Establishing customer service

Before we step into the models and elements of customer service, let’s take a look at the law that governs customer service. The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) describes what it means to ensure consumer guarantees, consumer product safety, fair contract terms and fair sales practices. The law refers to the term ‘product’, remember when it comes to a healthcare facility a product would mean ‘service’ offered to the patient or client.

When you run a healthcare facility in Australia, it will still be considered as a business, and you will be affected by the Australian Consumer Law. Whether you work with patients or provide healthcare services only, you must know the consumer laws that affects your business. The ACL is a national law to protect consumers – in this case the patients under your care.

Complying with ACL

Some examples of how the healthcare facility and its staff must comply with the ACL include:

• If a patient asks for an itemised bill, you must provide it free of charge.
• If you sell goods or services worth more than $75 (excluding GST), you must give the patient a receipt.
• If you give receipts, they must identify you (the supplier), your ABN and/or ACN (if any), what was supplied, the date of supply and the price.
• If the goods or service does not meet a consumer guarantee (e.g., where goods are not of acceptable quality), your customer has the right to ask for a refund, replacement or repair where:
  • the goods or service is under $100,000
  • the goods are over $100,000 and normally bought for personal or household use
  • the goods are business vehicles or trailers mainly used to transport goods.
• If there is a problem with your good or service, the patient has the right to ask you for compensation for damages and loss, if the supplier could have reasonably foreseen the problem.
• You cannot have a healthcare policy and/or signs in store which seek to override patient guarantee rights (for example ‘no refunds’ or ‘no refunds on sale items’). This is unlawful.

Consumer guarantees

As part of consumer law and fair-trading laws, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) regulates consumer guarantees.

As a healthcare worker, you must understand consumer rights in order to comply with your obligations. Businesses must provide an automatic guarantee to consumers with any product or service they sell. The guarantee includes that products or services will work and do as advertised.

If you sell a product or good, you must guarantee that it:

• is of acceptable quality
• matches the provided description
• meets any express warranties
• is fit for purpose.

If you supply a service, you must provide it:

• with due care and skill
• fit for specified purpose
• within a reasonable time (if no time is set).

Consumer product safety

The ACL governs product safety in Australia. This means that the products you supply must be safe and meet consumer guarantees. You cannot sell banned or recalled products and you must ensure that your products or product related services comply with relevant mandatory safety and information standards before they are offered for sale.

If you become aware that a product you supplied may have caused a death, serious injury or illness, you are required to submit a mandatory injury report to the commonwealth minister within two days of becoming aware of the incident.

Anti-discrimination legislation

There are a number of national, state and territory laws that make it illegal to discriminate against an individual on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, age, disability, sexual preference (and a range of other personal characteristics). Customer service standards must not directly or indirectly enforce any form of discrimination.

Work health and safety legislation

Organisations have a duty of care to provide a safe working environment for their workers and employees. All policies and procedures must comply with work health and safety legislation and practices.

State and Territorial legislations

The Fair-Trading Act is enforced by state and territory fair trading agencies, governs the conduct of businesses in relation to consumers, including the provision of accurate information, disclosure of any hidden costs, and protection from false or misleading conduct. As a healthcare worker, make sure you’re aware of your local state or territory legislation. Each state and territory has fair trading departments within their governments that can help you.

The table below provides you with the links to these laws for each state or territory.

The Privacy Act 1988

This act regulates the handling of personal information by organisations and sets out requirements for safeguarding personal information, as well as providing consumers with rights of access to their personal information. As a healthcare worker, you will always be required to handle patients’ information with the utmost privacy and confidentiality. The Australian Privacy Principles are principles-based law. This gives an organisation or agency flexibility to tailor their personal information handling practices to their business models and the diverse needs of individuals. They are also technology neutral, which allows them to adapt to changing technologies.

A breach of an Australian Privacy Principle (APP) is an ‘interference with the privacy of an individual’ and can lead to regulatory action and penalties. Let’s briefly take a look at the thirteen (13) APP and how it governs standards, rights and obligations around:

• the collection, use and disclosure of personal information
• an organisation or agency’s governance and accountability
• integrity and correction of personal information
• the rights of individuals to access their personal information

The level of customer service you and your healthcare team provide contribute to the way patients view the healthcare facility you work for. It may also influence their decisions of re-visiting the clinic again. Essentially, customer service standards should be developed in accordance with the business plan. Service standards help to establish the direction and goals of the organisation, and to establish benchmarks which can be used as a measure of success. Achieving service standards will come down to how effectively an organisation can utilise its people, systems and technology. For example, excellent customer service can lead to:

• increased customer numbers—through favourable word-of-mouth and online recommendations
• higher dollar amount spent per customer per transaction
• repeat customer visits
• more referrals to your business.

Establish a culture of excellent customer service in your business by planning, developing and sustaining a customer service program. Good customer service is important for however you deal with customers—face-to-face, over the phone or online.

Principles of good customer service

Listening, understanding your customer's needs, thanking the customer and promoting a positive, helpful and friendly environment will ensure they leave with a great impression. A happy customer will return often and is likely to spend more. They may also refer other people to your healthcare facility. Consider the following elements that you can follow in order to provide good customer service at the healthcare facility.

Customer relationships

To build customer relationships:

• greet customers and approach them in a way that is natural and fits the individual situation
• build rapport—find something you have in common with that customer (i.e., you may know someone in common, have children at the same school, admire their car)
• show customers that you understand what their needs are
• accept that some people won't want your products and concentrate on building relationships with those who do
• help people (if you see an opportunity to)
• continue to keep customers aware of what's in it for them to do business with you.

Training and culture

A customer service culture can be created by:

• training staff
• valuing service in the healthcare system
• embedding service in your communication with your staff and your customers
• improving sales skills.

As a healthcare worker, led by example and make sure you're always providing excellent customer service.

Complaint handling

At a healthcare facility, you will surely face some unhappy customers, always listen to complaints from your customers and let them know that you appreciate their feedback. Listen to what the customer is objecting about—often price, merchandise or appointment times. Confirm the validity of each concern and offer a solution and make sure you regularly monitor your communication channels for complaints or other feedback and respond in a timely manner. This could include your social media, email and online reviews. Customer complaints and feedback can be an opportunity to learn something about your product or service.

Product knowledge

As a healthcare worker, know the products or services being offered at the clinic, including where they're located in your clinic, brand names, place of manufacture and price. The more you know, the more confidence you can build in the patient. Recognise product or service features at the clinic and turn these features into benefits for the customer. Ensure your staff are trained and can tell customers about these features and benefits.

Let’s take a look at six components that make up a service environment and contribute to customer service delivery. Use these factors to ensure that a viable customer service environment is the responsibility of every employee of the organisation, not just the customer service representative.

Components of a customer service environment

Let’s take time to examine the six key components of a customer service environment, which will illustrate many factors that contribute to customer service delivery. You will learn more about this in detail in the following section on the elements of effective customer service.

1. The customer
2. Organisational culture
3. Human resources
4. Products/deliverables
5. Delivery system
6. Service

Many factors affect your customers and what they perceive as quality service. With the exception of the customer, all of these factors are under the control of the service provider and staff. We need to understand that in the healthcare environment is the customer. All the aspects of the clinic revolve around that crucial entity – the patient. Without the customer, there is no reason for any organisation to exist. Let’s take a look at each component that contribute to customer service delivery.

1. Customers: you will also have two types of customers – external and internal. External customers. External customers are usually your current or potential patients. They are the ones who actively seek out, research the products or services offered at the clinic. Internal customers are your employees at the workplace, who either require support and service or provide information, products, and services to service providers (patients). Such customers include peers, co-workers, managers, subordinates and people from other areas of the organisation.
2. Organisation culture: this is basically what the patient experiences from the minute they walk in the clinic. This culture is made up of a collection of subcomponents, each of which contributes to the overall service environment (healthcare facility). The experiences, attitudes, and norms cherished and upheld by employees and teams within the organisation set the tone for the manner in which service is delivered and how service providers interact with both internal and external customers.
3. Human resources - this refers to the employees of an organisation. To make the culture work, an organisation must take great care in recruiting, selecting, training, and retaining qualified people. Job candidates who are skilled, motivated, and enthusiastic about providing service excellence and who possess all or a majority of the requisite skills needed to perform r e quired job responsibilities are often hard to find , expensive to recruit , and appreciated by employers and customers.
4. Deliverables - this is usually the products or services provided by the clinic. In either case, there are two potential areas of customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction – quality and quantity. If your clients receive what they perceive as a quality product or service to the level that they expected, and in the time, frame promised or viewed as acceptable, they will likely be happy. For example, a patient that has come in with a scheduled appointment at 9am, and are not kept waiting longer than 15 minutes, they will be satisfied as there has been no delays in time.
   On the other hand, if customers believe that they were sold an inferior product or given an inferior service or one that does not match their expectations, they will likely be dissatisfied and could take their business elsewhere. They may also provide negative word-of-mouth advertising for the organisation. For example, arriving to an appointment only to find out the GP had to leave early for personal reasons. It would have been appreciated by the client if they were informed of the re-schedule on time.
5. Delivery systems - this is the method(s) by which the product or service is delivered. A healthcare facility would probably examine the industry standards, customer expectations, capabilities, costs, current and projected requirements. The table below provides an understandable outline of this:

   Factors to examine	Questions to consider
   1. Industry standards	How is the competition currently delivering? Are current organisational delivery standards in line with those of competitors?
   2. Customer expectations	Do customers expect delivery to occur in a certain manner within a specified time frame? Are alternatives acceptable?
   3. Capabilities	Do existing or available systems within the organisation and industry allow for a variety of delivery methods?
   4. Costs	Will providing a variety of techniques add real or perceived value at an acceptable cost? If there are additional costs, will consumers be willing to absorb them?
   5. Current and projected requirements	Are existing methods of delivery, such as mail, phone, and face-to-face service, meeting the needs of the customer and will they continue to do so in the future?

6. Service - this is the manner in which you and other employees treat your customers and each other as you deliver your company’s services (deliverables).

Remember, in the previous section how the customer is the centre ground for everything else governing the service? Let’s now take a look at those elements of effective customer service such as quality, time, and cost.

Step 1 – Identify your patients

In order to deliver quality customer service, it is important to understand who your customers really are. It is surprising how many organisations fail to adequately understand this! If an organisation does not take the time to get to know and understand who their customers are, it will be next to impossible to successfully determine their needs and deliver quality customer service.

When we talk about customers, most people instantly think of customers as the individuals who purchase the organisation’s products and services. While this is an adequate description of external customers, it is only half of the story. While the majority of customer service guides (and the majority of this Study Guide) focus on delivering quality service to external customers, it is important to understand that organisations also have internal customers – individuals within an organisation who rely on the work carried out by other employees in order to perform their own role. For example, if a sales associate requires a member of the finance team to produce an invoice in order to finalise a sale, then the sales associate is an internal customer of the finance team member. Most organisations have a number of different departments and so the relationships between these departments and their internal customers can have a tremendous impact upon the loyalty, attitude and productivity of employees. As Richard Branson says, “If you look after your internal customers you don’t have to worry about the external customers.”

To get loyal employees an organisation needs to ensure that they go beyond their employee’s expectations, just as they do for external customers. Employees expect organisational policies and procedures to be clear and streamlined and also to be provided with adequate training that will enable them to perform their duties. However, it is also possible for an organisation to exceed these expectations and deliver on things such as mentoring, coaching, and other personal development training. A working environment that fosters a happy, productive and respectful culture will most likely see this attitude being passed on to the external customer.

Step 2 – Determine your customer’s needs and expectations

All business professionals must understand that customers are crucial to the success of any business. In planning to meet the needs of customers it is vital to first identify these needs.

Investigating customer needs often involves a combination of qualitative and quantitative research:

• Qualitative research is about getting people to talk about their opinions so that you can understand their motivations and feelings. Face-to-face interviews and group discussions are the best way to get this kind of in-depth feedback. Qualitative research can be valuable when an organisation is developing new products or coming up with new marketing initiatives that they would like to test. Examples of qualitative responses might include why someone feels they need a particular product or service; how do they feel after receiving a particular service or what motivated them to choose this product over another.
• Quantitative research is about asking people for their opinions in a structured way so that a business can produce hard facts and statistics to help them develop an understanding of their customers. Quantitative research methods include surveys and customer questionnaires. Examples of quantitative responses might include preferred opening hours, what their household income is, or what they are willing to spend on a particular product or service.

To help determine customer needs and expectations most organisations will seek to collect and analyse both qualitative and quantitative data on customer buying behaviour (e.g., what, when, where, how and by who products and services are purchased) as well as obtain direct feedback from current customers.

To begin investigating customer needs (both internal and external) there are some questions that an organisation can focus on:

For external customers, the organisation may want to determine:

• Why and when does the target customer buy a product/service?
• How does the customer buy this particular product and service?
• When buying the product or service what does the customer expect?
• How can the organisation meet and exceed the customer’s expectations?
• What does the customer think about the organisation?
• Does the customer experience a positive one?
• What does the customer think about the organisation’s competitors?
• Does the organisation provide a better service than competitors?

For internal customers, the organisation may want to determine:

• What role does each department play within the organisation?
• How is each department performing and what are their satisfaction levels?
• What improvements can be made to ensure that the needs and expectations of internal customers are met?

As an organisation delves deeper into the needs and wants of its customers it is quite likely that customer segments will begin to appear. Customer segments will add further complexity to customer service as certain customers may want different products and services delivered differently. Whilst different customer groups will have different expectations, there are some customer service standards that are commonly expected by all customers. Such expectations include:

Step 3 – Developing standards to meet customer needs

Once an organisation has an understanding of their customers and their customers’ needs, it is paramount that the organisation develops a standard of service that meets or exceeds these needs. After all, there is no point in spending time and money understanding what customers want if you do not then use this information.

For most organisations, developing these standards will involve achieving the right balance of quality, time and cost for their products/services. The balance between these three factors will vary according to the particular requirements of the customer. This is why understanding your customers is so important in the first place.

When establishing customer service standards, organisations must decide what level of service they want to provide to their customers. In general, there are three key types of customer service: core, augmented and excellent service.

• Core Services. This involves providing a basic level of customer service. Core level service meets some customers’ expectations; however, many customers will not feel satisfied if they have experienced better customer service elsewhere. The better customer service will become the customer’s benchmark, therefore if an organisation only ever delivers the core level of service, then it is likely that its customers will move to the competitor.
  An example of a core level of service: You go to your local café and order your usual cup of coffee. You get the coffee you purchased.
• Augmented Services. This level of service is going slightly above what customers might expect from the organisation, however the level of service at this level may not always be consistent. It is likely that this level of service will retain customers in the short- to medium-term however, it is unlikely to foster high levels of customer loyalty because it doesn’t deliver an exceptional experience.
  An example of an augmented level of service: You go to the local café and order a coffee. You get the coffee your ordered and the waitress also brings to your table a glass of water.
• Excellent Service. At this level, an organisation has decided that they want to maximise their chances of being the market leader. Organisations that want to deliver this level of service are consistently looking for ways to improve their services with the most skilled and motivated employees. There is consistency in exceeding a customer’s expectations each and every time.
  An example of excellent service: You go to the local café and the barista greets you with your name (e.g., “Morning Jack”) and remembers what you like to order. You grab a seat, and your coffee arrives with a complimentary small biscuit and glass of water and the waitress greets you with “enjoy your coffee, let me know if I can get you anything else Jack.” You drink your coffee whilst reading the complimentary newspaper. As you leave the waitress says goodbye and wishes you a great day. This happens every time no matter which staff members are on shift and no matter how busy the café is.

Customer Service Standards

Essentially, customer service standards should be developed in accordance with the business plan. Service standards help to: (1) establish the direction and goals of the organisation, and (2) establish benchmarks which can be used as a measure of success. Achieving service standards will come down to how effectively an organisation can utilise its people, systems and technology. However, clear standards must first be established and then communicated.

Service standards cannot be vague or ambiguous. There should be no room for doubt as to what exactly is expected from a customer service perspective. Service standards need to be clearly written, supported by management, reflect company goals and be communicated clearly and regularly to all staff members. When creating customer service standards organisations must fully understand the reason for the standard, who it will impact, and the procedure that will be used. Once plans are in place it is important that they are regularly reviewed. A review process will measure whether the plans are effective and/or if they are being followed accordingly.

Some common examples of customer service standards and policies used by many businesses include:

• Customer Service Policy
• Customer Communication Policy
• Customer Complaint Policy
• Customer Enquiry Policy
• Customer Refund Request Policy
• Warranty/Guarantee

Step 4 – Implementing the Plan

Once an organisation has established their standards, it is important to implement these standards. Organisations must work to ensure that service standards are consistently maintained across the organisation. Additionally, organisations should always be searching for options for continuous improvement.

Although you will need to abide by the above-mentioned state, territorial and federal legislations, you would be required to follow the organisation's policies. For example, if the healthcare facility you work for does not have bulk-billing service you would need to inform the patients of the specific consultation fees they would need to pay at the time of consultation.

Many customers negatively meet organisational culture directly when a service provider hides behind “company policy” to handle a problem. The goal should be to respond to policy customer requests and satisfy needs as quickly, efficiently, and cheerfully as possible. Anything less is an invitation for criticism, dissatisfaction, potential customer loss, and employee frustration. Return policies in a retail environment are a case in point. Even though customers may not always be “right,” they must be treated with respect and as if they are right in order to effectively provide service and generate future relationships. An effective return policy is part of the overall service process. In addition to service received, the return policy of an organisation is another gauge customers use to determine where they will spend their time and money.

The following policies are an exemplar of what most organisations follow in relation to customer service:

Friendly and professional customer interactions

As healthcare worker, you would be required:

• Speak respectfully to customers at all times.
• Listen carefully and allow customers time to explain the circumstances fully.
• Convey a sound knowledge of the business, including its goods, services and guidelines.
• Respect customer privacy and confidentiality, in accordance with The Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles.

Accurate and consistent information on services provided

As a healthcare worker you would be required to take active measures to ensure that you:

• Always communicate factually, honestly and accurately to customers, whether in writing, verbally or face-to-face.
• Keep publicly available information about good and services updated.
• Provide a clear explanation of our dispute resolution process.

Prompt and efficient services

So that you can improve your approach to patients you would need to:

• Strive to address customer enquiries within a reasonable timeframe, whether in writing, verbally or face to face.
• Regularly review customer service performance and incorporate findings in staff training and development activities.

As a healthcare worker you will always come across a customer that will be unhappy for various reasons and the manner in which these complaints are handled can signal the organisation’s concern for customer satisfaction. If an employee has to get approvals for the smallest decisions, the customer may have to wait for a supervisor to arrive (a supermarket cashier has to call for a manager to approve a check for $10, but when the supervisor arrives, he or she doesn’t even look at the check before signing and walking away). This can lead to customer and employee frustration and irritation and makes the organization, and the service provider, look inept. As a service professional, you should make recommendations for improvement whenever you spot a roadblock or system that impedes provision of service excellence.

The table below will provide you with some strategies to use when responding to customer complaints and solving problems involving people who demonstrate the four behavioural styles:

• Rational
• Inquisitive
• Decisive
• Expressive

By tailoring customer service strategies to individual style preferences, you address the customer’s specific needs. Active listening is a key skill in any service situation. As you review these strategies, think of other things you might do to better serve each behavioural type. You must try and view complaints as a chance to create a favourable impression by solving a problem. Watch the behavioural characteristics being exhibited by the patients at your clinic. Using what you see and hear, take appropriate action to adapt to the customer’s personality needs and solve the problem professionally.

Skills for handling customer complaints

Developing specific policies and procedures is only the first part of the process for planning for effective complaints management. It is also important to ensure that all staff are familiar with these policies and procedures and possess the skills to be able to address customer service problems clearly and confidently. Training should be provided to staff so that they are able to effectively deal with an angry or upset customers. Poorly trained staff often respond emotionally and can make problems worse. Delivering effective service requires employees to look beyond the emotion of anger and discover the reason for the anger.

Some effective customer service strategies that Lucas (2022) proposes to assist employees engaged in difficult customer encounters include:

• Remaining positive - it is best for an employee to focus on what the organisation can do rather than what they can’t do. For example, it’s better to say, “We’d be more than happy to offer you a store credit for the value of your purchase.” Instead of “We don’t provide refunds.” Employees should be particularly mindful of the language they use while handling customer complaints. Using positive language can help prevent a situation from escalating.
• Remaining objective - it may be difficult for an employee to remain calm in a situation where a customer is raising their voice or using profanity, however it is important to remember the customer is angry at the organisation not at the individual. The employee should remain calm and objective and seek to assist the customer in any way that they can.
• Remaining compassionate - a common approach for remaining friendly, empathetic and compassionate is to use the “feel, felt, found” strategy. For example, “I can relate to how you feel Mr Jones. When other customers have felt this way before, we have found that the best course of action is to….” This method helps an employee empathise with a customer, while helping them know they’re not alone but that there is a solution to their problem.

Customer service experts have identified that particular steps or attitudes should be adopted in order to handle customer complaints smoothly. These steps include:

1. Adopt a customer service mindset: A customer service mindset simply means ignoring what you personally believe might be right or wrong and instead focusing on a resolution that leads to a happy customer and ultimately a more profitable company. For example, when faced with an angry customer it is easy for an employee to feel as though they are getting blamed for other people’s mistakes, become defensive, and respond emotionally. However, by adopting a customer service mindset, the employee knows that the first priority is to satisfy the customer.
2. Engage in active listening: active listening requires a person to be fully engaged with the other person. Most importantly it involves remaining quiet and letting the other person feel like they have been given a chance to fully explain themselves. A large part of active listening is also body language, such eye contact and nodding to communicate to the other person that you are in fact listening. While an employee often feels compelled to try to solve the problem right away, or jump to conclusions about what happened, the customer wants to feel as though their concerns and frustrations have been acknowledged and understood. Therefore actively (and patiently) listening to what happened from the customer’s point of view is a priority. Actively listening is one of the most important steps to overcoming customer service problems.
3. Relay the customer’s concerns: this step involves confirming your understanding of the situation. Confirming or relaying the customers concern is about paraphrasing what they have already said. It is important to use calm, objective wording. For example, "So as I understand it you are upset that you may miss an important sale as a result of the organisation not delivering the product you asked for on time - was there anything else we missed?” Repeating the problem shows the customer you were listening, which can help lower their anger and stress levels. More than this, it helps you agree on the problem that needs to be solved.
4. Empathise and apologise: This step relates back to demonstrating active listening skills and getting into a customer service mindset. It is about making the customer feel like their concerns are being acknowledged and that they are important. For example, an employee could say, "I understand why you're upset. I would be too. I'm very sorry that we didn't get the samples to you on time, especially since it’s caused these problems."
5. Present a solution: there are two primary ways to do this: (1) ask the customer what they would like and, if it is within reason, this can be implemented; or (2) the staff member can suggest what they can do to solve the problem (Lucas 2022). For example, an employee may be able to anticipate what will make her client happy and present the solution: “I know you need these samples by lunch time to show to your own customers. I will drive to our other warehouse where I know there are spares and personally deliver it to your office by 11:30am”. The staff member could also ask the customer to identify what would make them happy. For example: “If this solution doesn't work for you, I'd love to hear what you’d like. If it's in my power I'll get it done, and if it's not possible, we can work on another solution together.”
6. Take action and follow-up: once a solution has been agreed upon, it must be actioned immediately. The employee should explain every step that they will take to fix the problem and then complete those steps (Lucas 2022). Additionally, once the situation has been resolved, where appropriate, it is important to follow up with the customer over the next few days to make sure they were happy with the solution.
7. Assess the feedback: the last step of the process is to reduce the risk of the situation happening again. Consider how the problem arose and what can be done to prevent that situation happening again in the future. Complaint monitoring should be incorporated into an organisation’s strategies for continuous improvement.

This section of the module is focused on planning quality customer service. You have been introduced to the state and territory legislations together with the Commonwealth legislations that govern customer service. We also looked at the elements of effective customer service such as quality, time and cost. Subsequently, you were introduced to the organisational policies and procedures that govern the way you would handle customer complaints.

Thus, in the next section, we will explore some delivery quality products and services in the healthcare industry. We will also dwell into learning about the key principles of public relations and product promotion.