5. Service Excellence & Customer Advocacy
- Is your Customer Experience : 'intentional, consistent, differentiated and valuable'?
- Is this 'focussed customer engagement' at the forefront of what you deliver?
- Do your mystery shopper scores truly support this view?
- Is this 'memorable experience' routinely competitor benchmarked?
- Is this innovative service/'USP' truly delivering no-one else does - But everyone wants...?
- Is your focus 'all about execution' - and does your "Net Promoter Score" support this?
- If front-line staff matter - is there tangible empowerment and enterprise?
- Has the corporate plan been communicated on a single sheet of A4?
- And has it permeated and been embraced at the front-line?
- Do they understand what the business is trying to deliver...?
- Does front-line staff training and development support this plan...?
- And is there clear career progression for them, from here....?
As we outlined in 'Our Values', we adhere to the oft-quoted line: "You may have developed the most brilliantly crafted corporate strategy known to Man, but if it is not implemented, it is worth nothing... and if you can�t get that plan summarised onto one page of A4 and understood on the tills, at the front line - then it is also worthless too..." Our ethos here at AJT Associates may be all about Pace and Detail - as we have aimed to outline throughout our earlier 'What we deliver' pages here... But, if we have learnt anything from working for 25+ years in successful, customer-service led businesses, it is - that IMPLIMENTATION COUNTS MORE!
We have seen that the key differentiator between average 'survivor' businesses - and those that thrive and grow and lead their markets - is a passion for delivery!... Ask : Where do the 'pound notes' actually go into the tills for example, in a retailer?... At the front-line/i.e. in the stores! (Or on the web-site!) It is no use employing lots of clever, senior / strategic people at head office, to refine plan after plan - if your stores, manufacturing plants, or service centres have no clue what the plan is actually asking them to do...? Or - if you are not asking those units how they can help to deliver that plan better? Or - are not asking them what customers want - or what your competitors are doing? (After all � who is that is talking to your customers, face-to-face, day-after-day...?)
How often does your senior team actually go 'back-to-the floor' (not just to undertake the pre-arranged 'royal visits...) but to celebrate success and champion delivery...? How often do they 'mystery shop' both your front-line - and those of your competitors? What voice does your front-line have at that 'senior table' - to guide their thinking on everything from customer complaints, to 'people' strategies around training and succession...? And do you measure your customer advocates - and detractors (both lapsed and non...) � to calculate your critical 'net promoter score'...?
Some recent AJT Associates projects...
- We have designed and implemented comprehensive customer-orientation/culture-change programmes for a range of businesses across the hospitality, retail, service and financial services arenas... Including front-line staff engagement in mystery shop, market research, complaint analysis, and new product/service development programmes...
- Working with boards and senior HR teams, we have re-aligned organisations' key capability and skills matrices, re-benchmarking their talent and performance management frameworks... Revising staff recognition/reward structures and succession planning � as well as job evaluation and remuneration policies... All aligned to defined and differentiated, excellent customer service...
- We have revised retail estate structures and hierarchies � and even re-located outlets into J-V's and concessions to 'get to the consumer' � where it suits THEM not US...! We have re-defined leadership excellence and management practices � all geared around focus on the FRONT-LINE...!
- AJT Associates have worked with many leading customer-focussed organisations to deliver this critical advocacy � or 'promotor' status... Let us come and talk to you, about how we can work with you to 'imbue' this culture and thinking within your organisation � both with our tangible analyses and scorecarding � and then with Implementation and Action...!
More details on how our team can rapidly add to your organisation's skill-base, can be found at Our Capabilities and Who We Are.
And a list of satisfied customers - together with details of some of our most recent commercial projects - can be found at Our Clients...
Call us now on 07974-201605 for more information...