Discipline makes Daring possible.

Musings from The Disappearing Boss on People, Process and Responsible Autonomy for small-business employers.

Category: Customer Service

Flipping
July 17, 2020

Flipping

This week, the problem with my broadband connection was finally sorted.   After 4 months.

On the first visit the engineer ran some tests and did something with the connection at the bottom of the pole.   He also checked the socket in my house and gave our arrangement the thumbs up.   The speed went up again, but the fix only lasted a day.  Whenever anyone called on the landline, it went down again.

On the second visit a new engineer ran some tests and did something else with the connection at the bottom of the pole.   He also replaced the socket in my house with a new one.   He explained that the reason why the fix didn’t last was because the system is set up to reduce the speed to keep the connection stable.  Fair enough.   The speed went up again, but only lasted a day.  Whenever anyone called on the landline, it went down again.

On the third visit another engineer tinkered with the connection at the bottom of the pole.   He ran some more tests, which determined that the fault was somewhere between the top of the telegraph pole and the outside of my house.    Nothing changed.  Terrible speed, and the line kept dropping.

On the fourth visit a different engineer tested the line from my end, inside the house.   He then went to the cabinet half a mile away and tested the line from there.   He identified that the fault was somewhere between the top of the telegraph pole and the outside of my house.   So he looked for a likely location, got his ladder out and looked at the box that connects the line to the outside of my house, near the roof.

Bingo!   The box was full of water.  He changed the box, replaced the connectors, and everything was fine.  And stayed fine.

I am delighted of course, and have nothing to complain of regarding any of the individuals involved either from my provider or from Openreach.

But I can’t help thinking that the process could be better.

I get that in a network, you have to be systematic in your search for a fault.  I’ve done it myself.

Usually, you test the connection at one end, then the other, starting with the extremes.   In this case, the exchange, and my socket.  Then you repeat the test, working inwards through pairs of connecting nodes until you’ve narrowed down the location of the fault to a single length of wire.

But I wonder if the application of experience could shorten the process?

Maybe the answer would be to start with the shortest length of wire – between my socket and the connection at the top of my house – and work outwards from there?   After all these are the parts most exposed to the elements, and most likely to fail.

It would be just as systematic and in the worst case take no longer than working from the outside in.    But it could well be better for the customer as well as being quicker and cheaper for Openreach.

Or perhaps it would be even quicker and cheaper just to replace that external box every time, because it’s the weakest point in the chain and also the most accessible?    That way you’re renewing the network as you go, for pence.

I don’t know.   I’m not a telephone engineer.   Just a process geek, who happens to be a customer.

My kind of self-checkout
July 16, 2020

My kind of self-checkout

This is where I was when I should have been writing yesterday’s blog.   Picking up my shopping.   Olive oil, almonds and honey from Portugal, chocolate from Trinidad via Cornwall, Coffee and sugar from Colombia, sea salt from Brittany.

There was plenty more on offer – olives, tapenades, lupini beans, pinto beans and more.   All more or less direct from small producers, transported under sail.

I even got to meet 50% of the supply chain: Gareth from Raybel Charters through whom I ordered, and Guillaume who captains the ship.

That’s my kind of self-checkout.

 

PS If you’re in Faversham or Whitstable over the next couple of days, look out for the Thames barge Dawn the ‘van’ for onward local deliveries

The Law of Attraction
February 21, 2020

The Law of Attraction

I’ve never seen Anthropologie, the retail chain, advertise.  They don’t waste their time, money or energy putting themselves in front of people who aren’t interested in what they have to offer.

Instead they have identified very clearly who it is they want to attract into their stores, then created stores that are magnetic to that kind of person.   You either walk past an Anthropologie store, or you walk in.  And if you walk in, it’s very likely that you’ll buy something.

It goes even deeper though.   Anthropologie’s promise is to send their clients out of the store looking and feeling fabulous.  And they are prepared to forego short-term sales to achieve this.

When I was at business school we were told the story of one store that sacked their ‘best’ salesperson.   The salesperson was great at selling, but at the expense of sending the customer home with clothing that didn’t make them look and feel great.

For the people Anthropologie serves, Anthropologie’s aim is become part of who they are.  Nothing less will do.  They wait patiently for the right people to find them, then keep their promise to them religiously.  The result is a growing community of enthusiasts.

That’s not magic, that’s dedication.

Triage
February 5, 2020

Triage

One reason why we can feel overwhelmed at work, is that we don’t use triage enough.

Simple triage for unexpected client phone calls and emails:

  1. If you can answer their question or address their issue in 5 minutes, deal with it now, preferably by phone.
  2. If it is urgent deal with it now.   Have a clear, tangible definition of what ‘urgent’ means.  Don’t rely on the client’s perception.
  3. If it’s not urgent and you genuinely have time to deal with it now (i.e. doing so won’t delay any other client’s work or eat into your rest time), deal with it now, preferably by phone.
  4. Otherwise, schedule time to deal with it and schedule a call with them to give your response.   It helps to keep an hour or so set aside every day to schedule these into.  That way you can keep on top of the work generated, and be clear with your client when they can expect an answer.

Every customer has top priority.  That needs managing.

Self-service
January 27, 2020

Self-service

My friend Mary Jane Copps (aka The Phone Lady) sent out a brilliant tip for delighting prospects today.    It got me thinking again about self-service.

When supermarkets first arrived, housewives were delighted.  No more queueing at counters to be served, you could just pick and choose whatever you wanted from the shelves of one shop and check out.   They could work to their own timetable.  They were empowered.

The same is true of many online services.   I can renew my passport, book train journeys, order print, buy tyres, whenever I want to.  I’m no longer tied to someone else’s schedule – in some cases not even for physical delivery.  I’m empowered in ways that I never dreamt of as a child.

There is however, one place where self-service really doesn’t work well, and that’s when things go wrong – when I make a mistake, or something doesn’t arrive on time, or I’m not sure what to type.

Cycling through frequently asked questions that aren’t my question, or being directed to a forum that shows hundreds of others with the same (un-addressed) problem is disempowering, and disenchanting.    I want to follow my own schedule – I need help now.    Forcing me to spend the first 60 seconds of a call to the helpline listening to  instructions to visit the website is disrespectful.

Of course self-service reduces costs for the provider.   If you make it obvious that’s the only reason for it, you’ll disgust your customer.

On the other hand, if you make sure it enables them to follow their own schedule in every scenario, you’ll delight them.

Generosity
January 7, 2020

Generosity

On Tuesday, I found out from my dentist that it’s likely to be a fortnight before I get even a temporary fix for my missing front tooth.  “I’ll try and speed things up though, so ring tomorrow and see what date I’ve been given by the lab.”

I rang.   There was no news yet.  I was expecting to be told to call back, but instead the receptionist said: “I’ll check the lab again on Monday, they should have a date then.  Then I’ll call you to get you booked in as soon as you can.”

It doesn’t take much to engender loyalty in your clients.  Make a promise, then generously exceed it.

Generosity isn’t expensive, mostly, it’s just remembering to be human.

Less is more
December 10, 2019

Less is more

Have you ever stood in front of sweet counter full of chocolate bars?   Or a wall-full of 500 pizza choices.   And walked away empty-handed after a few min

Showing up
November 5, 2019

Showing up

You can’t help the people you serve unless they know you exist.   So the first step of sharing you Promise of Value is to show up where they are.

That does not mean bombarding them with adverts, or selling at all.

It just means being there, alongside them, with the others who are like them, demonstrating in every action and interaction that you understand and empathise with people like them.

This sort of showing up is much easier and cheaper than it used to be.

You can write a blog, or create a podcast or videos.   You can attend the exhibitions they go to, join the networking groups they join, or even better set up your own, just for them.   Or, since you’re absolutely clear on the psychographic, and have narrowed down on the demographic – the pool you’re fishing in – you can approach people directly.   Call, email, send a letter.  Visit.

Showing up is not selling.  It’s the groundwork for helping people to know that you are there, ready, willing and able to help if and when they need it.

Think of it as the start of a long conversation.   Like all conversations worth having, this one requires your effort, attention and empathy.

Desire
November 4, 2019

Desire

What sends people out to buy?

Desire.   For something that will enhance one or more of the things we all want from life:

  • Autonomy
  • Agency
  • Mastery
  • Purpose
  • Community and a sense of our place in that community.

And once we’ve formulated our desire, we want the process of satisfying it to contribute too.   So that unless we’re buying to satisfy an urgent and basic need, we want to be in control of our buying process.   We want to research possibilities, weigh up alternatives and make a considered selection.  Indeed sometimes, it’s the process itself we desire, rather than the thing we actually purchase.

If this is how people buy, then in order to sell effectively you need a process that matches and mirrors it.

That means that sharing your Promise is not selling.  It’s helping the people you serve to find everything they’re looking for.

Packaging
October 30, 2019

Packaging

Your Promise of Value is unlikely to change much over time.  That is the point of it after all – to encapsulate the thing your business is here to do for the people you serve.   By the time you can get clear on that, it isn’t going to change.

How you deliver on that Promise will vary however, not only over time, but also within any one time.

Packaging allows you to offer your Promise in a format that will suit a particular kind of customer with a more specific need from you – a litre of whisky is for drinking at home or with friends; 35ml of whisky in a golf-ball shaped bottle is for giving, or collecting as part of a set.

Packaging lets people try you out before they take a bigger risk with you – a free sample, a test-drive or a trial period lets me check whether you’ll deliver on the promise you’re making.

It’s also how you evolve as a business in step with the people you serve – someone who has just bought a puppy is not ready for a dog-walking service, but they will appreciate puppy visits; one copy of a book is for my own reading, several copies are for giving away.

Packaging helps people to recognise themselves, their situation and their need instantly.  Embrace it.  It’s not about you.

It’s about your customer, and making it easy for them to buy from you.  Or not.

An hour as a package makes no sense.