Service Recovery
Leadership Development Series
Hillsdale Community Health Center
Definition of Service Recovery

Service Recovery means that a service
breakdown has occurred and the
problem has been corrected to the
customers satisfaction

Goal: Help retain customer’s as loyal
Service Recovery

Customers do not
expect you to be
perfect. They do
expect you to fix
things when they
go wrong.
Donald Porter
Senior VP, British Airways
Creating A Service Recovery
Environment

Be A Role Model
 Ask Staff For
Suggestions
 Solicit Customer
Feedback

Reward Good
Customer Service
Behavior
 Encourage Staff To
Use Their Initiative
 Do Not Talk
Negatively About
Customers
Establishing The Procedures for
Service Recovery
Identify the most frequent problems
reported by customers
 Develop options for problem resolution
 Receive training in Service Recovery
processes

SERVICE BREAKDOWN
Five Reasons Recovery is Critically Important
It keeps the customer loyal
 It builds company profitability
 It decriminalizes problem identification
 It improves service quality awareness
and teamwork
 It identifies complaints by type & severity

“How To” of Service Recovery






Apologize
Listen, Empathize,
Ask open questions
Fix the problem
quickly and fairly
Offer atonement
Keep your promises
Follow-Up
Three Major Outcomes of an
Effective Service Recovery System
It identifies service
problems
 It resolves problems
effectively
 The organization
learns from the
recovery experience

The Case of the Large Fries
When Hans & Sarah pulled into the drive-through lane of
their local fast food restaurant, they expected quick
service. Unfortunately, a mechanical problem left them
trapped in a growing line of restless customers.
A loyal customer, Hans left the car to alert them of he
problem. “Oh, its broke again?” came the indifferent
response. “Go back to your car. We’ll fix it”.
A slow 10 minutes later, Hans & Sarah reached the service
window. “How about large fries instead of small to
compensate us for our inconvenience?” they asked.
“No.” When Hans asked why not, the conversation
quickly broke down. The service provider’s final
response?
“Here’s your food and I hope you choke on it!”
KEY POINTS
Recovery, or returning an aggrieved
customer to a state of satisfaction after a
service or product breakdown, has a
critical economic impact on your
organization.
 Breakdown involves customer
expectations of both outcomes and
processes.

KEY POINTS (cont.)

Recovering well when things have gone
wrong increases customer loyalty and
decreases marketing expenses.

Planned service recovery ensures that
each breakdown is handled creatively
and satisfies customer and
organizational needs.
KEY POINTS (cont.)

Only your customer can tell you how
annoying or victimizing a particular
service breakdown has been. Only your
customer can determine when
appropriate recovery has occurred.

You can, and should, plan for the
unexpected!
KEY POINTS (cont.)
When problems occur, customers expect
you to apologize, give them a fair fix,
treat them like your care, and atone for
injuries.
 “Fix the person, then the problem” is a
good rule unless you can not fix the
problem. Planned recovery helps you do
both, and do them well.

KEY POINTS (cont.)
It is critical to identify recurring problems
so that you can make changes and
corrections in production and service
delivery system.
 Planned service recovery improves
overall service quality awareness and
motivates employees to work on the
customer’s behalf to solve problems.

Manager Expectations

Review all Comment Cards for trends
 Participate in investigation and resolution
process as requested by Patient
Advocate/Administration
 Use trends/incidents as educational
opportunities for your staff
Closing Thought
“Treat
the other
man like a
gentleman
not because he
is, but because
I am”.
Benjamin Franklin
Test Questions
1) In the scenario “The Case of the
Large Fries” did this incident really
happen?
(True)
 2) Service Recovery means that a
service breakdown has occurred and the
problem has been corrected to the
customer’s satisfaction.
(True)
 3) Service Recovery means you never
have to apologize to your customers.
(False)
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