From service to “Customer Experience” !

Hi People, 

How have you been? Thanks for your time and suggestions on the last article .. I appreciate every minute that you spend on my blog and deeply care for the suggestions and recommendations that you make. Many of you have requested that I keep the customer experience series going. Your wish is my command, in every sense of the expression. This is the fourth one that we are doing today, together as always. I shall link the other three at the end of this blog, to save you time and effort of finding it, in case you happen to be one who is reading this articles as the first one from the series. Well, then let’s get started!

Customer service for the future; is what we shall explore today. BTW, do we still just use customer ‘service’? Service is undeniably critical but, if I may say so, has outlived its utility. Service alone isn’t exciting anymore, so much so that excellent customer service practices of yesterday has become “hygiene” for operation today & are listed in the bucket labeled “bare minimum” in the minds of the customers. The customer is that one person or group that keep us going .. that is where the payment for all that we offer comes from ... therefore imp, isn’t it?

The transformation that we are going thru is rapid, every sphere of life is undergoing massive modification as we speak. We do not do things the way we used to let's say a decade ago. In very little time .. a lot has changed and perhaps forever. How many of us write letters now? Do you even recall walking to a bank branch for withdrawing cash or even making a deposit? The favorite bookstore for most of us is no longer crosswords but Flipkart.com / amazon.com - not to say that we do not like stores but we prefer shopping from our homes more. Fundamentally, things have changed, instead of us reaching the goods/services, the goods /services travel to reach us and on that organization compete .. who reaches faster .. fresher .. fuller etc. Take a look at the humble Pizza, '30 minutes delivery or free' has become more imp than the pizza itself, at least from the narrative that is being built. A whole lot of organizations, some close to a billion dollars have come into being, aggregating stuff .. Ola, Uber, Zomato, Swiggy; you name it - ridding on this wind of change.

The moot point that I’m trying to make here is that; the wind of change is not just blowing but is sweeping everything that is coming in its way and it is all for the good - I can say this today, not sure how will it be seen a decade from now. When we have all depleted natural resources greatly to fuel our outrageous ambitions; but then we must leave that discussion for some other time ( do hit me on my email if you’d like to hear the environmentalist, that I hide inside me, glaring about the changes that I see).  Considerable change in customer expectations is putting a tough challenge to the organization to manage, meet and exceed what is to be delivered to the customer, day in and day out.  

Before we get into specifics let’s just get the definition out of the way.

When you fix a problem that the customer has reported and done it promptly, polity and in a manner that makes the customer feel safe, it can easily be called service. Customer experience, however, is a different ball game it is not only about reactive care/support but also all the proactive measures that you take to ensure that customers do not go thru any of this ever on your platform. In one of my articles, I’ve argued that a set up that minimizes or better yet completely eliminates the need for customer service is the best firm for customer service. Attaining that is not easy, it would mean every nut and bolt of the organization is tightened and enough that before something reaches the customer it is 100% complete, and what follows it is a series of customer education; one that brings the customer up to speed. There the level of customer education is elevated … to the standard of advisory!! You need to make sure that you advise your customers on matters that matter to him, and the quality of advisory is so good that they become dependent on you. More like a dictionary .. when you do not know a word .. that is the only solution that you have .. you consume it on the web or flip physical pages .. .it is dictionary service that gets you to the meaning. That is what is needed for brands to create dictionary grade accuracy and reality and recognition.

What is also abundantly clear is that incremental enhancements to do with reducing cost can no longer be passed to the customers as a gesture of service, let alone, experience. You can no longer shut the telephone line and say that we are doing so because we care for our customers, phone in our view is an intrusive method so we decided to go all and ‘only’ digital. Your customer will read right thru it and know that you are cutting corners to grow your balance sheets fatter at the cost of customer experience and they will not miss a beat in choosing your competition over you should there be any offering what in their mind is better customer support. We need to understand that free flow of information is now a reality, customers can read reviews, learn about how others have experienced your brand in a matter of moments - it is all out there available and free! The way we learn about a product or a service, the way we compare and the purchase decision that we make today is supplied with a decent amount of data & research. Impulsive purchases are no longer the largest contributors of growth and certainly not a reason for a repeat purchase. A continued association is only possible if you service your customer well. There is no other way, really. 

It is as simple as this; if you want the customers to remain loyal to you and get you more users you’ll have to invest in their experience, sweat for them to feel the breeze of convenience. If you do not make "customer experience" your priority you will no longer remain your customer’s either. Make the choice, while you still can!

Championing the cause of customer is rather easy if you are a small org or let’s say a single identity; it is that much more difficult if you have a group of companies or an org that is well spread out in vast geographies. But there is a way out and I’m here to present that to you in what I call a customer experience toolkit :) 

It has five elements; much like our universe that is made up of five elements ( air, water, earth, sky, & fire); accordingly to the wisdom of the Vedas ( Veda for some other time). 

Here is the list in no particular order.

1. Create customer centricity organization/Group.
2. Integrate customer touch points 
3. Customer interface based innovation 
4. Sell “service” for revenue  
5. Build high-performance operations.

Let’s get down to each one of them, individually. 

Create customer centricity organization/ Group: Our values are important because they help us to grow and develop. They help us to create the future we want to experience. Every individual and every organization is involved in making hundreds of decisions every day. The decisions we make are a reflection of our values and beliefs, and they are always directed towards a specific purpose. And purpose singularly should be “customer satisfaction”. You’ve to encourage all your people to think from the customer’s perspective. Everyone has to do it not just customer-facing units. From person working the accounts, the tech guys designing systems, to the IT personal fixing computers to the pantry staff to the security guard, everyone right up till the CEO/MD must make sure that every decision that they make; is made for the customer. I’m not saying make your organization non-profit charity but you have to make it sensitive to what your customers care about .. and that will be a good beginning.

Integrate customer touch points: Synergy gets built when you integrate smartly, you have to integrate your product lines; you can’t be selling one thing from one store and another from some other even if they are related. It is like selling a pen at one store and ink at the other to create a specialization, while it helps your logistics it doesn’t help the customer. The customer would want both the fountain pen and the ink to be available at the same store, placed beside each other. If you are a group that offers multiple products .. you got to integrate similar ones together. This integration will keep your customers from getting confused. After product lines coming together comes Sale and service integration; You can’t deny service at the point of sale, for all practical purposes it is the point of sale that the customer first gets introduced to, you have to make use of that familiarity to make your service outlet coexist with POS. Service where you sell and sell more because of your good service.( that is what Apple does). And then comes the touch point integration; Go omnichannel, make use of customer history and profile information to make your pitch contextual and win the customer over with detail, quality, and speed.

Customer interface based innovation: Organization needs to keep reinventing themselves by shifting their focus to truly reshaping the customer interface as a core driver for new value. Again, technology and service innovation is no longer solely used to enhance productivity and drive down staff costs. You have to be on the latest technology platform and keep your plan for migration into the future techs ready. Deploy state-of-the-art voice recognition systems not only to understand what customers say using natural language but also to detect emotional “vibes” thus making the routing system that delivers the call intuitive and intelligent. In addition to applying channel-specific technology innovations, more companies are leveraging technology to enhance the interplay of channels. Turn the ordinary business of technology troubleshooting into a customer adventure, a game for instance. Classic Web service features include live chats with service agents, moderated communities and forums, employee and user blogs, and product demonstration videos. Two-way interfaces capture customer suggestions and allow service agents to comment or directly follow up. Striking a smart balance between contact automation and human interaction is a key success factor for service organizations.

Sell “service” for revenue: Service is of strategic importance in a market that is crowded with low-cost options, the way for you to gain customer’s attention is by serving them right. A shift in mindset from contact avoidance to active contact management is one of the most fundamental changes in next-generation customer service. Rather than decreasing contact time with the customer to reduce cost, organizations must discover new value by using each contact to generate new consumer insights, build loyalty, and leverage the interaction for cross-selling and up-selling. Make customer- specific recommendations, for example, the system displays products and services already purchased by the customer on the line, automatically proposes new products and services, and simultaneously provides the agent with a script to help pitch those recommendations. This can also be applied to larger groups who have more than one organization. When you make a pitch for one service .. make sure you let your customers also know about some of the other capabilities that your company has to offer. 

Build high-performance operations:  Before we get into explaining why high-performance operations is non-negotiable, let us take a moment to understand how imp it is to keep the workforce meaningfully engaged, highly motivated and goal oriented. An unhappy person can never generate great results.. you have to work towards making sure that you pay right, you pay on time, you give your staff the tools and space needed to perform and above all make them feel needed. Value the person behind the title and it will all start falling into place. You have to, however, make sure that from a design perspective your companies/groups goal is very well distributed towards each function and all employees .. KRA and goal setting is a great tool to apply in this case. Poor service actually drives customers away; in others, inefficient processes are inordinately expensive. Focus primarily on changing or optimizing existing operations—processes, systems, and staff qualifications. Employee motivation is a prerequisite for efficient operations and high-quality service. Set realistic yet ambitious targets and use predictive and predictive analysis to sound early warning alarms and then if it comes to that .. you have to performance manage your people, indiscriminately & dispassionately.

Well, we are done with our toolkit. I do not claim that these are the perfect set or one that will solve all problems but I can with reasonable confidence can say that there is no way it will not work. These come from a mix of my own work experience, reading, and imagination using the former two.

As promised here is the link of the other three articles written for the customer experience series.. 

#1 Customer Experience - It matters!

https://lkstates.blogspot.com/2017/10/customer-experience-it-matters_28.html

#2 Customer Feedback, should you care? 

https://lkstates.blogspot.com/2017/12/customer-feedback-should-you-care-enough.html 

#3 Service & Churn!

https://lkstates.blogspot.com/2018/04/service-churn.html 

See you in the next one .. you have a pleasant Sunday!

The curious case of conflict!

Hello Readers,

Good to be back here. The last couple of weeks have been particularly busy given the fact that I’ve accepted an exciting career opportunity, this involved among many other things ‘moving’ from the city of the Netas to the one of the Nawabs .. better known as the holy biryani barrack by rest of the country. You guessed it right .. I’m in Hyderabad. It isn’t my first stint in this beautiful city .. more on it, later.

I’ve been mulling over the subject of “conflict” for a while now; it is one fascinating facet of human existence. Don’t you agree? We often hear this term in our day to day lives and almost all the time, we associate negative sentiment to it. It is disliked by all and yet a part of everyone’s life, irrespective of what you do or dream of achieving as long as it involves resources ( people, things, thoughts .. or just about anything else) in a sum total of 2 or more - the possibility of conflict is real. Let me say this: conflict is inescapable, no matter what you do, you will have to deal with it in some form, shape or manner. So, it is only wise to perhaps invest time and energy in understanding it better. 

Right off the bat search on the web or a dive into the dictionary will give you the below.

———————————————————————————————————————————

noun

noun: conflict; plural noun: conflicts

ˈkɒnflɪkt/

1. 1. 
2. a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one."the eternal conflict between the sexes"

1 1.synonyms:

1 1.dispute, quarrel, squabble, disagreement, a difference of opinion, dissension; More

——————————————————————————————————————————— 

Disagreement, yes that, is conflict at an atomic level. But wait, should all disagreements be called conflicts? If you go by the ‘definition’ perhaps yes.. I recommend, you wait to hear a little example that I’m gonna share with you and then decide for yourself. Let’s say, there are two friends; Lav and Kush, Lav believes that S. P. Balasubrahmanyam is the greatest singer to have walked on the face of this earth but Kush holds the highest honour for Kishore Kumar, in his views there hasn’t been .. there isn’t and there will never be another artist who could infuse life into the lyrics. He goes on to say that Late Kishore Kumar's vocal codes were the finest set of harmonium that a human was ever born with. Obviously, Lav and Kush do not agree with each other - will this difference of opinion qualify to be called a conflict, though?

Let’s give this little snippet some plot. 

Plot #1 - Lav & Kush, meeting each other over Irish coffee at Starbucks in Inorbit Mall, Hyd, after 10 yrs and as a conversation starter pick up on the song another visitor at the coffee house is humming while he awaits his significant other to arrive from Gurgaon.

Plot #2 - Lav & Kush are roommates and have decided to go for a musical show on a Sunday evening between 7 and 9 PM, debating which of the two shows (Kishore Kumar or S. P. Balasubrahmanyam) should they elect for the evening.

Plot #3 - Between Lav and Kush they can only afford one ticket to one of the two shows and therefore they have decided to debate who deserves to go; because there can only be one winner, the other one gets to choose which show is to be booked.

I’ve on purpose picked up these simple yet believable plots to make my point, my belief is that if I manage to bring clarity on the concept of conflict you then on your own will be able to apply the learnings on to other complex situations, to make the right judgment. All the three plots are different kinds of disagreements - not all are conflicts, though. Let’s understand why.

Plot #1 is a casual .. happy disagreement between two friends who use the singers as a prop and are trying to break the ice between themselves so even when they disagree they are actually silently working toward the compatible goal of sliding into a comfortable harmless conversation over coffee. They are friends .. so even if the dialogue were to be pointless, they are cool about it.

Plot #2 - Is a tad different, both the parties desire for different things to be done at the ‘same’ time .. irrespective of the choice one of the two will lose there because resources are scarce. They just have 2 hours, good enough for just one show.

Plot #3 - Is rather interesting, not only they have an incompatible goal but are also strapped for resources, can afford just one ticket and there is also interference, in the sense the one who doesn’t go gets to choose which show is to be booked - this case, my friends, is a classic case of conflict.

So, an apt definition of conflict to my mind is disagreement stemming from incompatible goals, under circumstances that bear scarcity of resources and also possible interference in one’s life by the pointers on which the disagreement is founded, initially.

All of us have been there; we have been the reason for it, we have been a victim of it and some of us have also been involved in resolving conflicts. As leaders, we are expected to resolve quite a few as more than one opinion on a matter could potentially cause what is called conflict in a workplace. Knowledge is the currency of the 21st century, most of us, solve problems with ideas which spring from thoughts applied on the heap of the impression that we collect and carry from our past experiences, academic learnings and the imagination that we apply, using any of it. That being the case it is only natural that a room will have more than one view on a matter, as a matter of a fact it is a good thing to have ideas compete but more often than not, the fine line gets overstepped and instead of ideas, facts and arguments ... real people get down to the arena - making it personal; they may not always have frowns or rolled up sleeve but they do get into a locking position virtually to advance what they consider to be the best.

Calling for truce becomes more than essential in scenarios like that. People who come in to resolve conflict are able to do it easily if they happen to control more stakes than those in the disagreement. They come and pronounce what should be done - while the task moves; sometimes the conflict remains!!

Unresolved conflicts have myriad negative effects on the organization, as a whole, including lowered productivity, a decrease in collaboration, and stifled creativity - not a desirable thing to have, on any account. One must find these conflicts and essentially work towards resolving them. In his 30 years of research in this field, Professor Bernie Mayer describes the seven paradoxes of conflict in his famous book - “Getting to the heart of conflict”. Those are :

1. Competition and Cooperation
2. Optimism and Realism
3. Avoidance and Engagement
4. Principle and Compromise
5. Emotion and Logic
6. Neutrality and Advocacy
7. Community and Autonomy

Think of any conflict in the word and you’d find that they relate to one of these, invariably.

We’ve sufficiently described what conflict is; let’s now look at ways to resolve them or let’s say manage them in a manner that is effective while being productive, quick and meaningful; all at the same time. Good conflict resolution leads to high employee retention, increased productivity, and a lower stress level for everyone involved - it is a smart investment to make.

Not sure, if I’m someone from whom you should hear this - being honest, I’m learning it just as much as you as I progress in my life meddling and moving from one conflict to the other. I’m making conscious effort to understand it a little better for I have no doubts in my mind that without effective conflict resolution abilities; one can’t possibly get to the top and I wanna be there. I’ve reflected a great deal upon my own experiences on the topic, cases where I excelled and also those where I miserably failed and trust me, you can’t learn without failing. With time I’ve improved but there is still a long way for me to go but I’m determined to get this within my grasp.

I often draw before beginning to write on a subject; it gives me clarity - the one that I sketched today is for you to see. I was trying to devise a little tool kit for conflict resolution. 

Disclaimer: I’m on expert on this. 

*Spelling errors have to be ignored

From this diagram, below items have emerged; let’s go over them one by one.

• Welcome Conflicts 
• Listen with your heart not just ears.
• Do not ASSUME
• Communicate with clarity 
• Compromise is beautiful.
• Forget & Forgive. 

Welcome Conflict - It’ll be unreal for a leader to expect conflict-free business; a talented, passionate, heterogeneous mix of people will have issues - it is a no-brainer. Strong personalities do not cross each other without leaving an imprint of their encounter, some are more indelible than the others, though. A thinking group natures independent research, values varied opinions and likes to weight options before calling the shot - that in itself create a ground firmly fertile for conflicts. It is not a bad thing to have a couple of people disagree on a couple of issues as long as they are putting their best foot forward towards solving what is at hand. When you talk to solve .. it is ok for you to speak a few extra words.

Listen with your heart not just ears - Not hearing a particular view in detail is doing deliberate injustice to the cause. You gotta listen to both the parties for as long as they would like to speak unless you are invested in only moving forward without comprehensively bringing closure. It is needed that you give the matter the time it demands even if it deserves a little less then its demand, to get to the bottom of the issue. Remember unresolved issues often surfaces again harder than the previous time.

Do not ASSUME: Assumption is an absolute worse thing to carry when you are headed to resolve a conflict. Your bias will come in the way of you assessing the situation thoughtfully, remember when you chair a discussion, you have to shed your own beliefs and be guided by the facts as they are presented. One can borrow from morality, fundamentals of natural justice etc. But then it must be applied dispassionately and proportionately to both sets of arguments, data, viewpoints and even interests.

Communicate with clarity: Communication is essentially about the other person, those who you address must understand each word spoken or written just as well as the person leading the conversation. You must leave nothing unsaid, you gotta spell it out completely and in a manner which is most honest and dispassionate. Candour is a great value to embrace in a situation like this.

Compromise is beautiful: Mahatma Gandhi used to propagate the beauty of compromise; he would often suggest that by leaving the comforts of extremists position, people with open mind, when coming to a neutral ground more than a lot, gets accomplished and in time. It is ok, to let go of a few things .. remember it is an art of the possible and not of the perfect.

Forget & Forgive: Moving on is important. If you carry the scars of the past to the present you will not be able to insulate yourself from the pain it gave you when you had to suffer it for the first time. It is imp to let the ghost of the past rest in their peaceful graves .. deal with a present as though you were dealing with it for the first time no less no more.

This is not a perfect solution but certainly a good workaround; think about it and while you’re at it .. have a great Sunday. Catch you in the next one...

Politics : Betrayal on purpose or tactics of survival?

Every since I was small child _ I’ve dreamed of becoming a politician, no the aspiration hasn’t yet given me either all the skills essential for the job or an opportunity, neither have I left everything else to pursue it- while I certainly plan to take that big leap of my life, very soon ( very soon has been the expression since last lok sabha elections :)) 

Politics is by and large is a remark not liked – I won’t say hated but won’t hesitate in saying that most of us associate it with dirty, immoral , selfish acts to grind an axe ! Well, everyone is entitled  to their views, we are dwelling in a free country till the incumbent government chooses to de-list ‘freedom of expression’ completely. Without going into the literal meaning of the expression (which isn’t actually anything bad) or technical details of it – I shall try and explore the perception built around the expression and relate it with corporate world – 

Another year and a half and I would be a decade old in the  cruel world of corporate working and I’ve been hearing about office politics ever since I stepped into the first day of my career, may a times I have been a victim to it as well, sometime have been able to sense and avoid or let’s say protect myself too  - but this necessary evil has always co-existed with a million good things. No industry ( at least, I can talk for the trades I’ve worked for _ Telecom , IT , ITES) is immune to it , no company is politics proofed ( won’t name the concerns I’ve been associated with).

 It is widely known , sounds strange, but, yes, accepted too – many who practice it often give it fancy names – lobbying, teaming , protecting – god knows what not? So what is it ? Why does it exist , when people consider it distasteful, why does it still so prominently subsist?

 Here is my theory – People wish to climb the ladder of success without really toiling hard enough – short cuts are in great demand in this age were ‘anybody and everybody’ is running short of time!

 Like I said before – I’m not an expert on this for I’ve been facing it for quite some time, I think I can share my views and hence the theory.

 Most Workers end of day are creatures of flesh and blood who love to be appreciated, loved, noticed, given favours –– if we try and compare this number with people who would wish to earn all of this purely out of their skills, hard work, commitment, values and honesty – you would know the majority is of the former type – and hence malpractices at work are rampant.

 Let us accept that we are selfish to the word barring people we love ( love partners , closest pal & immediate family) –and I don’t think I would be wrong in saying that the wish to survive by those who are less fitted is the mother of work politics.

 Survival of the fittest is a universal truth and yes people engage in these malevolent activities to boost their possibilities of survival – in my limited exposure – I see three kind of survivors and it cuts across levels and department and nature of work and industries. 

I’m placing this category “ work well and thrive” at number one despite of it being the smallest group for I’ve immense respect and admiration for this group and it’s followers – These are honest people, who are punctual, who value their job, take even smallest of task given to them with utmost seriousness and deliver not just with mind but  also heart. These people are very easily identified for these would be outspoken, skilled and upfront , they keep creating values and their delivery does earn them special place in hearts and minds of their collogues  - those who engage in politics bad mouth them and because work politician form the majority , they wouldn’t have many friends at workplace. These people are backbone of every delivery system and their backs suffers the most from the work politics. Poor souls get into many rifts/debates/issues based fights at work.

 The second category “ work less and dream of thriving more” – this is the largest community within work space, averagely skilled and most dangerous for they can put up act of “working hard” – so well that even a hard worker when is subjected to their act begins to feel shy for the work that he/she puts in. You can’t detect these snakes easily because they mix well with the first category and befriend them ,  a very close observation tells me that they are often very sweet tongued, can do lip service like nobody, keep pleasing people, extending out of workplace favours. And yes, they are lairs! They may appear friend with people in 1^st category but given quarter a chance jump in excitement to complain against them. They master the nag of delegation, love stealing other’s work and work best as postman -  Beware of them.

 The third category “ I won’t work , coz I can’t work – but wanna thrive”  _ this is  the community of fools & dumb chicks – then the question is how do they survive, BTW, these are second largest in numbers – connections, yes , they survive coz they establish some connection with people who occupy key positions – by extending favors both licit and illicit ones (if you know what I mean) – most of these are deployed moles, planted by those poor leaders occupying key positions to source information – “deliver who is talking what and about who and why”  - This is their sole KRA! And no, these are not honest even with their masters, the information that they deliver is often doctored  to suite their interest first and the purpose second. They are very easily detected , coz they are seldom found working and still they enjoy most of the monetary and otherwise perks at work.

 So this in a nutshell is the politics at work – spoken ill about by all, practiced by many and a harsh reality to those few who fall in its trap –

That will be all from the desk of @LKstates (twitter handle)  - Goodnight and have a great weekend.