Be Different or be dead

December 31, 2012

What is the best way to measure the quality of your service?

Source: Pexels

What gets measured gets done. And it’s exceedingly important to measure how well you are serving your loyal customers.

Decide what metric you need to monitor your progress to your goals. Measure regularly. Take action on what you learn from measuring your results.

And never be put off by the argument that you can’t measure what you want to — anything can be measured.

I have seen some measurement systems rely on a formula to derive the service result; it’s not a good idea. I have rarely seen this approach work.

A service objective like X (overall customer satisfaction) = 2Y (where Y could represent how long it takes for a call center rep to answer an incoming call) + 9Z (where Z could represent how long the rep was on the customer call to deal with their request) won’t motivate people to achieve X.

They won’t understand it — how do they know the formula is right? — and won’t have much control over producing the result.

You don’t need a complicated algorithm to drive measurement.

Keep measurement simple. It needn’t require heavy lifting systems technology and records processing. In fact the simpler the better.

Use customer perception surveys as the basis to measure the quality of your customer service.

Declare 3 service elements that are critical to you and ask a customer on a regular basis how you’re doing.

Ask them if their service experience with you was memorable — were they dazzled?

And act on what they say.

Some organizations use internal statistics as the basis of service measurement. For example, the length of time to fulfil an order as determined by the statistics produced by their internal systems.

Although this measure has value, the real question to ask is “How did the customer enjoy the experience of placing their order and receiving the product?”
The order fulfilment time may very well be a good diagnostic tool for unsatisfactory answers to the question.

Be cautious of relying on internal measures as your measurement focus.

Use the customer perception measure — an expression from the market is worth listening to.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.31.12 at 10:23 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink

December 13, 2012

Why is Baboo in Mumbai absolutely amazing at creating unforgettable experiences?

Source: Pexels

Why is Baboo in Mumbai India absolutely amazing at creating unforgettable experiences?

Mumbai, India.

It never ceases to amaze me how critical frontline people are in terms of creating lasting impressions on the people they touch

We have Baboo as our driver for the day. We easily negotiate a fare for the day. We ask him to show us the main points of interest and hit some of the better shopping areas. Off we go.

Mumbai is certainly a city of contrasts. Baboo doesn’t hide the poverty from us. He doesn’t make excuses for it. It simply is, and he factually reports on it. In fact, he actively embraces this side of his city to explain who is living in such conditions, and what they do to survive.

Like it or not, he puts the reality in our faces for us to understand.

He takes us to the Crawford Market where “Papa” (no doubt a colleague he has used many times before) guides us through a mosaic of businesses offering everything from fruits and vegetables to live animals.

Goats and birds occupy the premises. Men sleep above their cubicle stores. Not the pristine conditions of a modern supermarket, but Papa proudly delivers to us the amazing olfactory stimuli of the wonderful spices offered by his market friends.

Sellers are friendly. Not pushy. Remarkable in a very caring way.

Baboo asks questions. Many questions. And he listens intently. You know he wants to create the right experience for us. Shopping? What are we looking for? “No problem, I know a place.” is his consistent reply. And he delivers.

His excitement over what he discovers his own city is contagious.

We stumble upon the Tiffin-Wallahs,  locals who pick up and deliver lunches to workers throughout the city. Mumbai is the only place in the world with this pick up and delivery system he tells us — another delightful harmless story.

They are loading the lunches on their bicycles for delivery. At Baboo’s shouts of encouragement, we jump from the car and snap pictures of this scarce opportunity.

You would think we’ve stumbled on an ancient treasure.

Maybe we have.

Baboo tells us what Gandhi allegedly said ‘Someone is always right’. And he adds his own spin: The customer is always right. Then goes on to explain to us how important it is to make sure tourists see the many faces of his City in a way that makes them comfortable.

Maybe they will talk about his City. Maybe they will return. He hopes.

After more shopping stops, lunch (and shopping) at The Taj Mahal Hotel, and a visit to the Outdoor Laundry area we are safely delivered back to our ship. Baboo asks more questions. ‘Were we happy with him today?’; ‘Did he do what we wanted of him?

We assure him that he was amazing and we stumble out of his chariot, exhausted.

Again, like Nasr in Petra, Jordan and Mohamed in Safaga, Egypt, I have discovered someone who passionately gets it.

A simple philosophy. Challenging and volatile environments. Executed brilliantly.

Leaving memories to cherish forever.

Thanks Baboo.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.13.12 at 10:43 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink

December 10, 2012

Why a fast follower is still a copycat and is a big mistake

Source: Pexels

Why a fast follower is still a copycat and is a big mistake.

Some organizations declare a fast follower strategy and claim that it is less risky than being a first mover.

The first mover is first-in the market with a new idea, original technology or revolutionary product.

Risk level can be high as customer response is uncertain while investments can be material.

The fast follower hopes to be in fast with a me-too response to the first mover and capture some of the market success of the innovation.

Risk is believed to be lower as the market response to the first mover can be observed and market entry strategy adjusted based on what is seen.

The fast follower is nothing more than a speedy copycat

Sure, they may tweak what the first mover does, but essentially they are going to market with the same proposition.

The fast follower is another version of emulating best-in-class or best-of-breed. Except in this case, the strategy is to be a fast copycat.

They strive to be the same as the first mover as soon as possible!

Rather than slowly inching themselves further into the competitive herd, they run into it.

Copying, disguised in any way, is risky as it prevents you from achieving a unique and special — vis-a-vis the competition — position in the market.

There can be no more risky position than that.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.10.12 at 10:41 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink

December 3, 2012

Why constant practice really isn’t the way for perfect results

Source: Unsplash

Why constant practice really isn’t the way for perfect results.

The implication is that if you repeat something often enough, striving for incremental improvements with each iteration, you will eventually get to a point where no further improvements can be made.

And ’perfect’ is achieved.

It might make sense if the outcome is produced from a well understood number of inputs. If a formula can be applied to predict the results.

If you want to consistently win at blackjack you need to understand and play on the basis of probability theory.

If a surgeon wants to successfully remove a tumour they must follow accepted surgical procedures, and the more they accurately conform to the procedures the more ‘perfect’ they become.

But what if you are looking for a creative outcome that is like no other; one that is different from what others are doing?

What if you want to capture the imagination of people?

▪️ A ‘painting’ that makes them cry?

▪️ A serving moment that leaves customers ‘gaspworthy’?

▪️ A policy that is intended to capture the hearts of people and show the humanity of the organization?

▪️ A product that meets the exact needs on a person and blows their mind?

Practice doesn’t make you perfect. It makes you conform to a prescribed set of rules.

Achieving best practices won’t make you noteworthy. Your only claim to fame is that you lead the herd. But still in the herd nevertheless.

Want to be perfect? Don’t try!

Don’t practice. Don’t fit-in.

Ignore what others are doing. Start something. Anything that creates value for people. Non-conform. Step out.

Create a beginning. Be an artist for others to follow.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.3.12 at 10:57 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink