CUSTOMER SERVICE
CHART 1
IDENTIFYING THE DOUBLE PAYOFF OPPORTUNITIES
Attacking double payoff issues is most effective when you can quantify the frequency and financial damage of such issues . The following steps result in buy-in from Finance , Marketing , Operations , and Quality .
Step 1
Via interviews of six to 10 frontline service and inside-sales staff , ask employees their frustrations with giving external customers good service . Identify their frustrations and ask them to note situations when an external customer is also impacted .
Step 2
Create a short survey of frontline employees , providing a granular list of 15-30 service delivery POP . For each POP , ask how often each frustration occurs , and how much time they waste each occurrence trying to chase down the information as well as other damage . An example extract of the POP is shown in Chart 1 .
For instance , one technology company found that when a special quote could not be provided to a customer in less than 48 hours , the client almost always moved to the next vendor and the sale was lost . As each lost sale averaged more than $ 10,000 , multiple delays per week added up to millions lost annually .
Step 3
Present a random sample of external customers ( ideally , at least 1,000 customers to support statistical validity ) with a list of problems and needs for assistance they may have encountered . The key questions are :
• Have you had any POP on this list ?
SOURCE : CCMC
• If so , did you complain or request assistance from the company and if you complained , how well was it handled ?
• For all respondents ( no problem , problem / complained , and problem / no complaint ), ask loyalty and word-of-mouth questions .
Be sure to include in the POP list the timely response and information access issues the employees have identified in Step 2 .
We find that the loyalty of customers with POPs who did not complain declines by 20 % for both B2B and B2C customers . This makes the case for a strong program to solicit complaints , e . g ., “ We can only solve problems we know about !”
It is also useful to ask customers to describe how upset they were about the problems when engaging them on POPs . This is where the rage mentioned earlier among the meat counter managers will surface . Such vignettes are powerful stories to motivate management .
If you execute annual relationship customer surveys , you can differentiate this short survey as a problem resolution or “ dissatisfaction ” survey . Surprisingly , customers are very enthusiastic about such surveys .
Two Harley Davidson motorcycle owners , in their responses to a CCMC survey sponsored by the manufacturer , made comments such as , “ Finally someone sent me a no-B . S . survey – looks like you really want to solve problems !”
Step 4
Compare the list of internal service problems with the customers ’ external problems in terms of frequency and impact on loyalty and willingness to recommend the company .
Step 5
Identify the two or three issues that are prevalent on both the employees ’ and customers ’ lists . These issues are your opportunities for synergistic “ two-fers ” ( employee and customer ) resolution .
IMPLEMENTATION EXAMPLE
Here is an example ( see Charts 2 and 3 ) of the two-fer issues identified in Step 6 at an electronics manufacturing company based on CCMC surveys of about 200 frontline employees and over 1,000 technology manufacturing customers .
The employees were asked about their frustrations with giving external customers good service ( Chart 2 ). As the arrows on Chart 3 show , the six frustrations were :
• Incorrect / no information on internal / external website .
• Calls to other departments not returned .
• Short shipments to customers without notice .
• Production changes without notice .
• Emails to other departments not responded to promptly . APRIL 2024 29