Have you noticed how the recent calamities have brought out the worst in people?notably, people in government?

Just take a look at the long queues at government offices waiting for weeks for their calamity loans to be approved and how clients are treated quite shabbily. If they so much as to complain, they should brace themselves for some tongue-lashing from ill-mannered government executives.

The public asks: Is anyone in government even listening? Well, we?ve got news for government workers: They exist to serve the public and the public has the right to expect quality service.

Understand

A report adapted from Guidelines for Effective Complaint Management published by the Office of the Ombudsman in New South Wales, Australia, has closely examined the psychology behind complaints from the transacting public.

?Complaints arise when clients are dissatisfied with a program or service. To find the right solution, one needs to understand the nature of the client?s dissatisfaction. It is important to remember that government is accountable for each service transaction, including the design of the processes, the physical environment and the manner in which the service itself is rendered,? it says.

The report says dissatisfied clients often speak poorly of an organization and that the reputation and credibility of the government may suffer. Research shows that disgruntled clients will tell up to 20 acquaintances about an unresolved problem. On the other hand, clients whose problems are resolved quickly tend to be more loyal to and supportive of the organization than those who do not experience any problems,? it says.

System

The report advises government entities to set up an efficient complaint management system.

It says heads of government agencies may well ask themselves these questions: Do we provide information about how to complain and to whom complaints should be directed, including a phone number and an address? Have we published our standards of service and made them available so that the public knows what standards it may expect? Do our employees know what to do when they receive a complaint? Does the system allow employees to retrieve quickly information about a complaint?

Complaint management systems, says the report, should allow employees to handle complaints quickly, and should include established time limits for action. ?These should also allow employees to keep clients informed of the progress of their complaints,? it adds.

The report gives this very sound and commonsensical advice: Organizations should train all employees (including all line managers and key executives) who deal with complaints regularly on how to handle complaints. This may include instruction in negotiation and alternative dispute resolution skills, as well as skills in dealing with difficult people. One piece of advice to our government frontliners: Don?t take complaints personally.

Best practices

?Clients are to be assured that the organization has investigated their concerns fully and fairly and should allow employees to provide an effective response to eligible or valid complaints and to provide a redress, when appropriate,? says the report. ?It needs to ask themselves these questions as well: Do we deal with all complaints equally, regardless of the status of the persons who complain and who receive the complaint? Are there mediation and adjudication procedures that dissatisfied clients can use??

The report cites the current practice of a complaints commission offering a toll-free number for registering complaints while another organization notifies all clients of its service standards and invites them to inform the concerned department when service does not meet such standards.

Another government office charged with taking care of the affairs of war veterans distributes to its clients brochures titled ?At Your Service? containing the department?s services and service standards, and outlines the actions clients should take if they have any complaints.

Constructive

If one were to look at the bright side, complaints should be regarded as a ?gift.?

?Complaints are a positive form of feedback and a means of establishing better customer relations. They are a general invitation to seek feedback from the public with the intention of improving services. The message to the public will then be that the organization values what the former has to say, good or bad,? says the report.

On the other hand, it says that the message to the staff is that getting complaints need not be a negative experience: Management is not concerned with ascribing blame or with finding out who is right and who is wrong, but rather with using the feedback in a constructive manner.

A positive outcome or improvement in service resulting from handling complaints may boost the public?s confidence in government services and programs in the long term, the report explains. ?It is important to show where this has led to improvements.?

Other tips

Mike Michalowicz, author of Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, a book for first-time entrepreneurs, lists some do?s and don?ts in handling unhappy customers and clients in general:

1. Always be prompt in responding to complaints.

2. Make them know you understand their problem. Show attentiveness and empathy, listen and find out the root of the problem.

3. Apologize for screwing up and for the trouble that the problem has caused them, and make sure you deliver what you have originally promised. Get your apology in very early in the discussion and prove you really mean it?this will soothe ruffled feathers.

4. After listening to their complaints and feedback, repeat what they have said. When upset about something, most people want their complaint to be heard and acknowledged.

5. Take time to educate them on your products and services and how they can benefit from them.

6. Never get defensive.

7. Never make excuses or pass the buck.

8. Ask them for the desired resolution and come as close as possible to fulfilling their requests.

9. Empower your frontline employees to resolve the problem immediately after asking this question: ?What can I do to make this right for you?? Customers usually ask for less than what you are inclined to offer. To show clients that the organization will take responsibility and accountability, they can also ask: ?How can I solve this problem?? or ?What can we do to solve this problem??