Citizen Complaint Flashcards
Intro
- Greet
- How can I help?
- Empathize
- Thank you for bringing this to my attention
- We will work towards a resolution
- Objective is to provide highest customer service
- Begin process toward resolution and attain our goals
- Goals are to
- document facts
- create a plan to resolve issues
- prevent from occurring in the future
- How does that sound?
- Who will get in trouble for this?
- non-committal - priority is helping citizen
- assure them appropriate action will be taken.
Issues
- Repeat main issues - Let me be sure I understand
- Additional details of the situation
- who, what, when, where
- apparatus, personnel, etc
- Policy excellent customer service
- Unfortunate events might occur during course of normal operations.
- Prioritize and re-state issues/ concerns back to citizen
- Action plan suggestions/ explanations/ education for issues & concerns
- try to apply added value.
- How does that sound?
Summarize
- We’ve documented all information
- Created action plans/suggestions for all issues/concerns
- if time allows, reiterate issues and actions plans
- Will investigate further as necessary (review report/ crew interview)
- Obtain contact info & best time to reach
- Provide citizen my name and staton/ HQ number
- Draft memo w/ issues, contact info, resolution plan & forward to supervisor
- Follow up within 24 hours
- How does our plan sound for you?
- Are there any other issues you’d like to discuss or anything else I can help you with?
- Thank you again for bringing this to my attention
- Confidence and Commitment
- Questions? Feel free to contact us
- Offer online customer service feedback method
- AskTheSheriff@sheriff.org
- Thank you/ Progress
- Thank you for coming in, I look forward to our progress
Complaint meeting intro (Dynamic)
Good morning/afternoon sir/ma’am. I’d like to introduce myself as Lt Domingos and I’m the officer in charge here today. How may I help you?
(at this time, I’m looking for any anxiety or signs of the citizen being upset. If I see/hear these I will attempt to diffuse and calm the situation by assuring the citizen that my #1 priority right now is to try and resolve their issues.)
If you wouldn’t mind, please have a seat and we can get started. Sitting down across from each other would really help me take down necessary information so we can get the ball rolling on a plan to resolve the issue(s). If you need to use the restroom or you’d like a glass of water just let me know. Before we begin, I just wanted to let you know that I will be jotting down some notes, so if you feel like I’m not giving you my full attention it’s definitely not me being rude, its only because I’m also focused on what I’m writing to assure all of our information is accurate.
Our objective is to provide excellent customer service and efficiently resolve any issues. My goal here is to create a plan with any issues and our plan to resolve them. Once that’s complete, our plan will be forwarded to my supervisor.
How does that sound?
Complaint Meeting Intro (static)
- This is an important/serious situation and I will immediately begin the process towards a resolution.
- I’m advised the issue(s) here is/are ____ and the following are the steps I would take to resolve it/them.
Noticing the Citizen’s body language and commenting about it (Dynamic Role-Play)
I notice you appear to be visibly upset. What can I do to help?
Citizen wants to know who is getting in trouble/paying for this?
Unfortunately, at my level and at this point in the resolution process, I would not be able to provide that information. That being said, let me just reiterate that my #1 priority is to resolve your issues as efficient as possible. I do however assure you that in regards to those concerns, once our department’s investigation is complete, all appropriate actions will be taken.
Asking for additional details/ Determining if this issue actually involves our Dept.
Are there any additional details you’re able to tell me, such as who/what/when/where, the apparatus/truck that was involved and if any particular person was involved? One of the reasons for asking these questions is that there are times when citizens will either call into the fire station or come visit us regarding a complaint. We want to be absolutely sure that you’re in the right place and that this was in fact, our department and not a neighboring agency so that we can assure your issue(s) are resolved as efficiently as possible.
Verbalizing a plan to resolve citizen’s issues (Plan, Suggestion, Explanation/Education)
What I’d like to do now is reiterate the issue(s) you brought to my attention today and our plan, suggestion, or explanation for each one.
Offering station visit (added value) after explaining Plan, Suggestion, Explanation/Education
In addition to what we already discussed relating to a plan/suggestion/explanation/education for the issues you brought to my attention, I would like extend an invitation for you and your family to come visit us at the firehouse for a meet & greet with the firefighters and to take a tour of the station and see the fire trucks. Just to reiterate, we always strive for excellence in customer service and I really feel that a visit to the firehouse, seeing some of our equipment and being able to meet some of our firefighters can really go a long way towards assuring our residents have a confident & secure feeling about their local fire department and the level of service we provide. If that sounds good to you I would be happy to forward your information to our chief’s secretary who can follow up with you on scheduling and setting up the tour. How does that sound?
Citizen Complaint example summary
What I’d like to do now is summarize our meeting: we’ve reviewed the issues and created action plans/suggestions/explanations to help resolve them. We have also scheduled a follow-up phone call. Someone from our agency will be contacting you within the next 24 hours to assure we are on track to meet our goals and to identify the need for any revisions.
Basic Closing
I’m glad we could meet today and I look forward to our progress.
