I had a couple of instances lately which made me think about customers who don’t fit the standard process and how they are handled.
Much of my work is spent looking at standardising processes, to make them most efficient and provide a consistent, replicable experience and a low cost of transaction. That works great and many organisations have invested time and effort doing exactly that and will continue to do so. That can work really well in driving down the operating cost, improving controls and being consistent in service delivery.
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But it is at its best when the customer is also standardised. I am not speaking here of making them all the same, but when their needs and wants are easy to understand and categorise into how we define our process. A most obvious example is maybe the booking process, where the documents are signed and the dealer or customer wants paying. Or perhaps the settlement process – again, they just want to know the few standard things. (I don’t include the application process here since there are a few variables in that one and some negotiations at times.)
What about those customers, however, who don’t fit the standard? I would often include myself in this. They want some personal attention, rather than automation. Does this make them (or me) any less attractive as a customer? Does it make me less profitable? Maybe very slightly on the latter, but the true cost of the add-on is well covered in the overall margin of operating cost and sometimes it is almost nil.
For example, I am overseas for a reasonable amount of time by many people’s standards. I’ve had need to call a financial organisation from overseas, either as a customer or because they are a client. If you don’t have anyone’s direct-dial number, most of the published numbers just don’t work from overseas. You just can’t call them. Fortunately a few have international dial numbers, but I can state from experience plenty don’t. And even fewer can call you back.
What about the elderly, or those left less fortunate by circumstance, who don’t have the internet or a smartphone? I can hear a sharp intake of breath. Who doesn’t have such things these days? Even the schoolkids have them.
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By GlobalDataYep, that’s true. But I also know people who don’t. They may not be the prime customer you accept, but they may have come in as, perhaps, a guarantor, or handling the bereavement issues associated with a client who has died or is chronically ill.
Then there are groups of people for whom the system fails, such as the RBS customers a while back when the system did not process payments, or maybe the groups of people who fail the system.
Take for instance the person who pays a significant amount (say oh, £4,500) to the wrong company via the internet and wants it back. The company which should have received the payment doesn’t have its money, of course, and want to levy late charges and fees.
The great thing was, in all of the instances I experienced in the past few months, I’ve had great customer service: "You are overseas next week while this needs to be sorted out, no problem, just call me direct on …."; "We can take care of that for you and make all the bill payments on your behalf"; "I can see how you’ve made that mistake and we will refund this week" and "Don’t worry, you have never missed a payment before and it can happen, we will cancel those charges". I am amazed, but happy.
I wonder what great acts of customer service are going on in your organisation for people who don’t come just ‘as standard’? Might be time to go for a walkabout and ask.
The rest, I leave up to you.
Ian Dewsnap is director of UK operations at Benchmark Consulting International
