Ask any customer management
practitioner to name the brands that are true leaders in customer experience
excellence and the response generally will include a roll of honour of the
usual suspects: Amazon; First Direct; a new addition: Olympic and Paralympic Games Makers. One organisation that you won’t find
at the top of the ‘most admired customer experience’ league is Her Majesty’s Police.
Perhaps that should change.
Not long ago I contacted the police
101 non-emergency number. Dialling 101 from anywhere in England and Wales
allows citizens to make contact with their local police force, in my case the Thames
Valley Police. My experience was a master class in customer experience
essentials:
The first voice I heard was that of
Chief Constable Sara Thornton, delivering a recorded call opening message. My
first impression: that the leader of this organisation was committed to
delivering a good experience to her customers, even those with very basic
enquiries. I was asked to choose one of three options, each of which was
clearly described: I was left in no doubt which button to press.
The second voice asked how they could
help. The police representative took time to listen to my story and understand
what I needed from her. Occasionally she asked for clarification but initially
at least, she allowed me to feel in control of the conversation. She provided
answers to my questions and took a note of information that she needed for her
records. More importantly she empathised, and gave me the impression that her
organisation was there to support me. Finally, she gave me a reference number
and let me know I could contact them again if I needed further assistance.
What does this experience tell us?
- Find a way of demonstrating to your customers that delivering a great customer experience is important to everyone in your organisation, including the chief executive or chief constable.
- Interactive voice response (IVR) can be useful and even welcome if the list of options is short and it leads to a more relevant conversation.
- Start with your customer’s agenda: you will want to capture information about them, but let them talk first.
- Take time to listen to your customers, to find out how they feel and what they really need from you: a longer conversation may be more efficient than average handle time statistics might suggest.
- Once your customer feels comfortable talking with you, they will be more prepared to give you the information you need to drive your future relationship.
- At the end of every interaction, confirm the next steps, and what the customer can expect to happen next.
A simple, straightforward, excellent
experience that reminded me of some of the customer experience fundamentals.
I guess you could call it Customer
Experience 101.
