Tom Hoffman has cited the latest (May 2016), Walker Information/Chief Executive study[i] on ‘Customer Experience’ in his blog ‘What CEOs Really Think about Customer Experience’. It is an interesting coincidence that the findings of this study have a striking sameness with the outcome of a 1994, Indian opinion poll[ii] that I had cited in my book[iii] ‘Creating Customer Value’. Though carried out more than 20 years apart, the essence of both the studies is:
- 79 percent of the chief executives polled, rate customer satisfactionamong their 3 most critical strategies, and
- 38% (39% in case of Walker Study) identify it as their number one priority”.
Customer Capitalism on a Roll
The reference to 1994 opinion poll only serves to confirm that customer capitalism has been spreading its wings for a long time. Riding on the growing evidence that the companies pursuing ‘customer first’ policy have actually delivered better shareholder value, this transition has gained considerable momentum. It is just right, therefore, that the CEOs should think of positive customer experience as a most strategic deliverable. What is more, going beyond ‘thinking’, most CEOs, have pushed multiple initiatives into action, to raise the speed and quality of their company’s responsiveness. These initiatives broadly constitute:
- unambiguous customer policy,
- up-to-date understanding of customers’ expectations,
- service standards set to meet expectations,
- appropriate organizational structure,
- stabilized business processes,
- emotionally engaged and professionally enabled employees,
- clear and concise organisational communication.
Good Intent, Poor Implementation
During the years 1996 and 1997, I personally suffered many unhappy service encounters for one default or the other committed by a number of reputed companies. I was highly frustrated because of the laid back manner in which they handled my complaints. Since I persisted my problem was ultimately sorted out in each case but not before I gate-crashed into the office of a senior enough manager.
In the process, I came face to face with two distinct facets of people’s behaviour in each company.
- At the operating level, I did get plenty of lip service but in terms of real action it was a usual mix of apathy, evasiveness and attempt to wriggle out of a bad situation.
- At the senior/top management level, executives were apologetic about what they thought was inexcusable lapse in meeting my genuine expectations, paid involved attention, quickly understood the issue and made sure that my complaints were resolved to my satisfaction with the utmost speed.
The Genesis of Empirical Research
I was amazed at such a striking contrast in behaviour at two different levels of hierarchy. I decided to explore what:
- creates a policy-practice disconnect?
- Causes multiple cultures?
- Converts Mission and Value statements in to mere posters?
What followed was targeted empirical research spanning three and a half years (2007- 2011), and 200 individual respondents at different levels of hierarchy. The respondent companies had all well-defined customer policy and were systemically and logistically well equipped to deliver the promised customer experience. The research, therefore, primarily focussed on the narratives—VOICES—of the very people who are directly or indirectly involved in the process of delivering company’s commitments. The VOICES, uttered variously with a feeling of honest pride, cautious exuberance, blunted candour, casual indifference, not-so-covert anger, and above all, enduring hope were loaded with messages about what was bothering them. The people—more particularly, the customer facing employees—felt confounded by some of the day to day happenings and felt their capacity to honour the company’s commitments was being thwarted. They would feel unsupported and face embarrassment typically because of:
- Cursoriness of the review of qualitative performance objectives,
- Poor internal and external communications,
- Evasive supervisory interactions,
- delayed decision taking,
- shuffling of priorities for short term gains over long term customer relations,
- avoidable knowledge deficit at the point of action,
- contradictory performance parameters
- Violation of Company’s core values going unpunished.
Workplace Schizophrenia
People working for organisations are not immune to contracting what may be called workplace schizophrenia. If a company’s internal routines, operating processes and management’s priorities do not support the declared policy the following attitudinal changes begin to afflict the employees at the firing line and those who provide back-end support:
- level of engagement gets dented,
- intensity of organisational communication is lost,
- self esteem erodes because of lack of knowledge-at-the-point-of-action,
- objectivity in dealing with issues is lost,
- willingness to put in discretionary effort takes a back seat,
- initiative becomes risky,
- perception of self-interest gets distorted, and above all,
- behaviour becomes unpredictable.
No company can ever deliver quality customer experience unless the schizophrenic climate as signified by the above symptoms is effectively controlled.
The Root Cause
The root cause for organisational schizophrenia is imbedded in the mindset that would grab any opportunity for short term gains for the company even if it puts long term customer relations at risk or violates a company core value. Unchecked, it is taken as management’s tacit approval and the tyranny of numbers continues
Culture of Discipline
The findings of my research are captured in the book, Organisational Schizophrenia which deals comprehensively with the human and organisational game playing and also suggests what can company leadership do about it. However, if I were to get back to the CEOs who think of delivering positive customer experience as a top priority and want to see it implemented with greater success I would urge them to follow these two suggestions:
- Customer First:If you mean it say it upfront, in word and in action.
- Culture of Discipline: Rigorously apply exacting standards consistent with the company’s mission and core values, at all times and at all levels, especially in upper management.
[i] Study, entitled A View from the Top: What CEOs Really Think of CX; Walker Information/Chief Executive, released in May 2016.
2 A Business Today/IMRB study; Business Today Jan 7-21, 1995 p 41.
[iii] Gureja, Gopal K. 1997, Creating Customer Value, New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill