Martin Silcock asked about customer service and systems in a post to long
to simplify here in LO17828.
He said, in part, "Individuals have goals and a current reality in a
particular context.." and then went on to establish some steps in solving
the situation.
His process:
-----------------------------------
Identify the goals of the individual under study (the system)
Study and reveal the current reality as understood by the operators
pursuing the goal
Identify and examine the general strategies, mental models used to
achieve the goal
Modify general understanding strategies with the specific strategies
based on the context
Challenge the revealed mental models and show where alternative
strategies could get to goal more effectively
Maximise the richness of feedback- turn assertions of fact into questions
Assist individuals to incorporate the new strategies into their mental
models
Involve individuals with a diverse set of mental models to ensure more
feedback is incorporated into a shared mental model
Examine the role marketing strategy and implementation. Where is it able
to and currently used to interact with this system. Identify the
point(s) of greatest leverage, ie the small changes that would make a big
effect by tapping into the power of positive feedback.
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Where I get "unhooked" by Martin's model is with the concept of "goal."
I'd done service quality consulting for many years, starting back in the
early '80's before it became popular.
All of our work would be reframed from "goal" to expectations because it
is obvious that goals shift frequently.
My brother-in-law, a Master Chef, once explained it to me very simply: The
key to a successful restaurant is, "Never change the soup." He explained
that if the customer came in and got great soup on their first visit, they
would be disappointed if they got only very good soup the next time.
Disappointment is generally not addressed because customers do not
complain, they just go away 99% of the time.
So, it came down to the difficulty of managing expectations.
I've got lots written about this but my model is quite simple:
Level One - have systems that process and handle transactions smoothly and
effectively. It is the number one cause of frustration in customers and
employees ("It's hard to care for customers if the systems don't care for
you!")
Level Two - strive to meet expectations of the customer. This is
accomplished by basis skills and product knowledge training. Customers
want to deal with employees who have knowledge or the skills to get
information fairly quickly. This gets us all into knowledge systems and
the like these days.
Level Three - strive to do more than the customer expects. This has to do
with training people in personal growth and development so as to raise
communications and influence skills, give them the "dis-un-empowerment"
needed to make decisions to the benefit of customer AND company, etc.
McDonalds has a history of outstanding performance in Level One and Two -
you had better systems than the competitor and a burger anywhere in the
world would meet your expectations.
LL Bean had an outstanding reputation for doing whatever was needed -
Level Three, but also with good systems and well-trained people.
My experience with most companies is that the systems failed in too many
instances. Or that expectations were never clear or people were
untrained. And WAY too few companies were focused on the attraction and
retention of customers and employees, the core of service quality.
--Scott Simmerman <SquareWheels@compuserve.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>