Wales

Details

When people complain they want to be heard, understood and dealt with fairly. Responding to complaints is an important task often carried out by people who are not communication specialists.

This course will help people to think things through from the point of view of the person making the complaint, identify what needs to be included in the response, structure their letter well, and use clear and straightforward language with confidence.

It will guide participants through the process of writing a high quality plain language response that will meet the needs of the organisation and the customer. A plain language response uses words well, at a level the audience will appreciate, and its tone is human and direct. Overall it's easy to read and designed to deliver information effectively. This type of response can help to maintain a positive relationship with customers: it's a practical way to put your values (and policies) into action.

Before the course our trainer will get to know your complaints policies and procedures as well as your organisation's values and communication goals.

She will then read and analyse examples of current responses to complaints. This will enable her to tailor the course to your organisation's needs and clearly explain to participants how to apply the ideas in the course to their own documents.

Course content

The course contains many practical exercises and examples to build on participants skills, including how to:

• Use the active voice and strong verbs
• Write shorter sentences that deliver more
• Get rid of waffle and jargon
• Empathise and apologise well
• Develop a letter structure that works.

Who should attend?

Everyone who wants to improve the quality of their written responses to complaints including managers, team leaders and executives.

Delegate feedback

“You have helped my team so much! They were drowning in long winded response letters, which we now know weren’t helpful for our tenants either" – Longhurst Group

Our trainer

Caroline Oubridge started out making community programmes for BBC local radio before working in press and communications for national charities for over 15 years. She's a strong believer in straightforward communication and now specialises in training and advising organisations on how to explain who they are, what they do and why it matters. Caroline always delivers training that is informative, enjoyable and practical.

Details

Efficient collection and recovery of former tenant arrears (FTA) must be a key part of any successful income management strategy.

The practical course is fully updated with the latest tips and ideas that will help you to:

• Minimise debt and maximise FTA collection
• Develop a proactive service that delivers value for money
• Boost individual and team effectiveness and performance
• Measure success and plan for the future.

What will you learn?

Tony Newman, RIEN lead, will provide you with a toolkit of resources and best practice examples.

He’ll take you through the FTA process ensuring you …

• Understand the causes of FTA and the impact on the business and customers
• Know how to prevent and minimise FTA
• Drive collection rates up through dynamic case management, using the latest technology and techniques from the commercial sector
• Use low-cost tracing facilities
• Learn the secrets of working with debt collection and tracing agents
• Work effectively with the Courts as part of the FTA recovery process
• Measure success and building upon it.

Who should attend?

Everyone involved in the prevention and collection of former tenant rent arrears, those advising residents on money management and benefit:

• Income and rent arrears officers
• Housing officers
• Contact centre staff
• Estate and neighbourhood management staff
• Support workers
• Welfare benefit and debt advisers
• Financial inclusion officers.

Our trainer

Tony Newman is lead associate for HQN’s Rent Income Excellence Network, with extensive experience in industry, local government and social housing.

Having helped many organisations to achieve significant improvements in collection performance and customer focus, Tony brings an unrivalled, clear understanding of best practice in housing income management.

Tony developed HQN’s income management and former tenant arrears toolkits and accreditation service.

He is a member of the Chartered Institutes of Housing and Credit Management, regional representative for the Financial Health Exchange and a module leader and lecturer at the University of Salford.

This course will also be running on 10 February and 16 February 2021.