Which came first – the chicken or the egg? This is an old saying that has confounded many. However, some pundits on causality suggest there is a solution around the corner. That’s a debate for another day. The key reason for this start is due to the dilemma many marketers face when delivering given certain goods or services. The ultimate goal is to ensure the final delivery is at least in line with customer’s expectations. This leads to the next questions in the evaluation of delivery process – what is more important in capturing the feedback from the customers – the overall experience or specific aspects along the interaction process? Should marketers be more concerned with the overall customer journey or key aspects of the journey / touch points?
Let me take a literal example of the journey and various aspects within it. Three months after the birth of our daughter, we had to travel and take a five hours flight. Travelling with such a baby at that tender age has its own anxieties. We had heard many stories on issues that may arise from travelling babies at such age – health issues; crying and causing discomfort to other travelers. We came across articles of even people suggesting planes should have a forth section – for babies! First class, business class, economy and now baby class section!
Let’s review the interaction journey with this airline, from booking to landing. We made an online booking, which was not smooth by normal standards. There were some glitches, which led to the process timing out. Blame the technology, but funnily after three failed attempts, I thought probably because the system could detect these were economy tickets! All in all, after the third attempt, all was ok.
At the check-in counter, we received a pleasant surprise – thanks to the baby, as we were ushered to an empty business-class counter! This dispelled my myth of the system was timing out because of booking economy, but was a technology issue.
Five minutes later to the immigration and to the air side. And that was the end of the preferential treatment as all passengers were in for a rude shock. The plane had not arrived! The flight was late – not by a few minutes, but had to wait for three hours. Mind you, this was at 2.00am, and with a three months baby. We sat thinking what to do for next three hours, in addition to the next five hours on the flight. Three hours seemed like a lifetime, especially when the little one opened her eyes! We scurried to ensure she did not let out a cry.
After the long wait, we eventually made it to board ready for takeoff. We were more apprehensive, fatigued and sleepy. Not a pleasant experience at all.
However, on-board we received exemplary service as we not only had a spacious seat, but also provided with a well maintained bassinet. The crew helped in fitting it and placing the required apparels. After changing the diapers, feeding and proper baby wrap, we placed the baby in the bassinet. She looked up at the lights in the plane and eventually closed her eyes. She was the only baby in the plane that night, and to the surprise of fellow travelers, there was not even a single cry. The well-fed, well-wrapped baby found the bassinet comfortable that we only lifted her from there only because the crew beckoned us five hours after, just before landing. We all slept onboard but the crew did not bother to wake us up to take any in-flight provisions.
That was a literally example of a customer journey. It had polar experiences – the preferential check-in, and the bassinet on the pleasant side; but very late departure and no food on the other. In evaluating the above experience, should we emphasis on the whole journey or specifics aspects of the experiences?
In most cases, businesses tend to look at the end – the delivery of products and services, or the issue of taking one from point A to point B, or completing the transaction. On the other hand, customers tend to pick the experiences along the way. A review of customers’ complaints shows that they highlight specific aspects (though one has to fully probe). While the traditional approach of customer experience surveys still works, social media listening provides another dimension. It is sometimes instantaneous as well as diverse. What do I mean by this? Take an example of a customer in a queue within the banking hall who may just tweet how slow the queue is, most likely tagging the bank. Another customer near the front of the queue may read the comment and add how slow the teller is. Once tweeted its public and other customers in other branches, at home and even from their offices may start sharing their experiences – not only about the queue and the teller, but others issues – from incorrect transactions, rude security guards, dusty window panels …etc.
Is there a way to achieve a unified approach to ensure what businesses evaluate is in line with customers’ expectations? In almost all cases, it is not possible to have such an approach. In addition, is this a linear process? Not at all! This should be an interactive process along the journey.
Here are three few aspects that can aid in interactive delivery:
- Update the service standards frequently: In most cases, businesses wait until the next cycle of review in order to update their standards. This is mostly due to the structural nature of service development, to documentation, training the department heads and eventually cascading to the service agents.
However, if a pressing need arises, it is important to update the standards, especially for quick turnarounds and automated services. - Initiate customized delivery of goods and services: While having a unified approach is important, some cases may call for customized delivery of goods and services. In most cases, service agents follow a script, whose responses sometimes are out of tune with the nature of a problem. This approach is gaining momentum. As businesses build customer-centric approaches and with use of technology, it is expected to be a key aspect in the future.
- Social media listening: In most cases, this seems about addressing customer queries and complaints. This is just one of the elements. It is all about conversations with customers. It is a closer link to your customers. It is instantaneous and can spread wide within a short time. It has evolved. Remember the good old days of a suggestion / complaints box? Oh heavens, bless those boxes! And some businesses just used to discard the notes. Unless it was really pressing issue, customers never used them and hence, just gained a lot of dust. Then came the call centre and then emails. In all these channels, businesses had control. But social media provides a shared platform for both businesses and customers. Listen to your customers.
For details, contact:
pauline@episodesresearch.com
www.episodesresearch.com
