>>Steve Macaulay: It seems such a simple equation; good customer service equals good business.
And yet this patently isn’t so, as many of us have experienced. Today we are going
to look at what it takes to be a customer focused organisation.
Today, in the studio, is Graham Clark. Now, Graham, you have got years of experience of
looking at successful customer focused organisations and plenty of ones that aren’t. Why is it
that so many people seem to get it wrong?
>>Graham Clark: Well I am not sure they get it wrong, I think it is more that they lose
focus actually, just to pick up the focus word, and I think one of the biggest issues
is that we tend to focus on outputs rather than outcomes. In other words, what we do
is we focus on what we do rather than what it means for our customers. And so, even though
we mean well, somehow it doesn’t quite come out right. I think that is one of the issues.
The other, of course, is the whole focus around efficiency today – I mean, we know the drive
for cuts and so on – and I think in the process of efficiency sometimes we lose what
is the essence of what the customer really, really wants rather than what we do for them.
>>Steve Macaulay: So how do we then make it so we keep what the customer really, really
wants?
>>Graham Clark: Well, I think a lot of this is actually just hard work; we live today
in a world that is always looking for the quick fix, looking for the simple panacea
that makes it alright. What we need to do is to go back to basics and really think about
defining very clearly what customers really are looking for: what are they buying from
us?
Sometimes we talk about the inside-out lens versus the outside-in lens. We are very good
at the inside-out; this is what we do, love us. Rather than this is what you want from
us in terms of outcomes, benefits and across the total experience. In the process of efficiency
cuts what we tend to lose is the experience bit – what is really important for me, the
customer, in this.
>>Steve Macaulay: Now it is not everybody that is losing it; what actually is it that
makes the difference if I look for some of the ones that everybody says they are great
at customer service, serving the customer.
>>Graham Clark: I think I like Southwest Airlines as an example, there is a very, very good
book actually called The Southwest Airlines Way by Jody Gittell and in that book they
outline ten relationships. It is all about relations; service is a relationship and it
is about removing the barriers to forming really, really strong and enduring relationships.
And Southwest work hard all the way through the network of relationships – not just
that end bit, that point of contact with customers which we still focus on, those moments of
truth. But it is the bit all down the chain and making sure the relationships are working
and working well.
>>Steve Macaulay: So if you were giving people in organisations some advice, how do I become
more customer focused, what would the answer be?
>>Graham Clark: I think my top tip, if you like, would be don’t rely on one or two
heroes to provide great service. Though we need the heroes, those people who love the
customer to bits, who really go the extra mile and all those great words – the employee
of the month – but actually great service is service which is delivered consistently
through the network of relationships which starts right at the very beginning and all
the way to the end. And so, what I recommend is that organisations map at every point what
is happening with the relationships. We talked a lot about internal customers in the past,
but I think we should talk about internal relationships – what do I give, what do
I get back, how can we make it better? It is good to talk and it is good to work out
what is working and what is not working.
>>Steve Macaulay: Graham, thank you very much.