I have just submitted a magasine article with the above title and it prompted me to continue the theme on the blog. I do feel sometimes that I inhabit some kind of parallel universe.
Without exception, every business Principal I have ever dealt with always, at some point, tells me that they pride themselves on high standards of customer service. But ask some of these people how much time and, (God forbid, I mention the word,) money they actually spend on training their staff and sadly, it is a question that is often met with much shrugging of shoulders, shuffling of feet and obvious acute discomfort.
As a consumer, I find standards of customer service vary hugely. Interestingly, sometimes, the more important the item, the bigger the issue, the more appalling the service encountered and sadly, it seems we are just expected to accept this. Call centres are guilty of this all too often. There is a prescribed script not to be deviated from at any cost and hey - once they've got you off the line, they just move onto the next one. And on again.
I was significantly shocked recently when trying to sort out an important financial issue. Far from the deference I naively anticipated, I was made to feel as if I was a real pain. 'We're busy' I was informed. 'When can I expect to hear from you?' I asked - an eminently fair question in the circumstances. 'As soon as we can.' I was told. 'What does that mean exactly?' I asked, clearly pushing the boundaries of tolerance to the limit. 'What it says.' I was told. 'As in a week? Two weeks? A month?' I pressed. Deep thought. 'Phone us in two weeks if you don't hear anything.' I was told. I was not happy.
Years ago there was a wonderful ad on TV for biscuits in which a clock repairer is having a tea break enjoying said biscuits. A lady puts her head round the door and says that the vicar wants to know when his clock will be ready. 'Thursday,' says the clock repairer and away she goes. Safely out of earshot, he adds to his apprentice with a knowing wink, 'but don't tell him which Thursday.' It was a brilliant ad but an appalling ethos yet increasingly one which we as customers are expected to tolerate. In the course of another telephone conversation recently when customer service was significantly lacking, I was told that 'what you will have to do is'. I pointed out that I had done that three times to no effect and asked if perhaps the individual could actually check things out with the relevant colleague and ring me back. There was palpable horror vibrating down the phone line. 'Certainly not.' was the reply. 'That's not my job.' Trying to point out that anyone working for a company that sells product to customers has a share in customer care which means it is everyone's job was a futile exercise. The sad thing is these days that where we as customers actually enjoy a buying experience (aside from the sheer joy of acquisition as any dedicated shopper such as myself will tell you), it is a real pleasure enhanced significantly by the fact that it is by no means the norm.
It is not good enough for employers to throw new members of staff into the deep end left to pick up what they can from those around them. There should be a very clear commitment to customer service from the top of the tree and properly structured training and assessment undertaken so that new staff are properly initiated into their positions and longer serving staff updated and given an opportunity to develop.
Training is not a 'one size fits all' commodity. I feel very strongly that programmes of training and assessment should be tailored to each business and individual companies within a sector; no two are the same. I rebelled against being made to sit through training scenarios that bore no relevance to the job I was doing, and so should anyone who is serious about what they do.
There follows a bold statement. Before I post the next blog, the South West Business Doctor's website should be up and running and more details of training available will be shown there. A direct email address will also be available which will hopefully provide for two way communication. That's quite a challenge, but watch this space!
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Monday, 11 February 2008
Work Smarter not Harder
I am not a particular fan of slogans like the title of this piece, but very often, they do have a point. I had intended, when starting this blog, for instance, that I would be updating it at least a couple of times a week. Hello?! So where does the time go? It is a question I frequently ask myself around 4.00am as I toss about sleeplessly. It would be nice, I often think, to make use of this time and creep along to the office, but disturbing husband and two terriers, one of whom has particularly strong views on undisturbed sleep (I refer, of course to a terrier, not the husband) - well let's just say it won't ever happen.
We do tend to be entrenched in the 9.00 - 5.00 syndrome though and that is not all bad news. It would not be healthy to spend every waking hour working; not only is it unhealthy for an individual, the quality of work produced is likely to be at best lacklustre. So how do we make the very best of these allotted working hours? Accepting that many jobs incorporate a good deal of travelling time in amongst it which I always relished as being thinking time, there are nonetheless tasks that need to be seen to be addressed.
Email, for example. The bliss of this communication medium is its immediacy; just one click of the mouse and your thoughts, responses, requests for information - whatever the content - land in the recipient's inbox. Trouble is, email has to be one of the worst temptations in any office. You've got a job you have been putting off for a while? You are going to get stuck into it right now aren't you........? Well of course you are. Just as soon as you have checked your email which might just have some vital or urgent message that needs to be dealt with.
Oh yes and the fact that you checked your email less than half an hour ago (before you went for that cup of coffee that was going to set you up to deal with the unsavoury task you can put off no longer) - it matters not. I will hold my hands up and admit to being guilty of this - email to me is like a mythological siren I find difficult to resist. The fact that I lived without even knowing what it was for the first twenty or so working years of my life might have given me the cerebral wherewithal to keep it at a healthy distance but sadly, if anything, it has had the opposite effect. And I am by no means alone. I try very hard to discipline myself to accessing email no more than two or three times a day if I am working in the office. I don't 'do' wireless which does help when I am out on the road. It isn't easy but I do try. I know some very disciplined people who access first thing in the morning then leave it alone until the next morning. If it works for them, fine but personally, I feel morning and evenings are minimal in a business environment. Within that of course, you have the strictly business emails and the non-business emails and be honest, everyone has those. It should be everyone's discipline in an ideal world, to leave those unopened until the business of the day is complete. How many of us do?
Another discipline much heralded from the rooftops these days is the OHIO principal. Only Handle It Once. Now I for one would love to get my head around this one and make it work for me. I can obviously see the benefits and of course it does take discipline. But as I gaze at the piles of papers scattered around my office, I think I might have more chance of running a marathon. (In my indigenous stillettos, obviously.) You get the picture. The thought of opening an envelope or printing off an email/document, dealing with the contents and (here's the real challenge,) filing the thing - before moving on to the next item is, frankly, alien to me but some people work that way and jolly efficient they are too.
Blogs are supposed to be sharing things so please post your comments. What disciplines have you introduced to your working day that have enabled you to work smarter but not harder?
I look forward to hearing from you.
We do tend to be entrenched in the 9.00 - 5.00 syndrome though and that is not all bad news. It would not be healthy to spend every waking hour working; not only is it unhealthy for an individual, the quality of work produced is likely to be at best lacklustre. So how do we make the very best of these allotted working hours? Accepting that many jobs incorporate a good deal of travelling time in amongst it which I always relished as being thinking time, there are nonetheless tasks that need to be seen to be addressed.
Email, for example. The bliss of this communication medium is its immediacy; just one click of the mouse and your thoughts, responses, requests for information - whatever the content - land in the recipient's inbox. Trouble is, email has to be one of the worst temptations in any office. You've got a job you have been putting off for a while? You are going to get stuck into it right now aren't you........? Well of course you are. Just as soon as you have checked your email which might just have some vital or urgent message that needs to be dealt with.
Oh yes and the fact that you checked your email less than half an hour ago (before you went for that cup of coffee that was going to set you up to deal with the unsavoury task you can put off no longer) - it matters not. I will hold my hands up and admit to being guilty of this - email to me is like a mythological siren I find difficult to resist. The fact that I lived without even knowing what it was for the first twenty or so working years of my life might have given me the cerebral wherewithal to keep it at a healthy distance but sadly, if anything, it has had the opposite effect. And I am by no means alone. I try very hard to discipline myself to accessing email no more than two or three times a day if I am working in the office. I don't 'do' wireless which does help when I am out on the road. It isn't easy but I do try. I know some very disciplined people who access first thing in the morning then leave it alone until the next morning. If it works for them, fine but personally, I feel morning and evenings are minimal in a business environment. Within that of course, you have the strictly business emails and the non-business emails and be honest, everyone has those. It should be everyone's discipline in an ideal world, to leave those unopened until the business of the day is complete. How many of us do?
Another discipline much heralded from the rooftops these days is the OHIO principal. Only Handle It Once. Now I for one would love to get my head around this one and make it work for me. I can obviously see the benefits and of course it does take discipline. But as I gaze at the piles of papers scattered around my office, I think I might have more chance of running a marathon. (In my indigenous stillettos, obviously.) You get the picture. The thought of opening an envelope or printing off an email/document, dealing with the contents and (here's the real challenge,) filing the thing - before moving on to the next item is, frankly, alien to me but some people work that way and jolly efficient they are too.
Blogs are supposed to be sharing things so please post your comments. What disciplines have you introduced to your working day that have enabled you to work smarter but not harder?
I look forward to hearing from you.
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