Feedback case management overview

The term 'customer feedback' encapsulates positive and complimentary endorsements received from tenants and stakeholders, as well as formal and informal complaints - expressions of dissatisfaction in respect of the housing organisation's actions, or about their standard of service. The most common complaints raised by tenants are:

General maintenance concerns and the lack of essential repairs
Unclear communications issued by the housing organisation
Poor presentation of properties, particularly the cleanliness at the start of a tenancy
Slow responses to queries, poor attentiveness and complaints not being taken seriously

When issues arise, it is good practice to encourage the customer to formally submit their complaint and then deal with it appropriately through the complaints handling procedure. The feedback management module helps to maintain full visibility of all activities conducted throughout the duration of a case, ensuring that the customer can readily be updated on all actions taken, culminating in a definitive response to their complaint. Literally anyone who receives, requests or is affected by the services provided by a housing organisation can make a complaint. Sometimes a tenant may be unable or reluctant to make a complaint on their own and will enlist the help of a third party who will raise the matter on their behalf. For many complaints, a 'frontline resolution' approach is preferable, which aims to quickly resolve straightforward customer complaints that require little or no investigation. The main principle is to seek prompt resolution, resolving complaints at the earliest opportunity and as close to the point of service delivery as possible. This may mean a face-to-face discussion with the customer, or asking an appropriate member of staff to deal directly with the complaint. In practice, frontline resolution means resolving the complaint at the first point of contact with the customer, either by the member of staff receiving the complaint or other identified colleagues. In either case, the complaint may be settled by providing an on-the-spot apology where appropriate, or explaining why the issue occurred and, where possible, what will be done to stop this happening again. Irrespective of how a complaint is submitted - in writing, in person, by telephone, by email or online, or by an advocate - the frontline resolution approach can bring tangible results.

On receiving a complaint, it is important to decide whether the issue should indeed be classified as a complaint; the customer may also express dissatisfaction about more than one issue, which could potentially transcend different business areas. In accurately recording a new feedback case, it is important to ascertain the following elements:

What exactly is the customer's complaint - Clarity about the exact nature of the complaint is imperative, eliciting more information as is necessary to get a full picture.
What does the customer want to achieve by complaining - At the outset, it is helpful to identify the outcome the customer ideally wants to achieve, although they may not be entirely clear about this, or their expectations may be unrealistic.
Enlisting the help of colleagues - If the expected outcome cannot be achieved simply by providing an on-the-spot apology, or if the issues or area of service involved are unfamiliar, the details of the complaint should be passed to someone who can attempt to resolve it.

A significant number of complaints will need to be escalated to an 'investigation' stage when, for example, a frontline resolution was tried but the customer remains dissatisfied and requests an investigation into the complaint. This may be immediately on communicating the decision at the frontline stage or could be some time later, particularly where the issues raised prove to be more complex and require detailed investigation. Care should always be taken to identify complaints that might be considered serious, high risk or high profile, as these may require particular action or raise critical issues that need direct input from senior management.

The customer may expect more than can reasonably be provided. An example would be where the customer is so dissatisfied with a kitchen refurbishment that they demand a new kitchen, but the housing organisation is only willing to repair any broken units. In all feedback cases, it is important to keep a full and accurate record of the decision reached and it is good practice to confirm in writing the outcome of all complaints to each customer.

Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of feedback case management, including: