Be Employee-Centric and the Customers Will Follow
Babul Balakrishnan, AVP Customer Experience Operations, Starhub [Sgx: Cc3]
Babul Balakrishnan, AVP Customer Experience Operations, Starhub [Sgx: Cc3]
Two phrases that dominate almost every conversation in big and small companies nowadays: Digital Transformation and Customer Experience. When you are given the mandate to lead either of these programs, it can seem quite daunting, given the size of your company, staff, and then add on the complexity of the products and services you provide to your customer. Both programs, if executed well, will inevitably disrupt or positively impact some of these touchpoints.
I am going to focus on the Customer Experience piece, while some may argue—and have—that one should not differentiate both to be two separate entities; I beg to differ. In my experience, having spoken to multiple people specialized in this field, one needs to bring in technology as a facilitation-piece for what you want to achieve—what is the problem you are trying to solve, is it really a problem, who is it a problem for, and what are the bigger goals for you and the organization. Once these points are agreed and aligned, the next piece is technology. . A few weeks ago, I was at a conference and as is usually the trend nowadays, all the presentations, discussions, and debates swiveled around customer experience and putting the customer at the heart of everything. While I do not disagree with that concept, I inherently believe that is there is a bigger piece right under everyone's nose, which if we tackle correctly, can automatically solve the customer piece: your employees!Unfortunately, I heard very few people talking about "Employee Experience." We tend to forget that each employee is also a customer, yet they have a biased advantage—they can bring back their feedback to the organization and actually drive a change. Like every customer, employees having dealt with your products and services, know and understand the pain points well. They work for your company so they are naturally inclined and motivated to improve things and what do they get in return, the first cut of the product or service to try out and feedback. If you conquer your employees, you can effectively shut down your marketing department, because wherever they go, they will wear the pride of your brand on their sleeves and be the natural advocates for your brand better than any ad you can put together. .
The second area that requires attention is your customer service. In all organizations, customer service is often seen as a cost, a necessity to provide the customer a touchpoint to air their grievances and in the process, hopefully, resolve them. Since this is often perceived as a necessary cost, the first and natural instinct is to reduce cost. The popular way of reducing cost is to outsource the call center. I don't know about you, but I remember dealing with brands when they had their customer service within the country and also the moment they moved it abroad—no surprises, the quality dropped and it did not do any favors for the brand. Customer service, like employees, should be kept close to the action, they need to feel part of the organization and in-tune with the culture. More importantly, they need heavy investment—they should not be graduates just out of college, they should be individuals with experience who are able to empathize, enunciate, articulate, and have good conflict handling skills as well as fantastic listening skills. If a customer service professional listens and empathizes with the customer as they rant and let loose on the phone, half the battle is won. Finally, your customer service professionals should be close to the action to be able to understand the strategy of the company, products, and services, and also be able to contribute with their feedback as employees of the company, rather than in a call center miles away from the action. .
Patagonia is a fantastic example of how a brand can completely empower the employees by catering to their needs and passions, which in turn drives their passion for an exemplary customer experience. American Express customer service is one of the best I have dealt with, every call I have with the team drools with empathy, understanding, and a willingness to help that immediately satisfies the needs of any aggravated customer. They have an intense four-month training program to really build that culture and whittle out the cream of the crop before they are even allowed to handle actual calls. With great investment comes quality!
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