are asking for Skills of problem solving, using tone of voice and body language and demonstrating empathy Customers report they can ask a question, give a comment or make a complaint and they have a response speedily and that answers what they said. General customer satisfaction meets targets Complaints have been analysed and they can often result from a breakdown in communication internally e.g. one person says someone else will respond to comment or request and they don t. The customer complains because they feel forgotten Customers say that they are not satisfied with the quality of the service they received originally, and lack of response compounds the problem Customer is not happy when no-one responds to them for two or three days Skills for managers in ensuring that their team members do demonstrate good customer service consistently To raise the awareness of the impact of not taking responsibility for responding to a complaint and to agree a way of not allowing poor internal communication to compound a complaint. To raise awareness of ways in which Plus Dane employees can ensure that no customer feels forgotten. Skills to address when a colleague does not take responsibility for their part A shared understanding of the impact on Plus Dane, employees, and customer The number of complaints compounded by poor internal communication will drop as a result of the course. Customer report that they are not left to wait for responses for an 3 of 5

4 Current Situation Objective for the session Outcome of a customer waiting too unacceptably long time. long for a response Complaints about this fall. To ensure that there is a method for passing on messages and ensuring that they are not forgotten, and that it is clear who is responsible for responding. Customers want to feel like they are being listened to Customers are asking for repairs that it is not possible to do. E.g. because of lack of budget, or it is not policy to offer this service Members of staff do not feel confident to explain when they can t help, and how they can. Senior Management Team expect all employees to represent Plus Dane as a helpful and efficient company that will achieve against the PMF The internal complaints process is about to change so managers, and team members should be able to apply the new process Skills of listening to both a happy or a dissatisfied customer Skills around giving news that the customer did not want to hear in a way that does not make the situation worse. E.g. explaining when it is not possible to meet a request because of budget or policy constraints Information on what is possible because of policy and budget and what is not. A clear shared understanding of when discretion can be used and when it can t. A clear vision of what is expected from Plus Dane representatives in terms of customer service Skills and practices for managers in ensuring that their team members do demonstrate good customer service consistently related deadlines. This to include informal comments, questions or complaints as well as those that are formal Customer service satisfaction raises and customers report being listened to Customer service satisfaction rises. Complaint handling satisfaction rises. I.e. customers report being happy with a complaints process even if they are not happy with the outcome Members of staff report feeling more able to set the limits of when they can help and when they can t All PMF targets are met and/or exceeded 4 of 5

5 Current Situation Objective for the session Outcome Managers must investigate complaints and have strict deadlines to investigate properly and feedback to the customer related deadlines Team members will normally assist the manager in looking into the complaint so needs to understand what will be expected of them There is little work done at the moment in terms of investigating a complaint to see if the situation could be avoided in the future related deadlines Skills and process around problem solving and analysing situations in order to improve for next time Problems are tackled proactively when customer complaints arise Specific questions to be answered 1. What is your experience and understanding of the housing association sector in relation to skills and knowledge training aimed at enhancing the customer experience? 2. What accreditation do you have? 3. How will you resource the delivery in terms of delivery staff. Please give a brief biography for all those in your delivery team. 4. Please demonstrate how you will deliver on each of the outcomes above, and any ways in which you could add value to the brief. 5. Please outline the course content and methods of delivery you propose to achieve the objectives and outcomes above. 6. Outline the delivery schedule to deliver for 160 people. Please build in the assumption you will deliver additional sessions to allow for a 10% cancellation rate. 7. Please supply three references from delivering previous programmes 8. Please indicate your day rate for any additional work should it be required in case of unforeseen circumstances on the project. Please return your proposal and response to these questions by Monday 9 March 2015 to Clare Mawdsley-Geoghegan, Learning and Development Manager, Plus Dane Group clare.mawdsley-geoghegan@neighbourhoodinvestor.com 5 of 5