To Speak or Not To Speak..............

Early this week my bank sent out a notice on Twitter to all its customers, indicating that an ongoing problem with access to services on a multi-bank ATM platform had been resolved and that we could now use these widely available ATMS. I looked at their communication long and hard and being the wayward wandering teacher that I am, decided to fire a salvo given I felt that they were not empathetic towards us. The service had stalled for the last four months and at a personal level had caused great inconvenience as it had meant looking for other ATMs not as conveniently located.

I responded via the same medium and politely mentioned "it would also be really nice to thank us for our patience and apologise for the inconvenience we've faced in those months yes?"  And yes you guessed right – there was no response to my tweet. I felt taken for granted, granted that we’d greatly suffered (ok I exaggerate a little) and now that the problem had been solved the bank was happy to let us know that and toot their horn, but not acknowledge the inconvenience caused.

The second part of this story compounds this situation. On Monday I went to one of these ATMs and it rudely rejected my card. I got the same message that we had been getting during the outage period – "Sorry we cannot complete the transaction using your card". I paused inside this ATM for a moment to recollect if indeed the Twitter message had been real or if I dreamed it up and then remembered with clarity that it had truly been sent out.

I exited the ATM booth, called up the bank call centre and explained what had happened and the call centre agent took down my details and said she would look into it and revert. This didn't happen. The next day I sent a response Tweet on the same conversation thread where the Bank had issued their advisory and gave details of the ATM and time when my attempt to use my card was rejected. After about an hour a customer service agent telephoned and told me the reason I was unable to access services, was because the service re-collapsed and wasn't working and they were working round the clock to resolve the problem.

At this point I asked her if she thought it may be a good idea to write back to the same customers they had written to earlier to notify them of the change in status and spare them the inconvenience of going to try and facing rejection. She agreed with me and responded in some scripted form about talking to her supervisor about it. Right there I bet my grandmother’s most precious pearls that it wasn't going to happen, and true to form it is five days later and no such communication has come through.

Here’s my question..…….Why are organizations afraid to communicate when there is service failure? What is the underlying fear? What scares them? Do they think they will look bad? Is it the inherent need to not ‘air dirty linen in public’? What’s the motivation for it? Is it that they haven’t plugged into the stream that washes away ill will when a company pre-empts a customer complaint? Have they not empathized with the customer in that situation and thought of what they’d like done if roles were reversed?

This reminded me of an interesting article a friend sent to me on empathy and customer service that had this powerful ending - “Empathy, getting inside the heads of the people you're trying to serve, was my strongest lesson I had from that experience as a room service waiter. First-class customer service is all about empathy for the customer” Paul Hemp Contributing Editor, Harvard Business Review Group

If we put on the weighing scale balance tray on one end ‘dirty linen’ from the provider informing customers that a service is down so that they may plan accordingly, and ‘dirty linen’ aired by unhappy frustrated customers to their networks ranting and raving about bad service, which tray would weigh heavier on the bottom line? What would cause the bigger dent?

The wisdom of communication, in fact in some instances over communication, to customers in event things have gone awry, gives the supplier the opportunity to put in some positive element and throw in an update of what is being done to rectify the problem. This gives customers the reassurance that they will know in advance when things are not alright and they will be informed when the status is returned to normal. That’s reliability, and reliability is what customers are looking for and crave.

So the sooner businesses realize that when things are bad is when the over- communication stream needs to start flowing, the better it will be for them, their customers and ultimately their bottom line. The moral of this story? Put on your brave face and go face the spear wielders, you will be surprised at how your candid explanation will elicit sympathy, empathy and ultimately – loyalty. 

Of Muddy Communication

I had a very engaging conversation this Wednesday morning with quite a brilliant communications consultant on communication and what it takes to communicate effectively and to connect with various audiences. What stood out for me in that day was a story he shared about an unpleasant experience he’d had at the Out Patient Department of a major hospital recently. He went on to recount how the rather young doctor had very poor communication skills and didn't seem to care about his patient or their interaction. And how this irked him to the extent that he spewed his vent on social media with details of the specific hospital and the particular doctor’s name describing his experience. Interesting how one member of staff can have the entire organization’s brand mud slung right?

 We discussed modern day medicine and how in this day and age times have changed, and patients conduct extensive research about their conditions and could almost self-prescribe if it were permitted. We talked about how the doctor- patient relationship has shifted to one of actual consultation and partnership rather than a one way tight lipped conversation, with the doctor issuing instructions as has been the case in the past.

We conversed about how patients want to be seen and acknowledged as human beings and not just as statistics, like patient number X in the queue or patient in cubicle Y or in bed Z. We also talked about the need to recognize that each patient has their own unique needs and expectations. We agreed that it is of essence to acknowledge that patients are actually real people (someone’s father, brother, mother, sister, colleague in the office, friend or relative). They are real people and want to be treated as such. The onus therefore landing squarely on the doctor to handle each patient and meet them at their point of need. This calls for the doctor to be that much more discerning, attentive, intuitive and ultimately, caring.

This  brings to the fore the rather over spoken about but still very important notion, that it behooves the professional in whichever profession, to handle their customers as they themselves would wish to be handled. To actually walk in the customers shoes and understand where they are coming from and what circumstances they speak from as they put across their needs.  The communication then to the customer will be varied and tailored to suit the specific situation.

In this specific case it would be in the best interest of both doctors and their patients if the former would make special effort to literally wear the patient’s shoes and understand where exactly the shoe pinches. This simple move would up the communication game and up the level of service delivery in healthcare, making for quicker, smoother, more effective doctor-patient relationships and ultimately creating a healthier happier nation.

Service Failure and Business Integrity

This article first appeared in Business Journal Africa - Empowering Africa's Entrepreneurs - Issue No 160 of August 2013

I am convinced without a doubt that the famous Jamaican pop singer and rapper Shaggy has invaded my Sacco, held the Sacco officials captive and hard-wired their brains with his famous hit ‘It wasn't me’. I recently resigned from my Sacco and followed their instructions to write an official termination letter and wait for a two months notice period to receive my shares refund. Upon expiry of the two months, I called up the Sacco to request for my refund and there began an interesting journey akin to a chess end game, where the black and white kings were performing a shifting dance on the checker board.

The Sacco treasurer informed me that he’d been out of town and couldn't respond to my email enquiries. He advised that I should actually have been speaking to the Sacco Chairperson who writes out cheques.  I then called up the Sacco Chairperson who duly informed me that he doesn't deal with finance matters and that I should talk to the treasurer who is in charge of refunds. After I let him know I had already spoken to the treasurer who referred me to him, he exclaimed out loud and requested me to hold on the line so that he could conference in the treasurer into our phone call to clarify who was responsible for refunds.

At this point I explained to the Chairperson that I was actually not interested in the internal workings of the Sacco refund process, but only needed a response to when my refund would be ready. Needless to say it is now 3 months down the line and my refund has not been processed. The proceedings there between have been characterized by numerous telephone and email conversations, ending up in a cat and mouse game of call avoidance and non response. I am currently in the process of instituting legal action against the Sacco.

This brings to light the critical question about service failure and the integrity a business portrays in this delicate situation. As Professor Stefan Michel of the Orchestrating Winning Performance ( OCW) programme stipulates “ Service failure isn't necessarily a disaster for a company. If the service recovery actions are handled well, then customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty can actually increase”. This apparent paradox is true and has been proven time again.

Service failure will happen. Businesses and corporates are run by human beings and errors will occur. What matters most is how one swings into action post the service failure. Where possible, if the failure is detected before a customer complains, then communication with the customer in advance will create a feeling of goodwill, where the customer’s perception of the business will be ‘they care about me’.

If a customer complains about a service failure, without fail (pun intended) the business must acknowledge the complaint. Customers are always on the defensive when making complaints and their default reaction is the need to defend themselves and argue their case. If the customer is assured that their complaint has been received and is being looked into, it creates an instant feeling of importance. An apology would also go a long way to reassure the customer. This does not necessarily need to be in  form of the magic word “I'm Sorry”(for sometimes the failure may end up being on the part of the customer) but such phrases as ‘kindly bear with us as we look into this matter’ work the same magic.

Where an alternative solution can be found to address the customer need, it should be applied immediately and where applicable, compensate the customer. This may be in form of a complimentary product or service, priority in the service delivery process, upgrading a service delivery package or applying a discount. Acknowledge the customer for helping you improve.

Once the incident has been investigated, it is very important to explain to the customer what happened and what measures you have put in place to ensure it does not happen again. Explain to them what you have learned as a result of their pointing out this service failure and what measures of improvement you have now instituted to improve your service delivery. The customer will definitely feel like a hero. Everyone loves to be a hero and the complaining customer will definitely want to show off, about how their complaint translated into action. The critical turnaround will have been achieved. Entrenched in the customer’s mind will be the notion ‘If this is how they treat me when things go wrong, these are definitely people I want to be close to and to give my business’. People are always wary of being short changed, conned and taken advantage of. So if your brand is one where the customer knows that when things go wrong they will be listened to, they will love you for life and tell everyone about you.

Bearing  this in mind, let’s assume my Sacco Chairperson had explained to me with utmost integrity the exact reasons why my cheque wasn't ready, possibly the trouble they  were experiencing, the actions they’d put in place to prepare my refund and the reforms they were putting in place to address the service failure. Would I have gone ahead and instituted a legal process against them? Highly likely not. I may even have empathized with them and proposed suggestions of how I think they could sort out the problem. Customers very often have ingenious ideas that businesses may never have thought up on their own.

Having integrity around service failure is the biggest litmus test for any business. If one can uphold integrity when things are headed south, then therein lies the magic formula for success. Above all the cardinal rule that a customer must feel heard should be upheld.  They must feel that their anger, hurt, annoyance, irritation and disappointment have been registered and are important. And the crunch line is that the response must be genuine and not just formal customer service rhetoric. The customer must feel that you are authentic in your speak and that you are doing your level best to find a solution.

I therefore pose a challenge to businesses out there – simply put on your cap of integrity and face the customers head on when things are at their worst. You will see increased customer loyalty, commitment and patronage as a result.

Doing the same thing over and over again and this time………….yes - expecting the same result.

I've attended two consecutive breakfast meetings this week both held at five star restaurants, one addressing strategies to realize Africa’s wealth through inclusive business initiatives and the other addressing branding and business opportunities to be explored given the country’s new county oriented dispensation. 

The fundamental organization and venue provisions at both events have been exactly the same -a breakfast buffet spread accessible to the guests at 7am on arrival, breakfast service until about 8am preceding the main event commencement.

What has completely amazed me though, is how the two experiences I've had, have been radically different despite an almost replica product on offer. The food in both places was the usual breakfast fare of fruit, cereal, juice, cheese, chafing dishes with protein and vegetable offerings and a pastry corner, with the quality of food being pretty much the same.

What then made the marked difference that had me heaping accolades on one establishment and leaving with a sour taste in my mouth (pun intended) from the other?

Well for starters, one significant difference was that although in both places it was a self service arrangement as is normally the case, the first had a top hatted chef hovering about the chafing dishes, explaining to guests what fare was on offer, helping them make informed choices and manning the quantity levels for re-fill cues. That added a delightful touch to the breakfast selection experience. 

The other buffet was not only unmanned, but had items run out unreplenished, leaving guests feeling shortchanged at the empty troughs, with only the item labels to confirm to them the specific food item they had missed out on.

The table service at the first establishment was seamlessly choreographed with the waiters almost intuitively alert to clear away crockery as soon as one finished their last forkful, offer beverage refills as soon as one took the last sip from their cups and appear almost magically by one’s side at the first indication of a guest turning their head to look up for service.

At the second event, plates remained uncleared, with initial plates used for whatever first course guests may have had, competing for table space with the subsequent helpings. The sight was quite cluttered and unpleasant. The beverage service was completely wanting and guests pretty much had to cradle empty cups waiting for the 2 waiters to move from table to table to serve beverage requests to a room of 15 tables with 8 guests each. I leave it to the mathematically inclined lot to compute the total time taken to arrive at the last table given the average time taken to serve an individual guest’s order in relation to the total number of guests in the room.

It is almost cliché to repeat the often asserted point about an organization being only as good as the people working for it. But isn't that just the simple truth? The venue, food and drink may be the same in two establishments, but what makes or breaks the guest’s experience is how it is served.

Nothing beats attentive, courteous, timely and coordinated service. Provide this to your customers consistently, no matter the product, service or industry you are in, and that will have customers repeatedly coming for more and automatically telling everyone about it. The key that unlocks the door to customers’ hearts is predictable quality and unshakable consistency.

Sounds stolid, dull, humdrum and banal right? But that’s the name of the game troopers. Even if you think up an exciting way to delight your clients, keep it coming, each time, every time such that when they tell their Mum about it and she comes to see you, you’ll do the exact thing her child told her you would. And that right there is the key to keeping the currency flowing through your ledgers.