customer service

simplify, then add lightness

I’m a big fan of good policy and process because it allows for quick, consistent, and better decision making. It says that when this event happens, we respond this way. No agonizing, no reinventing the wheel, no he said/she saids or playing mom off of dad. Policy defines how we as a company have decided – in advance – to deal with certain situations. Process defines how we will do certain tasks and ultimately supports and makes it easy to adhere to policies.

Great policies and processes enable decisions to be made as quickly and as low in the organization as possible. Decisions made on the ground are always more relevant to the immediate situation than decisions made even one or two levels up.

The problems start when we adhere to policy for the sake of policy, rather than to help make better decisions. Policy should guide thinking and decision making, not replace it. Once we let policy and process replace judgment and thinking, then we must exponentially expand the number of policies and procedures to cover every possible situation that could possibly come up. When new situations arise, even one-time anomalies, another policy must be added. The more specific the policies, the more policies we must have. Soon, we’re crushed with bureaucracy and we’re safe because we’re sticking with policy even when it’s the wrong thing to do.

Unfortunately, thriving in this world requires dealing with new situations. Little to no innovation is possible in bureaucracy. The tighter the policies, the less judgment allowed, the higher in the organization decisions must be made and the less we are able to innovate, adapt, and invent.

Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Cars and legendary race car engineer, famously once said that the secret to building a winning race car is to “simplify, then add lightness.” Simple parts and systems are less likely to break. Reducing weight makes a car quicker, better handling, more responsive, and reduces the amount of strain and wear on critical components. He understood cars, but might have well been talking about organizations.

The internet is full of people babbling on about the need for companies to be more innovative, react more quickly, and adapt faster. But it misses a crucial point: nimble companies react quickly, ponderous companies don’t. You can’t be driving along in a city bus and expect it to stop, accelerate, and turn on a dime just because you want it to. Mass creates momentum. Yet, we smugly suggest that bus size companies should behave like race cars.

Solution? Simplify, then add lightness. Good policy and process provides just enough framework to make decisions consistent with the strategic direction of the company. And not a gram more.

Four prime examples:

1. The US Constitution. This document is a miracle of simplicity. The few Americans who have actually bothered to read it know that it is amazingly stripped down and simple. In fact, it’s only about 7,400 words long (call it about 16 pages). Knowing that they couldn’t accurately imagine every possible situation that would need to be accounted for, the authors simply created an enduring framework that would enable adaptation. It was so simple and brief that they had to immediately amend it to establish and protect basic rights.

2. Nordstrom. Nordstrom’s focus is customer service and they want nothing to get in the way of employees providing phenomenal service. Their entire employee handbook is reported as listing only ONE rule: “Use good judgment in all situations.” And then there is brief mention to feel free to ask the department or store manager or HR any question at any time.

3. Apple Computers. Steve Jobs genius was not leadership: it was an unrelenting focus to make things as simple as humanly possible and then make them even simpler. How many steps does it take to get to any song on an iPod? (Hint: you won’t come even close to using all the fingers on one hand when you’re counting.)

4. Amazon. 1-click ordering. Enough said.

Um, how big’s your policy manual again? How many pages does the dress code really need to be? How many steps are truly necessary to for a customer to return an item? How easy is it for the customer to give you their money?

the next small thing

I suspect that too often we are waiting for the next big thing when we would really benefit from looking for the next little thing. It is the little things that can make the biggest difference in our lives.

Buying groceries is about as mundane as it gets yet the grocery store is great fodder for the subtle differences between getting it right, getting by, and screwing it up. This weekend, after waiting forever in the checkout line I noticed that there wasn’t a bagger helping out the cashier. Yet there was a bagger standing around talking to the next cashier over whose line had just emptied.

An A-player would have looked over, seen that there was work to do, and gotten the groceries bagged as quickly as the cashier was scanning them. Instead, this bagger chose to wait until all the groceries were scanned and I was paying for them to come over and help the cashier bag everything up. The total time difference to me was probably about three minutes. Not a big deal, yet I left the store irritated at the indifferent service. And, multiply three minutes across all the shoppers and it’s no wonder the lines had been moving slowly.

Did the groceries get bagged? Yep. Did the bagger do their job? Good enough to stay employed. But keeping an eye out for the next opportunity to serve would make a big difference and take almost no more effort. The sad thing is they probably think they are doing a good job and will never understand why they aren’t getting ahead.

When we wonder why our businesses, departments, or teams aren’t as successful as they should be, when we wonder why our career seems to have stalled, is it possible that we are overlooking the simple things that open the gap between average and outstanding?

 

A-player opportunities rarely come to B-players. The best opportunities come to those who are already doing a great job.  And it is typically the little things that separate good from great. A question to be asking is, “What could I do right now to make things quicker, easier, or more pleasant for my customers?”

it’s the little things

I despise and resent pre-paying for gas. I find it to be a major pain in the rear. Either I pay at the pump with a card and then go in and pay again (because I’m probably going to get a snack or soda while I’m there), pay once and forego my snack, or make several trips back and forth and stand in line a few times.

It’s interesting how quickly we humans adjust to and even expect such poor service. With nearly 100% of gas stations now requiring pre-pay we deem such lousy treatment acceptable and the norm. Why?

Hmmm. That’s a bit tougher. Certainly we all understand that this prevents drive offs, but how big of a problem is it really? Imagine if you couldn’t try on clothes until after you’d paid for them because it helped prevent shop lifting. Makes sense, but is it an acceptable solution, and would anyone shop there? No. That’s why stores use other measures to prevent theft.

I’ll admit, this sounds like a silly point of contention if only because the pre-pay system is so prevalent. Aren’t their bigger injustices to rail against? Sure. But how many other industries could inconvenience their customers, treat everyone who shops there like a criminal, and still thrive?

I go out of my way to pay more for gas because there is a local convenience store that will let me pump first. That’s how strongly I feel about it. Not everyone feels the way I do, but I can’t help but wonder about other people’s pet peeves. I’m sure other examples abound of people accepting higher price or having to go a bit out of their way because they prefer the service, selection, product, whatever at a certain store.

The challenge is that when everyone’s doing it and customers don’t have a choice it’s hard to identify these areas. I remember when I first moved to the Midwest back in the mid-nineties. I was in a mildly rural area and customer service was horrendously bad. But it was so universally terrible it was simply a case of “it is what it is” and no one knew different or cared. Then the big box stores came in. Say what you will about them, they had much better service and forced all the other companies to play catch up. Within a few years, the overall customer service for the entire area had improved markedly.

You can really only compete on price or differentiation. Being lowest cost is a losing battle for most. That leaves differentiation which means providing a product or service different enough to be worth paying a little more for. That might be selection, customer service, outstanding return policy, unique product or knowledge, etc.

Whatever your business or field, I can spend five minutes on google and find someone offering it cheaper. Let’s put this in an HR perspective (please tweak to think about from your business/field’s point of view): it wouldn’t take long to find a vendor that I could outsource your entire HR department to for less than your company is paying for internal HR right now. Keeping HR internal is not the cheapest option. So what value are you providing that differentiates you from your competition?

Where are you making life more difficult for your customers because it’s more convenient for you? What are the things your customers really value? What could you do that would be free or low-cost that would make life easier for your customers? These questions are doubly valuable if you are in a support department and have internal customers. Without external options it’s easy to get slack. Try this on: if your internal customers had three other options for your product or service would they choose you? Why should they?

 

customer service equals solving problems

We all know that customer service – whether the customers are external or internal – is crucial. But stating that raises an important question: “What, exactly, is customer service?”

The answer is: “Solving the customer’s problems.” That’s it. And we tend to forget that. Then we focus on creating structures and processes to provide “customer service” and forget the reason behind the structures and processes. Companies with great customer service invariably have strong processes, but processes alone ensure nothing.

Solving problems is more than structures and processes. In fact, great customer service is hard. It requires thinking. It requires being creative. It requires really understanding the customer’s needs. It might even mean sending the customer to (gasp!) a competitor. But here’s what the customer remembers: you solved their problem. Or: you didn’t solve their problem. Or: you prevented them from solving their problem.

I was once trying to return home from a business trip in Europe. A flight attendants’ strike in Berlin delayed my flight from Spain to Frankfurt enough to cause me to miss my connecting flight back to the States. The flight from Spain was on a small, economy carrier and Frankfurt to home was on Lufthansa. Even though it was not Lufthansa’s fault, they VOLUNTARILY (I did not have to ask) booked me on the first flight out the next day, paid for a hotel room, and gave me meal vouchers for my dinner. Maybe they did that for everyone because of the strike, maybe it was because I was flying Business Class – maybe I don’t really care. They solved a big problem without me asking. Any guesses which airline is my absolute favorite?

Here’s the example that sparked this posting. I recently broke some important parts off my mountain bike. When I went in to the local bike shop I was told that the part I needed was backorded for at least a month. Their tone and expression suggested that the “month” was going to be a lot longer than 30 days. They said they could order the part and let me know when it came in or I could try eBay. Not wanting to wait, I scoured eBay, even resorting to looking at eBay pages in Europe (international shipping can’t be that much extra, right?). A friend who currently lives 2000 miles away and runs a small bike shop offered to help. He contacted some folks at the manufacturer and found they had the part I needed still attached to a frame that had been sent back on warranty. Two days later the part is in his hand. Could my local bike shop have done that? Absolutely! Did they? Nope. They probably thought they had provided good customer service by being honest, offering to order the part, and suggesting other solutions. Truly, it was better than most shops, but they failed to solve my problem when another solved it easily.

This struck a huge chord with me from an HR perspective. How often does HR offer the bare minimum of service (“Read the employee handbook.”)? How often do we stop at the policy or just shrug shoulders and say, “Sorry, we can’t do that.”? How often do we forget that our customers are looking to us for help and guidance? How often do we treat our internal customers – the managers and employees – like actual customers who have a choice in whether they spend money with us? (By the way, they do have a choice. It’s called outsourcing. If HR isn’t providing real value by solving problems, it deserves to be disbanded and hired out to a vendor.)

So what are some of the basic tenants that make a person stand out as providing excellent customer service? Here are some thoughts in no particular order. These aren’t customer service secrets, just some observations from over the years:

  • Set and manage their expectations. When can they expect an answer, when will you follow up, what is the process, what can they expect, etc.
  • Do what you say you are going to do.
  • Take time to really understand the problem the customer is trying to solve. They may be asking for one solution when, if you had better understanding, you could easily offer a better solution.
  • Let them know if you can’t do it AND then explain what you can do to solve their problem.
  • Suggest alternative solutions AND provide the pros and cons of each. You don’t always have to have the one right solution, just provide them with the information they need to decide on a solution.
  • Great customer service does not necessarily mean doing things for free. Sometimes you can through extra service or product in for little or no cost to you. However, if they ask for something beyond what you normally provide and this will create costs, the appropriate response is: “You bet we can do that, it will just add $X and Y time to the process.” Then let them decide if it’s worth it. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. Either way you are helping them solve the problem in a way that best fits their needs.
  • Communication regularly during the process. Even if it’s only to say that you have nothing new to report. People can deal with waiting much better if they know you haven’t forgotten about them and understand the general timelines.
  • In fact, go above and beyond all the time (hunt that part down!) AND let the customer know what you’ve done for them. Not in a martyr-ish whiny way, but so they know how hard you’re kicking butt on their behalf. I’ve known so many people who go way beyond and then get resentful when the other person didn’t appreciate it – even though the other person had no way of knowing about all the extra effort. I guess they “should have known.”
  • Respect people’s time. Treat their time like it’s precious and you’re practically guaranteed to be providing great customer service. Treat their time casually or disregard it and they are practically guaranteed to resent you no matter what else you do.
  • People remember how you treat them. Even when they don’t like the outcome, your behavior sets the stage for their response. Grant them the understanding, compassion, and humility that you’d want if you were in their shoes.

Actually, I’ve probably overcomplicated it. Maybe it’s as simple as: help them solve their problem and treat them the way you’d want to be treated while you do .

one basic tenant of business success

Technology should simplify and make things easier for the customer/end user. There’s really no other purpose. Technology for the sake of technology is, well, annoying at best. But then anything for the sake of itself is inefficient, ineffective, and dumb. Case in point: my  local newspaper recently ran an article on a program to encourage shopping at local businesses.  It sounded like a cool program, but if I wanted to find out more about how to participate or which businesses were involved I had to either go to a website or use my smartphone to scan a QR code. Dumb, dumber, and desperate. Too much, too late.

I get that this is a multimedia world, but there is one basic tenant of business success that should never be overlooked: make it as easy and simple as possible for customers to give you their money. Amazon, Apple, etc. are all great businesses, but their genius is (say it with me) making it as easy and simple as possible for their customers to give them their money. It’s not the books that set Amazon apart, and I’d argue that it’s not even really the prices (although those help), it’s that they make it really freakin’ easy to buy a book. Ditto iTunes. This is really what innovation is all about – making it easier for people to solve their problems (even the problems they didn’t know they had).

There is a minimart/gas station near my house that I buy 80% of my gas from even though it is 1) out of my way; and 2) more expensive. So what’s their competitive advantage? I don’t have to pre-pay. I can pull up to the pump, fill my tank, grab my favorite source of carbonated caffeine, pay all at once, and leave. Every other place makes me pay first, which means that I either have to do two transactions, and, if I’m paying cash, walk back and forth to the cashier a couple of times. I will pay more because they have made it as easy and simple as possible for me to give them my money.

So the newspaper, in a very misguided effort to be relevant, has made it more difficult for me to get the information I need. I instantly stopped caring about a program I’d otherwise be curious about. Them forcing me to go to my phone is just as silly as, say, Amazon’s Kindle telling me to go find a dictionary when I ask it to look up a word. But we can learn from this editor’s mistakes. In an ideal world, everyone would be forced to  voluntarily use their own products and services to experience it from the customer/end users point of view.

If you’re in HR, just how easy is it to apply for a job at your company? Are there any hoops you’re making folks jump through that could be put off until later? (For example, do you really, truly need to get everyone’s SSN on their initial application? Here’s a hint – the answer is no and you’re driving away top candidates if your automated process insists on it.) Do you actively seek ways to make it easier for candidates? Do you explain the process to them up front? Do you keep them informed and regularly updated on their status or do you force them to waste their (and your) time by initiating all communication with you?

If you’re a small business, do you accept all forms of payment? If you can’t process credit and debit cards, you’re not really serious about being in business. (No, seriously, these businesses exist.)

If someone calls your business, do they talk to a person who can actually resolve their problem/concern/request/order/desperate attempt to buy something from you? Or, and I’m thinking about the freight company that made a concerted effort to not deliver my new bicycle, do you have an automated voice “recognition” system that doesn’t actually recognize voice commands and eventually connects you with a minimally trained and hard to understand person who insists on reading the script even when the script doesn’t apply?

Does your website load superfast and is it easy to navigate? No matter how cool the graphics are, many of your potential customers have about a 1.6 second attention span. Too slow? Too hard to figure out how to get the right info? Good bye.

Examples go on and on. The principle is simple, but easy to get wrong when we think about what would make the shopping/buying/applying/etc. process most easiest for the company instead of what would make it most useful to the customer.

 

 

how to instantly create buyer’s remorse

Last night I spent (way too much) time looking for a set of pedals for my new mountain bike. I finally tracked down a brand new set I wanted on ebay in a color that was ok and at the cheapest price I’d found anywhere. I could “Buy It Now” and get free priority shipping. Awesome. Yeah, ebay!

Then, right after I completed the transaction, the bottom of the page filled up with suggested items. I forget the heading, but it was something like, “You might also be interested in…” The VERY first thing shown was the same brand and model of pedal, in the color scheme I really wanted, for less. Three seconds ago I was happy and satisfied. Now, I’m irritated and kicking myself for not finding it in the search. Too late. Instant buyer’s remorse.

what your business can learn from a 30 year old metal band

When is the last time that you – as a customer – were completely blown away by the unexpected value a business provided? I don’t mean that you were happy with the service or product. I mean that you were so delighted that you wouldn’t shut up about it. You told everyone in earshot, called up friends, emailed, posted it on Facebook. You went in expecting X and got X+10.

Now the tough question: when was the last time that you delivered that level of unexpected value to your customers?

Last week I came across a video on YouTube that caught me so off guard I’ve been annoying my friends with it, spending money on iTunes, and it has caused me to rethink my day job. I hesitate to share it because I realize that not everyone will, um, appreciate it as much as me, but even if you hate the video, the idea holds true.

Here’s the backstory: Grave Digger is a metal band from Germany founded in the early ‘80s. They never made it big in the US but were very successful in Europe. They were invited to play the 2010 Wacken Open Air Festival – an enormous 4-day event with 80,000 attendees, over 120 bands, and 6 stages. It’s kind of a big deal. They played on the main stage and chose to play their most popular album in its entirety.

That’s huge, but how do you stand out further? There’re a lot of other and bigger name bands, so what do you do to please your customer? You close with a crowd-favorite anthem about the Scottish rebellion (think Braveheart) AND you invite Van Canto, an A cappella metal band (don’t ask – it works for them) to open the song AND you invite the singer for Blind Guardian (another band barely known in the US and legendary in Europe) to sing with you AND you bring bagpipers on stage. It is so amazingly over the top, but I’m afraid that if, for some strange reason, one wasn’t into German heavy metal , the impact of it would be lost. The video link is at the bottom. Watch and enjoy if you want, but my point isn’t about music at all.

Maybe this will capture the impact: Imagine that you were a huge tech conference and excited about hearing Bill Gates speak. As he nears the end he surprises the crowd by bringing Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg out to offer their thoughts on the topic. That’s the kind of value it is for the customers. Would it have been a good show without all the others? Sure. But it wouldn’t have been you-must-see-this amazing.

My point? If you’re not surprising your customers, leaving them dumfounded, amazed, and dying to tell their friends about your products or services, you’re a commodity. I can get Italian food from dozens of restaurants; what makes your restaurant better? Realtor? Hundreds to choose from, why do I care about you? Car dealer? Yawn – there’re 17 others lined up right next to you. Competing on price? I’m a loyal customer until your competitor has a sale. C’mon. Do better.

What? The music festival story doesn’t work for your business. You’re lying to yourself. Try harder. It doesn’t have to be festival big. Little things make a huge difference. Do you greet every customer? Not the, “WelcometoblahblahblahI’monlysayingthisbecausemyjerkfacebossisforcingmeto.” that even mini-marts are doing. I mean a look-you-in-the-eye-shake-your-hand-sincerely-I’m-pleased-you’re-here hello. There are businesses that do it; a few of them. They really, really stand out. And it costs them NOTHING.

My favorite  Realtor in the whole world consistently amazed me with his uncanny in-depth knowledge of the market and area, connections to very high quality repairmen, and tons of little touches. After we sold our house he gave us a $50 gift card to our favorite restaurant. Pleased? Surprised? Thrilled? Absolutely. Small touch, big impact, class act.

My favorite motorcycle jacket is an Aerostitch. I didn’t know I was going to buy one, but I happened to see their shop from the highway one day when I happened to be in Duluth (who happens to be in Duluth?). I went in on a whim and after chatting for a few minutes with the clerk, he INSISTED that we take a tour of the factory. The jackets were assembled on-site and I got to see crashed jackets that were being repaired, meet the people sewing them together, and yes, I bought a jacket. And for days after I purchased it I kept finding new pockets and features that only a very serious motorcyclist would have thought to include. There are a lot of ways they could have cheaped out, but that wouldn’t have inspired me to make a $400 impulse purpose at a time when I was making about $7 an hour. And it wouldn’t have inspired me to brag on the company 15 years later.

This is a long post, but an important one. Are you offering as much delight and value as your competition? Yes? Then you are instantly replaceable. Do better.

 

Employees are the most important asset of a company? Maybe not.

We hear it all the time. It makes a nice sound bite. Leaders say, “The most important asset of our company is our employees. Yet, judging by the limited amount of time, money, and effort most companies invest in selecting, training, and coaching their people, I would guess that people were about #97 on the most important asset list. Leaders say it and HR types gripe that leaders don’t really mean it, but what if it is not true at all? What if people aren’t the most important asset?

I’ve been kicking around an idea and would love to hear other’s thoughts on this. What if the most important asset of a business isn’t its people, but its customers? It’s an interesting idea to consider. I suspect that if companies embraced that idea then they would actually end up focusing more attention on the employees. If customers are the most valuable asset, then we want to hold on to them, invest in them, and grow them. How do we do that? By developing systems and processes around the customer. By making them feels special, important, and welcome. By putting the customer first. And how do we do that? By carefully and deliberately finding, hiring, developing, and retaining the best people to deliver that experience.

Is more than just semantics? It seems that when we put great processes in place solely for the sake of the employee then it’s often just a half-hearted effort; vague altruism sucks money away from profits so employee programs don’t get the attention they deserve. However, when we hire, develop, etc.great people for the sake of the customer (and the customer’s dollar) then HR becomes strategic because it is directly correlated with profit. What do you think? Is this just wordplay or is there something to this idea?