Unknown, unloved

We go back in time about ten years and I am sitting opposite my then CEO. I have been in charge of KPN's Customer Excellence team for three months now. I am new to the company, he even a little newer. My goal is to bring the relational NPS from -14 to zero in just under three years.

Yet he asks "Nienke, what result did you achieve with your team last month? Stammering, I tell him that we have a long-term goal. That our growth strategy is focused on reducing detractors, what actions we have for that, that I am confident. "No, no. I expect you to bring results here every month. Of course it's good that you have plans, but I also want to know what short-term results you've achieved with your team."

Full of doubt, I left the meeting room. How was I supposed to do that? With such an erratic long-term goal that might grow a point or two per quarter? I consulted a colleague and he told me how he did that.

A light went on for me. All those years I had worked very hard in various roles and management positions, but I had never structurally kept track of my successes (and failures) and reported on them. Nor did I have my story in focus when I spoke to colleagues: I mainly told them what I did. What results I had achieved, I could not tell in a few sentences.

If you work in a large organization, it's important to think about your own marketing. "Huh?!" I hear you say. Yes. That's important if you work in customer service or customer experience, well, really anywhere. But especially in our professions, it's important for people to understand the work you do, how it is linked to the business strategy and the impact you make.

In marketing, they often talk about Know, Like, Trust. Apply this to yourself: make sure management knows you, likes you professionally, and ultimately trusts you. You don't want to leave that to others, so take charge yourself.

I saw a great example last week at the International CX Awards. Vattenfall's CX team won three Awards, including the best B2C CX team in the world! As a big learning point, they told me that the process leading up to the Awards had helped them tell very concisely where they had achieved successes.

So, dear reader. Is your marketing in order? Do you know and share your successes? Don't underestimate this. Because unknown, unloved. The choice is yours.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on December 13, 2022

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How can you add fun to change?

Customer centric change is a matter of having a long breath: changing behavior and engaging colleagues won't happen in just a month. It is a demanding process, both from you as the initiator, facilitator or leader, as well as from the people you want to engage in the change. Adding FUN to your CHANGE program is a brilliant idea, since it will boost morale and will be distinctive from other programs.

Here are my five tips on how to add more fun to your CX change program and achieve your goals at the same time:

  1. Create an overarching appealing storyline
    Too many CX strategies are linear, corporate schmorporate (sorry for my language). They don't give any excitement and fun and don't create any arousal while you share it. So, what about adding an appealing story line? Using sports, movie scripts, heroes, best practices and all kind of other stories. I still love Project #99 that Clint Payne CCXP started in 2016. He wanted to improve the current customer experience of Multichoice, a South African Telecom and Television provider and created an overarching storyline where he challenged the organization to fix 99 current customer and employee issues. Project #99 is a great tagline that gives context to the change.
  2. Set an appealing BHAG
    How about aiming for the moon when it comes to your CX or change program? How about truly going for an ambitious quantitative and qualitative goal. The example of Project #99, is already a perfect one - fixing 99 issues in one year. But I have more examples for you. What do you think of this one? In three years, you and your company are best in class in Customer Experience, your NPS is at a certain number (the quantitative part). And that the CEO of your company will share the story of how the organization changed in the last three years to a true customer centric company in the Financial Times or HBR? These kind of moonshots a.k.a. BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) work. They add fun and excitement to change.
  3. Celebrate and celebrate milestones
    Too often we just keep going after we delivered a success. But how about turning your BHAG into a couple of milestones that can be celebrated? Or put the spotlight on those that did a fabulous job? Who showed customer centric leadership or is there a team that fixed a big customer issue? My suggestion is that you make sure you have a collection of fun gifts. How about branded t-shirts, water bottles, pens or tailored virtual backgrounds and give those recognition? Have those that did well have lunch with a senior leader. Take them on an inspiration trip, to another customer centric organization or to an amusement park.
  4. Create challenges and visualize them
    What happened in project #99 is that the CX team created challenges and that employees and leaders adopted those challenges. Working on short term projects (don't try to implement a CRM system with this one ????) that have high energy and are supported by senior leadership, they work magic. By making sure the change is pleasant (rather than painful, although it may feel painful at first), it creates a feeling of hope (rather than fear) and it creates a feeling of identity with others who are doing the same. Make sure you visualize the journey of the challenge, so others also understand what they are doing. Have those fun and vibrant visuals (like a logo of your team or project) all around the organization. Both offline and online. Yes, this might require some guerilla marketing actions and you might bump into some conflicts with the communication and facility departments of your organization. But remember: no guts, no glory!
  5. Use fun in your interventions
    Too many workshops are just functional: learning the new behavior by the customer manifesto and delivering on the new brand values. Workshops are important and it is up to you to add fun to them. Some examples.
    1. Create a CX quiz, where you quiz around NPS topics, add some fun CX facts (like from what date was the first complaint) and of course you have a winner.
    2. Play the CX game, this is a fun CX workshop (dressed up as a board game), where the questions and assignments are tailored to your organizations context. The feedback we always hear is: "this was FUN!"
    3. Add persona re-enactment to your customer journey workshop. Bring artifacts like scarves, sports gear, glasses, hats and whatever. Transform your participants of the workshop into customers. My experience is that participants will be a bit hesitant upon starting, but once they get going, everybody will have the most of fun!

You see, there's a lot of things you can do and organize in order to add FUN to CHANGE. And I strongly recommend you do so! Create big or small fun and know it will give you and your colleagues the energy you need to keep the change going. I am curious how you feel about these suggestions. And if you have any other suggestions, please let me know in the comments!

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Not recognized

We are at my favorite hotel. The receptionist is waiting for us with a big smile. 'Good afternoon and welcome to...' I tell her we have a room reserved in Bloem's name. She delves into her computer screen and looks up our reservation.

"May I see your ID?" she asks. This surprises me, because it's about the tenth time I've been here. Still, why the legitimacy every time? It must be policy. I don't feel like being difficult, so I take my driver's license out of my wallet.

In the meantime, I also grabbed my credit card. Because I was scammed online last year and so I have new credit card information. 'Can I have yours too?' she asks my husband. He looks at my credit card and she adds "I mean your ID." Huh?! Does the guest also have to provide identification? A small sigh escapes me.

"Then the room will cost X euros. To this we then add 50 euros per person, for if you go for breakfast, use the room service or bar, if you break something and other things. You will get this refunded if you don't use it. Agreed?" I roll my eyes at my husband. If we break something! I guess it's also policy and I know she's probably an intern. But this really does feel like the first time we've been here AND like we're going to get drunk, stoned and then trash the room. Just a little warning for us. Anyway, we are in Amsterdam...

Five minutes later, the procedure is complete. We get our room keys and she explains us how the elevator works. She also tells us that we have a beautiful room (yes I know, because I specifically asked for it). I briefly ask how things are going with the loyalty system because it went wrong last time. "Yes ma'am, that does go wrong sometimes, but you can fix that yourself afterwards." Still no sign of recognition that we are regular visitors. She wishes us a nice stay.

How can this be? Especially in this hotel where we come so often! Where, for the umpteenth time, they do not manage to recognize and greet us at the welcome as returning guests. As a loyal customer, this really makes you feel left out in the cold.

When we enter our hotel room, there is a little bear with a handwritten card on the bed. Written by the person with whom I booked the room. Now we do feel welcome. But if I were the director of this hotel, I would immediately do something about the check-in procedure.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on February 7, 2023

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Out of sight

The newspaper got delivered later and later. As a morning person, I was fed up with that. Meanwhile, I saw the call for new deliverers. With a bonus of no less than 1,000 euros for those who want to get on their bikes early in the morning with my newspaper. The newspaper has too few delivery people and in my case that causes inconsistent delivery times.

Because of this irritation with the delivery time, I also asked myself some critical questions. I could no longer explain, why I took away a huge pile of old paper every week. You can read a newspaper digitally, can't you, just like that?

I switched to a digital subscription during the week with a paper newspaper on Saturday. That way I hit two targets with one shot: one less delivery address for the newspaper in the morning, and my choice also had an environmental impact: less tree felling and no more contribution to the paper shortage.

But here's the thing. Since I have this digital subscription, I hardly read the newspaper during the week. It's weird to read the news through a newspaper app on my screen. In fact, I was already doing that through nu.nl. Of course, that does miss the nuanced opinion. But then again, what do I miss about that?

The ritual of taking the newspaper out of the mailbox, having a cup of coffee and then reading the paper. Now that only happens on Saturdays. So when the newspaper is physically there.

What does this have to do with the fine field of customer experience? Everything. Because in that, too, sometimes you get to take people through a change. And what happens here with my newspaper app, is exactly what also happens with strategy plans. With customer promises. With work instructions. They are somewhere on the web. But where again? Employees have to find for themselves where the information is and what the content was again. It is not top of mind and it never will be this way. And then, as management, we find it strange that people don't know, understand or support the company's strategy.

Therefore - if you are going to change - think very carefully about your message, the timing and the means. Check regularly whether your message has made an impact. Don't refer to that message somewhere on the intranet. Or that one 15-minute presentation in the digital kickoff. Indeed: communication is a profession. Every change requires a solid introduction, repetition and a visible message. Otherwise, out of sight, perhaps out of mind. Or the heart won't even ever be found. Just like that newspaper app doesn't interest me. And we all know how that ends: goodbye newspaper.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on November 1, 2020

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Set a BHAG

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The best version

It is still summer and I am in a vacation mood. So well, what to write about then? About sun, sea and beach? About ice cream, chips and the two dozen cucumbers we gnawed away on that beach?

I'll just leave out the staff shortage for now, because that's an unsociable topic. We know it by now. We have to wait longer for our coffee and our suitcases. Fewer trains are running and even in the call centers you are on hold a little longer. All this requires something new from us as customers. Patience.

Fortunately, we are totally prepared for that. Right? Because we got the vacation over with, went to that beach and went on endless walks. We watched the sunset from that mountain and rested up nicely. Ready for the last few months of 2022.

I do predict, in the coming time, we may luck out as customers. We get to practice patience and kindness. Something we may have lost in recent times. I would call for a loving approach to all staff serving customers. In restaurants, at the bakery, the butcher, in call centers, the delivery drivers, receptionists, stewards, cleaners and front desk staff. By now you understand.

Be prepared for the upside-down world. The wait staff is in power. Not us as customers, but them, on the other side of the bar. Because somewhere they disappeared. Did they prefer to work at the COVID test locations. With a mask on they stuck a stick in noses and throats to test. Rather that, than serve us as customers. And I can understand that. After all, how much fun are we as customers? Those disgruntled heads, drumming impatient fingers and disapproving looks. Maybe it's because of ourselves, the customer? That has to change.

So are you ready? To start being the coolest version of yourself? To start calling the insurance call center with a smile when your prolongation bill is not clear? To just add another five, when you wait five minutes for your cappuccino, and then say a cheerful Thank You to that girl on the terrace, who is very clearly having her first day at work?

As customers, let us be the reason why everyone wants to work in customer service again. Of course also because it's great work in organizations and good pay. But mainly because customers are nice. Because they are patient, even when things don't work out for a while. Because customers give compliments. In the coming months, be the best version of yourself as a customer. The world needs us.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on September 6, 2022

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Out of office is out of office

Every month we send our CX Greetz. CX Greetz is the name of my monthly CX newsletter, and it's based on how I always finish my emails using "happy greetz" instead of "best regards" or something else you might use. While we send it to my community of more than 2,200 interested people, we also get many out-of-office replies.

Some make me frown: "I'm not in the office right now, when I return, all emails will be deleted, so please send it again at date X". Some make me laugh: "I'm busy watching Christmas movies, catch you later", and some just make me cringe "I'm on holidays for the next three weeks, but if you really want to get hold of me, please send me a text".

No. No. No. Of course you're seemingly very helpful, but you are not very helpful to you. Let's get into the situation: a colleague decides he needs you for something very important. He texts you and asks for your help and references an email he sent you.

You are at the beach with your spouse and maybe even with your kids. It's sunny, you're drinking a cocktail and the sushi will be brought out in twenty minutes. Your phone makes the texting sound and: "Hello, this is work!" Just when you were meant to enjoy some mental and physical relaxation.

Since you have a strong sense of responsibility, you open your emails and you're reading the email your colleague sent (and now you are at it, you’re also reading all other emails) and you answer the question. Your spouse asks what you are doing, you complain about colleagues that are incapable of doing their work and somehow the atmosphere and energy have changed.

Believe me, holidays are holidays. You have to be clear: when you are away, you are away. Make sure that colleagues can manage whatever needs to be managed and when you are back, you'll be really back. Because the minute you start responding to emails and text messages, people will think you are available and you have created your own misery.

Create a clear out of office reply, mentioning who people can contact in your absence, because you are out of office. Now it is up to you to trust your colleagues to manage your requests. And to change your voicemail and your WhatsApp profile text.

Thinking back to my experience and how I brought my laptop on the first trip. As I was helping some clients and I was answering emails, they thought I would also answer the questions that arose from that email. This led me to open my laptop every night, checking emails and not only that, having work thoughts linger in my mind. As I also use WhatsApp in a business context, I changed my profile text to “Walking a pilgrim’s path -> date X”. When people did text me, I sent them a request to send an email instead and advised them that my assistant would manage it, since I was out on my pilgrimage. And everybody understood!

We human beings need mental rest. Time away from the office, like holidays, or what I have been doing, walking a pilgrim’s path. These moments are perfect for a mental reset. To create the ideal setting, you need to be clear to the outside world. Create boundaries and set the scene. Holidays are holidays. Not even a bit work, not one email.

During the later parts of my pilgrimage, I didn’t bring my laptop, but I also instructed my team in a better way. “Please manage all emails and customer requests yourselves. I believe in you and when I am back, I will be completely sane and fully energized to get all work done again”. It created clarity for all. Mental rest for me and because of the trust of me in them, they felt that the company was in their safe hands.

Trust me. Clarity and acting on it, will pave the way. When you're out of the office, you really are!

This blog is from my latest book 'CX is a pilgrimage - 50 strategies to spice up your leadership'. The book will be published at the end of September 2022.

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Nienke's five-star hotel experience - learned CX lessons

Seven lessons from this not-so-good customer experience...

This is an interesting topic: how to personalize occasions such as birthdays, wedding days and anniversaries? It all starts with understanding your customer. What are their expectations?

I had a good conversation with my friend Raymond Brunyanszki, the business owner of Camden Harbor Inn in the US. A Relais & Chateaux hotel and restaurant, where luxury and personal attention are key to keeping guests coming back. He told me that they ask their customers for special days. They found a way to systematize expectations and then translate these into solutions in operations.

This is what I would suggest the CX leader of the Waldorf Astoria:

  1. Determine in the CX strategy how important special moments and tailoring to guest needs actually are. In my opinion, in luxury, it is extremely important. Because good food or a great spa, can only be topped by personal attention. So clarity in strategy is key.
  2. Ask guests when booking if there are any special days or wishes. So that the staff knows this in advance. This way, they can anticipate these moments and organise some memorable experiences at these moments.
  3. Make sure the CRM system recognises these special days. I am a Hilton Honors member and they know my date of birth. So on the day itself, the system could have given a certain mention, that at least during check out, the employee would have seen it was my birthday and could have congratulated me.
  4. Make sure you have some branded gifts and a manuscript ready, detailing what to do when. Enable gifting! This way, staff members can easily grab a gift and a notecard from the shelf and present it to the customer. Branded, because if the customer shares a photo on social media, it is also great marketing for you as an organisation.
  5. Train your staff in picking up on signs, when special moments occur. Make them alert.
  6. In the morning, add special moments in the start up huddles at the operation teams. Do we have guests with special moments, who need a little extra attention today? If there is attention in the team and maybe even some gamification is added, it becomes a sport to exceed the guests' expectations.
  7. What if you missed the mark? It happens. Don't just ask at check-out, "Did you have a pleasant stay?" Almost everyone says yes, and you won't get valuable information that way. Instead, ask "What could we have done better, that would have made your stay even more enjoyable?" That is genuine curiosity and helps you truly learn where to improve as an organization.

So, enough to be learned here. And... maybe you see even more CX pro suggestions. Please share!

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Nienke's five-star hotel experience

For my 50th birthday, I booked a room for two nights at the Waldorf Astoria in Rome. Because I wanted to treat myself, but also because I wanted to make my 50th birthday a special experience. It is a very large hotel, so I had even given myself an upgrade to the Imperial Floor. Bigger rooms, a special lounge with drinks and snacks, but also - I thought - more personal attention.

Was it a fancy hotel? YES.

Did it have a great spa? YES.

Did it have a great outdoor swimming pool with fluffy towels? YES.

Did it have an outstanding breakfast? YES.

Product wise, it was all very good.

But did the hotel pay any personal attention to my 50th birthday? NO.

It was a disappointment. One of my friends from the Netherlands had arranged for a bottle of prosecco, a box of chocolates and a personal note to be delivered to my room on my last night as a 49-year-old. I also mentioned my birthday in the lounge (because I know that most CRM systems fail). But on the morning of my 50th birthday, there was nothing from the hotel to congratulate me. Not in my room, not at breakfast, not in the lounge, not at check-out. Nothing at all. Even though they could have known....

I started wondering. Did five-star luxury hotels become commodity? I don't know, but I do know that if you are a luxury brand that promises a certain level of personal service, this is a big failure. I also shared this story on Linkedin, where many agreed that the hotel missed the mark. But also, some mentioned a possible culture gap. Probably true for Italian birthdays, but the guests at the Waldorf (that I saw) were mostly Americans or English-speaking guests. And I know how important birthdays are for American guests! Even more than for me as a Dutchy.

The interesting thing was that when I checked out, the employee asked if my stay had been pleasant. And it had been, so I indicated that too. This is also where they fell short in asking for feedback. (Be sure to read the CX lens blog where I share my suggestion for them!) And... I didn't receive a survey. So the Waldorf staff can only read about my experience on LinkedIn now (or in this blog).

Why did I post this on LinkedIn? Not because I wanted to get this solved. Because if I had wanted to, I would have called the hotel, or sent a 'complaint'. No, it's more a question for us as CX professionals. What do you do with these special days? Especially in leisure industry. Or was I, as a guest, expecting too much? I posted this message to share, to learn and to get the conversation going.

So, go over to the next blog, to see the point of view from a CX professional lens!

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How to handle customer surveys well - CX lessons learned from TESO

As CX professionals, we often send out customer surveys. Or maybe we don't even send them, but we use the content for metrics or for customer quotes. Or to learn where to improve in our customer journeys.

I know that many CX professionals are not responsible for closing the loop. Which is a pity, because it is actually a very important topic. You can truly impact the customer experience and make a difference in your customers life. This is where too many companies go wrong. So, if you get it right, you diversify from the rest.

Lessons to learn and actions to take:

A. The strategic lens:

  1. Responsibility. Find out who is responsible for closing the loop. If no one is responsible, make sure you arrange the conversation and responsibility.
  2. Leadership commitment. Align leadership on the topic. Do they find it acceptable that you don’t react to surveys or reviews? Let them trip over the truth, so they find out themselves how your company is handling feedback. This way you create the buy in you need.
  3. Future experiences. Determine how closing the loop fits your company’s strategic goals and how you want to act accordingly. Are there certain segments of customers you do want to respond to or not? Do you focus on bringing detractors to neutrals, or neutrals to promoters? Bring the strategic lens and have those valuable conversations.
  4. Business case: Yes, you must calculate what it will cost, to start handling the feedback. Or maybe start a pilot to see what the impact is, so you can calculate the ROI later.

B. The tactical lens:

  1. Why - Describe clearly why you are doing what you are doing. This way you can explain to the team members how closing the loop fits into the company's strategy. What the benefits are. What went wrong in the past. How this will help towards the future.
  2. Who - Who is actually going to act on the feedback? Is it the web care team, or the contact center? Plan time and have a conversation with Work Force Management if appropriate. The who is often ignored. But also think of the who in customers. Is it the zeros and ones you come back to? Or the neutrals? Or just the people who complain? Make it very specific.
  3. What - Describe what to do. Maybe a little script is needed. Always apologize, fix the problem, and do something extra. What can your colleagues do as a little gift? Help them out, by giving the framework on what is expected. Arrange the logging in the CRM system.
  4. When - Do you call the customer the day after the feedback? Do you do that in the morning? How many times do you try? But also, do you need to report on progress? Describe all, so you get it right in the long run.

C. The operational lens:

a. This is just about doing it. Calling customers. Fixing problems. Celebrating successes. Getting others involved.

I suggest you think big and start small. Choose a pilot project. Experiment. That will lead up to your big success in the long run.

At the ferry service they gave it their primary focus (I checked afterwards). They had training how to handle feedback and made a little game out of it. They took pride in solving issues and getting back to customers. They arranged it and acted on it. As a customer I felt it. Now it is up to you to do the same

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