Archive for the 'success factors' Category

Posted by: Peter Massey | 2.05.2012

I’m often struck by how many businesses look for silver bullets. Other people’s silver bullets at that. We want to visit this or that, we want to copy this or that, where can I get an idea for x or y.

One thing I’ve learned from nearly 15+  years of judging awards is that silver bullets don’t work. The best businesses realise they need  to connect everything, deliver consistently to their promise and work really really hard at making brilliant basics feel exciting. They need all the factors to be aligned around something – a common vision, a purpose or a set of values for example.

One of the companies which has made an outstanding differentiation from brilliant basics and sticking to its values is first direct. I interviewed one of the early MDs of first direct, Kevin Newman. One thing he said has stuck in my mind.

“Culture comes from leadership. I have a strong philosophy that the level of service to any set of customers is related to the culture of the company. If an agent is in the 8th hour of their shift our whole business is down to the way they speak to that customer. That’s driven by how they feel about themselves. We have to make people feel valued. You can’t force it – they feel it or they don’t.”

You can read more about first direct’s DNA on our white paper “100 things you can learn from first direct“.

Of course its much harder to focus for years on brilliant basics – delivering what customers want and doing it really really well. Its harder to be famous for it, Its hard to do. You have to align so many factors from brand to sales experience to service to process to infrastructure. It isn’t all shiny and fast like a silver bullet. But it is what customers appreciate.

So what brought these thoughts to mind? 2 things.

1) This morning I screwed up the location for a meeting by forgetting part of our own brilliant basics. Setting up a meeting to work.

2) The awards I was at last week and why some people won and some people didn’t. You can see some brilliant learning case studies on the finalists at the Professional Planning Forum Awards.

It was great to see DRL (Appliances Online) add the overall award to their European Contact Centre win using our “Best Service Is No Service” approach. You can download the case study if you want.

100 things, Best Service Is No Service, awards, brilliant basics, first direct, success factors | No Comments

Posted by: Peter Massey | 30.05.2011

In order to optimise self service or channel shift, there are a couple of simple places to start in a “Best Service Is No Service” solution: a) identify the customers’ need in the customer language and b) just test the journey and its variations.

A good example yesterday, phoning my insurer to add a car. The web site was not simple but I could eventually find the tiny “already a customer” area amongst all the sales messages. There was then a specific option for “adding a car to an existing policy” with a specific number to use. So far so good – I think I’m getting somewhere.

Then I hit the the IVR on that number. Long standard message that’s unnecessary, followed by choice which is evidently the main menu off the main number: sales, service, claim. A complete waste of my time finding and using the option against my need.

I pick the option for an existing customer. I then get the long standard message repeated again ( so there probably used to be a routing from that number I was given to this point – now wrongly routed obviously). I then choose the one for existing customer over new quote pending and something else I don’t recall. I then choose the add a car option.

So the IVR was well enough designed, few levels, obvious choices. Hopeless standard messages.

I get answered by someone in customer services who eventually says he cant add vehicles and I need to ring the sales line and gives me an 800 number to try. I’ve used it not long ago and know they don’t like doing anything but new sales ( spot the incentive scheme in overdrive).

So I go round again with the “direct” number. I end up in the same place, this time with an offer of a transfer to sales. I question them – “so to get to the place to add a car to an existing policy I need to deny I’m a customer?” – “yes, that’s correct”. No other comment – he’s obviously numb. So I do it again( surely I pressed something wrong) and this time take the transfer and start the add a car process ( which finishes some 90 mins later – another story).

The moral of the story is whether direct lines, IVRs or a combination, you have to travel and test the journeys and fix the details. Otherwise its dumb. Good start on web site, no facility to do online, wrong number, ok IVR design, wrong routing, 3 calls and 1 very long experience at the end of it. A LOT of customer effort, and a lot of cost to that business. No wonder the price was incredibly steep at the end of it and the twitterati are slagging them off.

Customer effort, IVR, customer experience design, insurance, self service, success factors, the best service is no service | No Comments

Posted by: Peter Massey | 26.10.2010

Successful transformation of a business on behalf of customers is complex. These are the top 10 things that I’ve seen in transforming large businesses around the customer over the last decade. What have you seen?

1) Leadership built on uncompromising values
Leaders give absolute clarity and simplicity in their challenge and vision such that anyone can understand.
They insist on the values being lived

2) Leaders start externally
Ask the customers – nearly always the first step in creating awareness of dissatisfaction, and what to fix first and with what importance.

It usually requires experiential learning as well so that internal people “get it”.

3) Leaders keep learning what to do?
They ask the frontline staff because they know what ought to be done to achieve the challenge – this is at the heart of change working well .
The leader doesn’t ask what changes to make, but sets out clearly where they’re going and consults extensively on how people think they can get the business there.
He/she uses this to set up continuous processes for this kind of consultation and listening in order to “change the change” later.

4) Leaders support and equip their people
Support the change with the right resources and training – so each person feels equipped to do the new things.
Frontline management and middle management usually need more training and coaching than frontline staff.

5) Leaders plan to win
Make sure each person has time to do the job the new way, taking account of the fact that  “its not something else on top of what you do, it’s the new way you do it”.
Adequate resource planning means people have time to do a great job

6)Leaders change what gets attention
Support the change by measuring different things differently.
Measure individuals on things they can affect, not the things they can’t affect.

Talk incessantly about the vision and successes on the path to it.

7) Leaders plan slow, act fast
The timescales are much sharper than would be first seen as reasonable – after the plan has been formulated, not before.
Leaders take a long time to consult and communicate and that shouldn’t be cut short if the change is to be sustainable.

Leaders communicate endlessly
Massive amounts of formal and informal communication.
The comms plan is as big as the project plan.

9) Leaders review and change
Proper project planning & review.
Communications planning and stakeholder communications.
Constantly “changing the change” with feedback.
Most project managers don’t have the necessary change skills and need training in many cases.

10) Leaders have stamina and consistency
Each decision, made along the way, sticks to the values and vision.
Any deviation introduces cynicism.

Good luck with your customer change programmes. Let us know what other points you are taking note of.

Change, customer experience design, managing, planning, success factors | 2 Comments

Posted by: admin | 15.10.2009

For many companies, customer complaints are an irritation – they would rather not get them and they handle them grudgingly. There is no effort in getting complaints, they seem to arise naturally from everyday operations and find their way to you; and dealing with the ‘noise’ they create is considered a necessary chore, and simply part of doing business.

But, is that enough? The vast majority (90+%) of dissatisfied customers do not complain – they are the silent majority. How do you incorporate their voice into your business strategy? And what is the impact of focusing on complainants and trying to convert them to be loyal customers – whilst ignoring the others who do not engage with the company?

A new article on Budd Life this month explores these issues and offers guidance on how to engage successfully with this disengaged part of your customer base. It concludes as follows:

“ Wholehearted and sincere customer care is an absolute priority for all organisations in today’s hyper-connected, and hyper-competitive, world. You must care, and you must treat dissatisfaction seriously, because it hits both the top and bottom line.  ….

Customer retention may well be critical to survival, and excellence in maintaining loyalty may be a significant competitive differentiator. If so, the quiet voices of the silent majority customers who are dissatisfied with their experience but do not complain are the key to success.”

Let’s hear it for from the silent majority!

Customer satisfaction, Strategy, Voice of the Customer, brilliant basics, complaint, customer experience, dumb things, feedback, success factors | No Comments

Posted by: Peter Massey | 14.03.2007

I’m the thick of the conference season and awards judging now so I get to see a lot of stuff in a short space of time. In particular lots about major transformation programmes in order to build great staff and customer experiences. So whilst chairing the National Customer Services Awards presentations yesterday I made a few notes from the past month.

The common success factors in building great customer and people businesses
1) Leadership built on uncompromising values (take a look at first direct’s or Google Inc’s in our libraryat www.budd.uk.com). They give absolute clarity and simplicity in their challenge and vision such that anyone can understand. To build absolute clarity and buy in that it is worth spending substantially to drive a customer based strategy.

2) Ask the customers – nearly always the first step in creating awareness of dissatisfaction, and what to fix first and with what importance. It usually requires experiential learning as well so internal people “get it”.

3) Ask the frontline staff – they usually know what ought to be done to achieve the challenge – this is at the heart of change working well . The leader doesn’t ask what changes to make, but sets out clearly where they’re going and consults extensively on how people think they can get the business there. He/she explains why some ideaas aren’t feasible, and why some things are chosen. He/she uses this to set up continuous processes for this kind of consultation and listening in order to “change the change” later

4) Support the change with the right resources and training– so each person feels equipped to do the new things. Frontline management and middle management usually need more training and coaching than frontline staff. They need to know how to coach rather than critique

5) Make sure each person has time to do the job the new way, taking account of the fact that “its not something else on top of what you do, it’s the new way you do it”. Adequate resource planning means people can do a great job

6) Support the change by measuring different things differently. Measure individuals on things they can affect, not the things they cant

7) The timescales are much sharper than would be first seen as reasonable – after the plan has been formulated, not before. It takes a long time to consult and communicate and that shouldnt be cut short if the change is to be sustainable

Massive amounts of formal and informal communication – the comms plan is as big as the project plan

9) Proper planning & review – not next step planning. Consumption planning – ie planning at the rate of change a person can absorb. Communications planning. Project planning and stakeholder support comes thro in every conference as a key factor. Project managers don’t have the necessary change skills and need training in many cases

10) Back to leaders and managers – stamina of vision. Each decisions made all along the way stick to the values and vision. Any deviation introduces cynicism.

Jonathan Wilson who heads up our human factors practice ( “you build it, I’ll get them to use it”) has some great methodologies for change so get in touch if you’d like to discuss the change you’re embarking on

customer experience, success factors | No Comments