by Sean McCoy (@TheRealMcCoyTRM) For all the systems investment, development and focus by business, these are enablers and not the answer to service differentiation — at the end of the day, it is people who make the difference, no matter the industry.
This was brought to mind again in some contrasting experiences of late. Staying with the automotive-related industry of last month’s column, I recently experienced the worst of contact-centre systems.
A leading vehicle financier, partnering with a leading short-term insurer, needs to audit and verify that annual insurance over the vehicle is intact. This need is fully understood and it is important that it covers its own exposure as much as the prized vehicle asset in the hands of an owner. What is incomprehensible, however, is how its system goes about it — note system, not people!
Self-imposed additional penalty
The system alerts you to the necessity as client to do this administration. It continuously reminds you, even once you have attended to the matter and, to add insult to injury, it goes ahead with a self-imposed additional penalty insurance premium to your asset financing account, ignoring that you have attended to the matter.
In the above example, the burden is placed upon the customer to try undo this chaos and to go through repeated contact-centre discussions trying to do so. This is an example of systems at their worst and people unable to navigate toward solutions on behalf of the consumer. It’s a highly frustrating situation that highlights the particular challenges faced in contact-centre environments, and negates all the marketing communication promises made aggressively by both leading brands.
Building scale and efficiency in administrative processes are necessary, but organisations need to learn to do this in a real service-centric fashion.
At the complete other end of the spectrum, recently I witnessed the simplistic impact that people can have in basic service encounters.
Very impressive people counters
As part of my early morning Sandton traffic strategy, I arrived at the Holiday Inn Garden Court well ahead of schedule for my nearby meeting, to have breakfast and use the time productively. In a competitive and commoditised industry — what is different about a room, bed and breakfast? — I experienced very impressive people encounters at every contact point of my visit, starting with reception staff to the team hosting a very busy breakfast area and rounded off, most impactfully, by a client-centric maintenance man changing light bulbs in the bathroom.
Every which way I turned in this environment, people were attentive, polite, friendly and engaging — once again, clear signs of training in the hospitality sector and a real sense of purpose among this team — an absolute delight to experience and now a future feature of my ongoing early-morning traffic routine when travelling to the area.
To complete my faith in this approach and to conclude this month’s article positively, service commitment was further reinforced, following a visit at the weekend of writing, to a large nearby Pick n Pay retail outlet (generally an experience I prefer to avoid, if at all possible). I was more than pleasantly surprised by the teller experience, which I have known to be problematic in the past.
Unlike anything I have ever witnessed
The woman in question was not the friendliest personality in town, but this may have been a function of her complete focus. Her speed and efficiency in processing two trolley loads of purchases was unlike anything I have ever witnessed in a retail store — three of us unpacking the trolleys struggled to keep up with the pace at which she was scanning and moving goods along her system. A real service delight in a channel often notorious for inefficiency, surly staff attitudes and generally poor service levels!
I did finally mange to bring a big smile to her face when I told her that she was the undisputed world champion of tellers and that she had shattered all existing teller world records.
The essence of the matter is that internal branding is fundamentally a people issue. Systems and structures must be robust and supportive but they are not the alternative to well-trained and highly engaged people; after all, people are even behind the development and delivery of most system and service structures.
And this is not only applicable to the hospitality or retail industry, I might add.
Never been truer
The traditional cliché held out by most organisations that people are their most important asset has never been truer — power to them.
Dr Sean McCoy, MD and founding member of HKLM, is a prominent figure in the branding arena, with his expertise centered on client service, brand strategy and business development. Sean has been chairperson for the Brand Council of South Africa since 2012. He contributes the regular “The Real McCoy” column focusing on internal branding to MarkLives.
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