Customer service policy

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Customer Service Policy for Staff

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Customer Service Policy for Staff Customer Service Policy for Staff

Contents

Introduction, Mark Cullinan, Chief Executive

Lancaster City Council Customer Service Charter

Telephone Protocol

Telephone Answering Standard

If the call is for someone else

Transferring Calls

Warm Transfer Protocol

Handling Difficult Calls

Face to Face Protocol

Visiting Protocol

Letter and E Mail Protocol

Letters

Email

Dealing with Difficult People

Data Protection Act and Further Support

Equal Access to Information

Appendix

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Introduction

Mark Cullinan, Chief Executive

As customers we all expect to receive a good standard of

service and care from the companies we pay our money

to.

When our expectations are not met, we can choose to go

elsewhere.

Here at Lancaster City Council, our customers have every right to expect good customer

care from us. However, unlike most situations, they have no choice but to pay Council Tax.

So it is even more important that we strive to provide them with a professional service

because, as we all know, people form their views of a company, including our council, from

their personal experience of how they are served.

This policy outlines the standards we should work to, what our customers can expect and,

in turn, the standards we expect from them.

I know the customer feedback that many of our customers already recognise the

dedication and commitment of our staff.

Together let us build on that strong foundation and, by delivering the standards set out in

this policy, ensure that all our customers benefit from our service of our first class service.

Mark Cullinan

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Telephone Protocol

Telephone Answering Standard

You Should

• Take Personal responsibility for the call and

ensure that any follow up actions are taken

• Deal with all callers politely and courteously,

this applies to all internal and external calls

• Always check that the customer understands

what you have said

• Do not keep the caller waiting once you have

answered the telephone – they are paying for

the delay

• Answer calls as soon as possible, within 5 rings

if possible

• Greet all callers with:

“Good Morning”/”Good Afternoon”

Service Name

Your Name

“How can I help you?”

Responsibility for answering telephones rests with the whole team. If a member of staff

is unavailable, another team member should answer their telephone – teams should

agree this as a shared responsibility.

Voicemail

If the voicemail / answer phone facility is activated on your telephone you should only use it when

you are on leave or are likely to be away from the office for a long time – voicemail / answer phone

should be used at the last resort. Customers prefer to speak to people if possible.

• Voicemail / answer phone messages must have a response within 1 working day –

This standard applies whether the call is from an internal or an external customer.

• The corporate standard for voicemail messages is:

Your name

Job Title

When you will call back

Where appropriate, give another number you can be contacted on

Who they can contact if you are away from the office for an extended period

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Telephone Protocol - Warm Transfer Protocol

The purpose of a Warm Transfer is to ensure that customers who call the switchboard at Lancaster

City Council are transferred to the required extension efficiently, whilst ensuring they are

transferred to the correct extension.

The following guidelines should be followed when performing a warm transfer.

• Before attempting the transfer, ask for the caller’s name so this can be provided to the officer

you’re transferring to.

• Also ask what the query is regarding; our aim is only to gather a brief outline of the nature of

the caller’s query so we can ascertain the correct transfer recipient and then relay the query

details to that officer

• When transferring wait until someone picks up or the call goes to voicemail

• If the call goes to voicemail, go back to the caller and offer them the option of being

transferred through to leave a message or provide them with the direct dial number (do not

provide direct numbers for the Chief Executive or Deputy Chief Executive)

• If someone picks up, introduce the call in this manner; “Hello it’s Michael from Customer

Services, I have a call from a Mr Smith regarding (include query details) to transfer through to

you.”

• Please avoid spending too long in conversation with the officer you have connected to. If it

becomes immediately apparent that officer is not the correct person for that query, take the

call back and continue to ascertain the correct person for that caller to be transferred to.

• Cold transfers are still appropriate for Macfarlane call queues and certain hunt groups. These

are Council Housing (6899), Council Tax (2900), and Benefits (2965), Planning Advice (2950),

Licensing (2033), Environmental Health (2935, 2936) and of course transfers to Customer

Services queues (2222, 2905, and 2257).

Telephone Protocol – Handling Difficult Calls

If a caller is distressed or aggressive, be patient, keep calm and listen. Make sure you have

understood exactly what the caller is calling about. Explain the action you intend to take and why.

If the caller becomes very abusive, you may terminate the call. Always tell the caller what you are

going to do and why you are going to do it.

Make a file note of these calls and report any calls you have terminated, including the caller’s name,

contact number and address if possible, to your line manager/supervisor.

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Face to Face Protocol

You may be the first and only contact some

customers have with the Council. How you serve

them will affect their opinion of the whole of the

organisation.

When meeting customers face to face we must:

• Always maintain a ‘Customer First’ attitude

giving the customer your undivided

attention,

listen to the customer and be aware of your

body language.

• Show the customer that you are interested

- ask questions if you are unsure and restate

things to check you fully understand what they want.

• If there are other customers waiting, acknowledge them through eye contact

• Avoid council jargon or acronyms

• Try to meet customers away from your telephone or divert it so that you are not disturbed

• If possible, offer the customer the option of a private office if dealing with a sensitive matter.

• Use their name, if you know it, and always give your and your job title.

• Always ensure that you wear your Lancaster City Council ID badge and name badge, if

supplied.

Visiting Protocol

The impression you create when visiting customers in their home or away

from the office is very important. Name badges and other appropriate

identity cards must be worn at all times.

Before visiting anyone, you should make sure that a risk assessment has

been done for your visit and you are familiar with the actions within it.

Lancaster City Council has signed up, in principle, to the Local authorities “cold calling” protocol de-

signed by the Trading Standards Institute which has been endorsed by the Local Government Asso-

ciation. It is accepted that the application of the protocol would not be appropriate on occasions

when, for example, enforcement officers or other officials are exercising entry powers or, when

Council Housing estate managers are visiting a particular patch and feel it would be beneficial to call

on tenants whilst there.

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Letter and Email Protocol

Standards

Letters

It is Council policy to respond to letters within 5 working

days. If, for some reason, you cannot respond within 5

working days, always make contact with the customers

to explain the delay and indicate when a more detailed response can be expected.

• Important points to be taken into consideration when writing to our customers:

• When writing to customers via letter of e mail, remember:

• Make it clear and accurate

• Avoid Council jargon, technical language or acronyms

• Never assume things, explain them

• Limit the use of abbreviations and icons which convey expression e.g. J (known as emoticons)

they are not appropriate in letter and e mails

• Where possible, avoid sending standard letters, where they are required, review them

regularly.

When visiting customers:

• Try to make appointments

• Always make sure a colleague knows

where you are going and approximately

how long you will be gone

• Explain who you are and the purpose of

your visit. If possible, telephone the

customer before you set off to confirm

that they know you are coming

• Always physically hand proof of identity to the customer to reassure them. Ask them to

compare your face with that on the identification badge. Explain that you will not enter the

house until you do.

• If you are carrying out work at, or outside, a property, explain what the work will involve and

how long it will take. Try to carry out the work with the minimum of disruption and always

clean up after you have finished.

• Always behave as you would like someone to behave if they were visiting your home.

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As an organisation it is important that we communicate with our customers, be they residents,

businesses or organisations, in a clear and consistent way which benefits both them and us as an

organisation. This is not about ‘dumbing down’ but about presenting information in a way that can

be easily understood by all our audiences.

Any written communications should be consistent with the council's plain English guide, which is

available on the intranet. The guide is not intended to teach anyone how to write all over again, but

sets down what will become an agreed style for Lancaster City Council, together with advice and

guidelines on how to use the guide.

In developing it, consideration has been given to a range of best practice including guides produced

by other councils and advice provided by the Plain English Campaign and the Improvement and

Development Agency. Guidance from the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and the Adult

Literacy Basic Skills Unit (ALBSU) has also been considered.

E-mails

It is council policy that emails should be read and responded to within 1 working day – even if that

response is just an acknowledgment. A full response should be given within 5 working days. If, for

some reason you cannot respond within 5 working days, always make contact with the customer to

explain the delay and indicate when a more detailed response can be expected.

In addition, if you expect to be away from the office for a prolonged period of time, you should

always put an “out of office” message on, giving a return date to the office and the full contact

details of who should be contacted in your absence.

• Although email is informal like the telephone, unlike the telephone, emails are easily for-

warded, intercepted, misunderstood, saved, circulated etc.

• Choose words carefully to avoid misunderstandings.

• Do not customise your email background, this can impede accessibility for visually impaired

customers.

• Use an easily readable font with a font size no smaller than 11, font colour is optional, but

should be easily readable.

• Ensure that you have your email address, telephone number and your name clearly in email

signatures, below is an example of how the signature should look.

Name

Job Title

Service

Lancaster City Council

Telephone number/fax/mobile

www.lancaster.gov.uk

Instructions on how to set up the above can be obtained from Customer Services.

It is important to note that this section should be read in conjunction with the council’s Email and

Internet Policy. Every member of staff who has a council email address should have a copy of this

policy and should have signed a form to acknowledge that they have received a copy.

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Data Protection Act

All staff should be mindful of the Data Protection Act. We have all signed a contract of employment in which

we agree to abide by the principles of the Act. In essence, when writing/handling any information about

someone which includes personal details, we should treat it in the same way as we would wish our own de-

tails to be handled i.e. using an appropriate level of security and confidentiality. For further information refer

to the Councils Data protection Policy or contact the Information Management Officer on Extension 2192.

Further Support

As part of the Councils Corporate Induction, all new staff take part in a Customer Service Workshop based on

the guidance in this document.

For existing staff a range of customer service training options are available. For more information contact the

Learning and Development Officer on Extension 2007.

Equal Access to Information

Lancaster City Council believes it is important that all our customers are able to

access our information and services.

This is underpinned by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which is clear that our

standards should be based on a test of 'what is reasonable.'

“It is the duty of the provider of that service to take such steps as it is

reasonable, in all the circumstances of the case, for him to have to take in

order to provide that auxiliary aid or service"

All Council publications should be written in plain English and avoid jargon, making

them clear and simple for our customers to understand.

The following statement will be promoted via the channels listed below:

“This information can be made available in large print, braille, audio and in

other languages. Please contact ……….. for more details.”

Website

Council Tax Leaflet

Your District Council Matters

Housing News

Electoral Registration information sent to residents’ homes

All public consultations

Job applications

BT telephone book – Council advertisement

Any other publication staff feel is appropriate

For more information on how to offer equal access to information for a range of customers, please see guidance at appendix A.

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Appendix A

1. PUBLICATIONS

Publications will be printed in English and will be available electronically, as

well as in paper format.

They can also be made available in the following formats, on request:

VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Audio

Format – Tape & CD

Production – Galloways Society for the Blind (complete service or loan of

recording equipment) Contact Tony Kimpton on 01524 414846

Production Time – 3 days, (dependant on the size of the document.)

Budget – Service

Braille

Production –The Galloways Society HQ at Preston can provide this service.

Production Time – Up to 5 working days

Budget – Service

Contact – Kevin Lonergan at the Galloway Society on 01772 753702

Large Print

Format – Text Only, minimum 16 point

Production – In-House (if designed internally) or arrangement with designer to

produce a large print of PDF (if designed externally)

Time – On request

Budget - Service

Dyslexic Friendly Formats

Format – As requested by customer

Production – In-house, if appropriate.

Production time – Dependent on request

Budget – Service

Translation

Format – Written information

Production – Language Line – 0800 169 2879 for quotation

Production time – Depends upon size etc. of document – will be confirmed

when ordered.

Budget – Corporate

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2. FACE-TO-FACE

For customers who visit Council offices, the following services are available

Translation

Format – Face-to-face translation

Provider – Language Line, (via telephone service) 0845 310 9900, the

Council’s ID code is C6894 - L43655

Production time – Usually immediate


Hard of Hearing

Format – Face to face interpretation service, (British Sign Language

Providers,) Deafway Interpretation Service 01772 796461 or the Royal

National Institute for Deaf People, (RNID,) Manchester office - 0161 276

2307, Merseyside Office - 0151 236 4497

Availability – Must be booked in advance, contact one of the above to arrange

Budget – Service

Some members of staff are able to communicate using sign language. For

more information, contact Sue McGraw, Customer Service Project Manager

X2399

Hearing loops are available at most Council Reception points. (A loop system

helps deaf people who use a hearing aid or loop listener hear sounds more

clearly because it reduces or cuts out background noise.) A portable loop

system is available. To use the portable loop system, contact Rob Bracewell,

Access Officer on X2372

3. TELEPHONE

Translation

Format – Face to face (via the telephone)

Provider – Language Line - 0845 310 9900, the Council’s ID code is C6894 -

L43655

Production time – Usually immediate


A minicom/text phone facility is available at Lancaster and Morecambe Town

Halls. The Council’s minicom number is 01524 582175. (Unlike a standard

telephone, a textphone has a keyboard and a display screen. Instead of

speaking into a telephone mouthpiece, the customer will type what they want

to say using the keyboard and their text appears on the display of the

minicom/textphone system at Lancaster or Morecambe Town Hall.)

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4. WEBSITE

The Council’s website is designed to meet WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative)

Level AA (‘Double-A’).

However, there are sections of all local authority websites that, despite all

reasonable efforts, remain inaccessible to some users e.g. map-based

information.

Dedicated Accessibility page

The website has a dedicated accessibility page, where users can choose the

size and colour of font and the colour of background that is best suited to their

needs. (Click on the “access” link at the top of the home page.)

A Free Third-Party Translation Facility

This is available on the website. (Click on the icon at the bottom of the home

page made up of a number of flags.) This provides access to translation into

Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish. If you

require translation in another language, contact Language Line on 0845 310

9900.

USEFUL CONTACTS

Rob Bracewell, Access Officer, Lancaster City Council - 01524 582372

Deafway - 01772 796461

http://www.deafway.org.uk

Royal National Institute for Deaf People – Manchester 0161 276 2307

http://www.rnid.org.uk

Royal National Institute for Deaf People– Merseyside 0151 236 4497

http://www.rnid.org.uk/

Galloways Society for the Blind – Morecambe office 01524 414846

http://www.galloways.org.uk

Galloways Society for the Blind – Preston office 01772 753702

http://www.galloways.org.uk

Language Line - 0845 310 9900 (Telephone Interpretation Service)

0800 169 2879 (Document Translation Service)

http://www.languageline.co.uk

A2i Transcription Services

http://www.a2i.co.uk/

Cosign BSL translation service

http://www.cosign.org.uk

[email protected]

Customer service policy

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