As Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of email, leaves it as his legacy to the world, customer feedback has become easier than ever before. This can also have an added impact on organisations to cope with in the increasingly digital workplace.
In its latest information for train and station operators, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) focuses on the way the industry manages staff and culture in responding effectively to complaints.
The main updates to the guidance include having a clear process in place to distinguish between complaints and feedback, especially for social media platforms such as Twitter, as well as coordinating responses to complaints involving third parties, thus removing the need for customers to have to address complaints to several different bodies.
Stephanie Tobyn, ORR’s deputy director – consumers, commented that the ORR wants the industry use complaints and feedback to ‘identify the cause of dissatisfaction’ and take ‘targeted action’ to improve the overall customer experience. ‘The new guidance is aimed at making sure that the industry focuses on putting the right training, staff and organisational structures in place to deliver a continuously improving railway for passengers.”
This approach echoes directly the ethos behind the Investors in Excellence Standard. The four areas of Leading, Resourcing, Delivering, and Achieving, concentrate closely on What Matters Most to an organisation.
Without the correct and robust processes in place, the experience of the customer can be inconsistent, and the need for an effective procedure when addressing customer feedback is crucial to sustainable success. The goal is always to be the best you can be every time, but being able to deal with customer issues in a professional manner will increase credibility for the future.