Customer Service for Recovery Residences

1. Customer Service for Recovery Residences Presented by CE-Classes.com CE-Classes.com

2. Customer Service • Customer service is the priority in person-centered care. • Do you provide great customer service to the people you serve? • Do you create an experience for your current clients that makes them likely to refer to your agency in the future? • Are you and your recovery residence good neighbors to your local community? CE-Classes.com

3. Customer Service • Demand for behavioral health services may increase dramatically in the coming years due to implementation of the Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act. • In order for your recovery residence to operate, it is important that the neighbors in your area accept the recovery residence. • If they are angry or upset about the things that occur in the residence, they may seek to have zoning laws changed to force the recovery residence to relocate. CE-Classes.com

4. Customer Service • To provide world-class customer service, you must begin with an honest consideration of how a client perceives and experiences the quality of your services. • Everyone – including our clients and neighbors basically want to engage in a trusting relationship while being treated with dignity and respect. • Every staff member matters and is involved in customer service. CE-Classes.com

5. Customer Service = Client Care • Recovery residence administrators are responsible for ensuring that polices and procedures are followed – this leads to better customer service for clients and neighbors. • Being a good neighbor is the 6th domain of the recovery residence standards. • Remembering this is will enable you to provide your clients (who are really our customers) with the best possible service. CE-Classes.com

6. Customer Service • 3 traits are needed for great customer/client service. • Integrity – being honest in all your dealings with clients and other staff. • Competence – know your job and do it to the best of your ability. • Goodwill – act in the best interest of the client – you are here to help them. CE-Classes.com

7. Providing Good Customer Service • Listen – • First and foremost we must listen to what are clients are telling us. • It is a fundamental part of clear communication which is vital to our work. • Face the client when you are speaking to them. • Make and maintain eye contact. • Rephrase what they have told you and check for accuracy by asking them. • Ask for clarification if you are not sure what they are trying to say CE-Classes.com

8. Providing Good Customer Service • Clear Communication – • Try to be as clear and specific with clients as you possible can be. • If you have expectations, let them know. • If you have rules that they must follow, be clear about them. • Ask the client if they have understood what you have said. CE-Classes.com

9. Providing Good Customer Service • Clear Communication – • Means being able to end the conversation with confirmed satisfaction (or as close to it as you can achieve) and with the clients (or neighbors) feeling that everything has been taken care of (or will be). • Getting sent away before all of their problems have been addressed is the last thing that clients or neighbors want, so be sure to take the time to confirm with that each and every issue they had on deck has been entirely resolved. CE-Classes.com

10. Providing Good Customer Service • Despite statements on why you should spend more time with clients, the bottom line is that there is a limit, and you need to be concerned with getting clients what they want in an efficient manner. • The trick here is that this should also be applied when realizing when you simply cannot help a client. • If you don't know the solution to a problem, the best response is to get the client or neighbor to someone who does. CE-Classes.com

11. Providing Good Customer Service • Sometimes you're going to come across people that it will be very difficult to make happy.  Maybe they had a terrible day, or they are still in withdrawal. • These situations will sometimes creep into your usual support routine, and you may find yourself with clients that seem to want nothing else but to pull you down. • It’s your job to remain professional and polite in these situations. CE-Classes.com

12. Providing Good Customer Service • Use Positive Language whenever possible • Word choice is an important part of persuading our clients to do what they need to do • Your ability to make minor changes in your conversational patterns can truly go a long way in creating happy clients. • Here's an example: Let's say a customer contacts you with an interest in a participating in an activity that is not being offered or not being offered to them. Small changes that utilize "positive language" can greatly affect how the customer hears your response... CE-Classes.com

13. Using Positive Language – Examples • Without positive language: "I can't let you attend that activity until you reach level 2.“ • This example isn't negative by any means, but the tone that it conveys feels abrupt and impersonal, and can be taken the wrong way by clients. CE-Classes.com

14. Using Positive Language – Examples • With positive language: "That activity will be available to you soon! Let’s see what we can do together to get you there.“ • This example is stating the same thing (the client still cannot attend the activity), but instead focuses on when/how the customer will get to their resolution rather than focusing on the negative. CE-Classes.com

15. Providing Good Customer Service • “Read” your clients • Pay attention to how they are acting and what they are doing • Look at their behavior, tone of voice, facial expressions and affect. • Sometimes you will be talking on the telephone and you won't always be able to see clients face-to-face, and if emailing you won't even hear a customer's voice! • Try to respond to them in a manner that addresses their mood, feelings and or current emotional state for example • If they are agitated, focus on being calming • If they are sad, try to be supportive CE-Classes.com

16. Providing Good Customer Service • Lead your clients by example • Maintain a calm and engaged demeanor • This is especially important when they are angry or agitated • The best support team members know that they cannot let a heated person force them to lose their cool; in fact it is their job to try to be the "rock" for a client who thinks the world is falling down due to their current problem. CE-Classes.com

17. Providing Good Customer Service • Competence is a key part of customer/client service • Know your job – add to your knowledge and skills by keeping up with training and education • If you don’t know something – ask your supervisor or a trusted and experienced colleague. • Asking is one of the best ways to learn something new. CE-Classes.com

18. Customer Service • Remember that the clients (customers) are the reason we are here. • Customer service = client care • Helping others is one of the reasons you came to work at agency name . • Integrity - Be honest • Competence - Do your job to the best of your ability • Goodwill - Treat our clients the way you would want a loved one to be treated CE-Classes.com

19. Customer Service = Good Neighbor Standards • Recovery Residences provide neighbors with the responsible person(s) contact information upon request. • The responsible person(s) responds to neighbor’s complaints, even if it is not possible to resolve the issue. • These are NARR standards. CE-Classes.com

20. Customer Service = Good Neighbor Standards • Recovery Residences have rules regarding noise, smoking, loitering and parking that are responsive to neighbor’s reasonable complaints. • Recovery Residences have and enforce parking courtesy rules where street parking is scarce. • These are NARR standards. CE-Classes.com

21. If you have a question • If you are unsure about a rule or policy – or have questions about how to proceed . . . • Contact your immediate supervisor and ask. CE-Classes.com

22. References • National Council for Behavioral Health, The customer is always right: Customer service for survival. Retrieved from https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/BH365/2015/03/13/customer-always-right-customer-service-survival/ on 3/10/17 • National Council for Behavioral Health, Behavioral Health Centers of Excellence: The Future of Health retrieved from https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/BH365/wp-content/blogs.dir/7/files/2014/05/BHCOE_042714.pdf • SAMHSA, Customer Service: The Priority in Person Centered Care. Retrieved from http://www.integration.samhsa.gov/about-us/esolutions-newsletter/esolutions-november-2013 on 3/10/17. • SAMHSA, Integration of mental health, substance use and primary care services. Embracing our values from a client and family member perspective. Retrieved from http://www.integration.samhsa.gov/sliders/slider_10.3.pdf • Otum, Care and Services, retrieved from https://www.liveandworkwell.com/public/content/get_care.asp?lang=1 CE-Classes.com