I’ve recently had two very different customer service experiences with banks in the UK and both are results of a change in systems and processes. Needless to say, one of these experiences has been much better than the other. The other wasn’t so great and after 15 years’ of banking with them, I’ve left.
From where I’m sitting, there seem to be a few reasons why one of these organisations has aced the customer experience of change and one hasn’t really left the starting block.
One of these banks has started with the end in mind, and one hasn’t. Here are some thoughts that might help:
Factor in enough time ahead of the change for preparation. Messages need to reach everyone involved so they have enough time to ask questions and get clarity before things go live. Working things out with your colleague while the customer on the phone doesn’t demonstrate professionalism and give confidence that your bank (in this case) is the right organisation to be managing someone’s precious finances.
Be clear on the ‘why’ of the change. Even if the change you are instigating is in response to an external factor such as a mandate from the government to check customer details or to tighten up security, you need to clearly articulate why this is happening. This clarity is essential from the start if you’re going to get people inside the organisation on board and to own the change, as well as being clear on what it means to your customers and suppliers.
Be very clear on what good looks like for your customers and your people. If you have this clarity, you’ll be able to use that as your common goal.
Test everything – every process and every system. Pick scenarios that you think might not happen and test for those too. The 80-20 rule is helpful here, identifying those critical inputs that will have the biggest impact, either positively or negatively.
Train everyone involved – and that means everyone. If you have customer service teams, make sure they are equipped with Frequently Asked Questions and make sure these are constantly updated. Give teams the opportunity for refreshers on how to deal with difficult conversations and being clear on how to set and explain expectations. Create personas for your customer groups, so your teams are very clear on the priorities for your customers. For example, if I’m right in the middle of a project, I won’t have the time to wait on the phone for an hour to be passed to three different people in a team to try to resolve an issue.
Respond to feedback and fast – ideally, if you have put in enough time for planning, you will have pre-empted many of the issues that could arise with your new process or system. But if things do go awry (and they will) make sure you can get the right people in place to help to address process and systems issues, rapidly and smoothly.
The biggest issue I’ve noticed throughout this whole process however, has been that systems and process have dominated one of these bank’s approaches. For the other organisation, they have been all about the people. When things haven’t gone to plan, issues have been rectified quickly and when they can’t be, expectations have been set and, as a customer, I know what’s going to happen next, and when.
Most change projects have different levels of complexity and you can’t plan for everything. But, by thinking about people first, you’ll work out what they need and potentially tweak your process or system to support that and communicate well.
By starting well ahead of go-live, you’ll make it easier for everyone involved. And you’re less likely to lose your customers – or your employees - as a result.
If you’d like to explore how we put more people-focus into projects and programmes, I’d love to have a conversation.
Image: Elisa Ventur, Unsplash