The steps
- Acknowledge within 4 hours (faster than participant complaints)
- Don't get defensive — coordinators talk to each other
- Investigate the participant's experience, not just process compliance
- Respond with what you've learned and changed
- Follow up with the coordinator a month later
- Use coordinator complaints as the strongest CI signal
Common mistakes to avoid
- Defensive responses that escalate the situation
- Slow response (signals you don't value the relationship)
- Failure to follow up means coordinator assumes nothing changed