I live in an apartment hotel with the daily opportunity to witness customer service, or lack thereof. Intrigued by a heated exchange between the concierge supervisor and a disgruntled staff member (whose eyes I could imagine rolling at yet another parental nagging about a chore not done.) I nosily probed for details.

The issue was the remaining 3 items on the floor in the corner of the concierge area that guests (who had since left) had neither claimed nor arranged to receive. Hotel ‘policy’ is to keep them for 3 months. Correction: repeatedly (and futilely) contact said customers to arrange for the items to be retrieved.

I pondered the cost of:

  • Repeated discussions about this problem
  • Effect on morale of insistent reminding of staff by the supervisor to chase up wayward ex-guests
  • The seemingly futile activities that they have little success with (e.g. people say they will arrange for it to be collected and don’t)
  • Repeating the same action expecting a different result

Out loud wondered why the hotel wouldn’t demonstrate good will – and a lasting impression – by arranging to ship the goods (if the customer was happy with this action). The response was swift and one of horror at ‘the cost’. I did persist (yes, definition of insanity came to mind) with reminders about how many delighted customers tell how many others, etc – all to no effect. Indeed, the insistence by this person that nothing he suggests to ‘management’ would ever be approved, no matter how much he may want to pursue a more meaningful path, had us go around in circles a few times.

I left the interaction somewhat crestfallen as I realized that:

  • This person will continue to implement a company policy that is not working
  • He believes it is not his place to question the policy and counter-propose a better idea (despite my suggestion that the CEO would be keen to hear good ideas – he has said as much)
  • Customers will continue to receive ordinary service despite daily opportunities for service organisations to make a positive lasting impression
  • The false economy of saving a dollar to spend even more still dominates service organisation cultures.

You would think that by now organisations are more aware of impressing customers given the speed and scale of good (or bad) news.  I am not alone with my musings along these lines.

“When it comes to putting customers first, many businesses are a lot more talk than action.”1

I thought we had solved this mindless compliance with inane policies back in the 90s.  Organisations such as Nordstrom2 and management theories such as Ouchi’s Theory Z3 seemed to dominate thinking at that time – I thought this lesson had been learnt a long time ago.

In pondering the reasons that organisations have persisted with wasteful and counter-productive bureaucratic structures and heavy-handed policies, I have only been able to put it down to a lack of trust. Yet surely today, real-time information has brought about parity throughout an organisation. No longer is it just ‘those at the top’ that know stuff. Now, technology feeds second-by-second metrics so everyone in every corner knows the impact of their actions and can adjust accordingly.

Consider that:

  • every McDonald’s store has real-time information about what is selling for how much in what quantities
  • Technology firms have large screens updating performance and results so that staff know how to add value and what the effects of their inputs so they can adjust accordingly
  • Media firms (like Brandseye, that could clearly see a 3:1 ratio in favor of Donald Trump and against Hillary Clinton on social media) analyse market impressions of companies and their products second-by-second4

Reputation matters more than ever in a digitally-active market. Can we still say that with the right information, employees can’t be trusted to make the right calls to create great customer service and loyalty, profitably? If the answer is still no, we will probably never grow organisations that perform to true potential.

The digital era has made it possible for people at the front line to count their contribution and measure impact in real time to know what to do more and less of. Most people simply want to do a great job, represent the company well and help customers have a great experience.

Now more than ever, the digital era has made it easier for people to be picky about where they work and where they buy. We seem to be out of excuses for mediocre service and bureaucratic structures and policies.

Sources:

1. Estep, Meredith. “10 Ways to Put Your Customer First.” 10 Ways to Put Your Customer First. UNITIV, 10 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Dec. 2016.  http://www.unitiv.com/intelligent-help-desk-blog/bid/98765/10-Ways-to-Put-Your-Customer-First

2. Lutz Oct 14, 2014, 1:20 AM, Ashley. “Nordstrom’s Employee Handbook Is A Single Sentence.”Business Insider Australia. N.p., 13 Oct. 2014. Web. 20 Dec. 2016.  http://www.businessinsider.com.au/nordstroms-employee-handbook-2014-10?r=US&IR=T

3. By {“isAjaxInProgress_B000AR9L76″:”0” “Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge Paperback – January, 1993.” Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge: William G. Ouchi: 9780380719440: Amazon.com: Books. Avon Books, Jan. 1993. Web. 20 Dec. 2016.  https://www.amazon.com/Theory-American-Business-Japanese-Challenge/dp/0380719444

4. “Accurate, Sentiment-driven Media Analytics BrandsEye.” Accurate, Sentiment-driven Media Analytics BrandsEye | BrandsEye. Brandseye, n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2016. https://www.brandseye.com/

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