Wednesday 27 January 2016

Two Words That Mean The World

Not “Here’s money!” or “Take holiday!” but something much simpler: “Thank you” and “Well done!”

In the day-to-day bustle and rush of office life, we can forget that people are making an effort to keep things moving.  From our point of view, it may not be the amount of effort we think they could put in, or the amount we ourselves could, but for them it may be more than that.

People like to feel valued (this is one of Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs“); thanking or praising them are cost-free ways of doing this (although they shouldn’t be seen as substitutes for financial rewards or other rewards in kind). 

I’m not advocating that we should thank or praise people for just coming to work every morning (although a simple “Good morning” works wonders).  When they do do something that involves putting in extra effort or going slightly out of their way (for them personally), then no harm done.  They see that their efforts are acknowledged and appreciated.  They’ll repeat that behaviour.

If we can do it in public, in front of other staff and colleagues, so much the better. 

Different people see “extra effort” in different ways.  Don't try to adopt the same standard with everyone.  As Einstein is supposed to have said, “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

These two words can bring about performance or behavioural improvements if we catch people doing the right things or behaving the right way.  This is to be encouraged.  At times, it may involve praising the smaller things to encourage progress to larger ones and we will have to explain this to other colleagues who may not understand what’s going on.  It all starts somewhere…

In short: a person who feels appreciated tends to do more than is expected.

Now what’s that worth?



I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world  running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday 19 January 2016

Apologise... Then Act

We’ve all been in this situation: we call a “Customer Service Hotline” and are handled by a nice person full of apologies and assurances that the problem will be solved.  Then we wait…  And wait…  And wait…

The point is that nothing actually gets done.  Whether it’s because of a disconnect between the Customer Service Representative who takes our call and the function, department, or section that actually has to fix the problem, or because the “fixers” are already overwhelmed with fix-it requests, or because of other causes we don't know.  Frankly, we don’t want to know either.  We just want our problem solved.

Part of customer retention is actually sorting out customers’ problems quickly and completely.  We all know that things go wrong; we don't like it when they do, but bad things happen.  What sets the leaders above the “also rans” is how they sort things out. “We’re no worse than the rest” is not an excuse…

This can range from a “no questions” returns/refund policy to a visit by the appropriate technician to a personal call from someone with the knowledge and authority to get things done.  The fact that anyone calls back is enough to set that business apart from the competition. 

If you want to stand above the competition, make sure that your organisation is set up to act on hearing that customers have a problem.  There must be a clear line of communication between:
  • Customer Service Reps;
  •  “Fixers”;
  • Product/service design teams.

Why the last?  So that if too many calls come in because of  a flaw in the product or service, the design team can fix it straight away and reduce the chances of unhappy customers.



I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world  running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday 12 January 2016

Human Or Robot

“When someone phones, they get a human. It’s not rocket science is it?”.  So says Andy Page, Founder of  “Brilliant Bikes”.

“Customer Service Hotlines” are common, but what differentiates the “winners” is that, when a customer calls the number, a human being answers the call.  All-too often we’ve experienced something like:

Welcome to the [name of company]’s Customer Service Hotline.  To, hear your balance, press 1…”

After listening to several options, which may or may not include the option of speaking to a real-live person, you find that you’ve spent two minutes of the your time (with attendant call costs) not getting anywhere.

The arguments for automated service run along the lines of:
  • It’s cheaper to have an automated service;
  • It’s more efficient for directing customer calls to the right department/person.

What people tend to forget is that what’s more important is what the customer wants.  For smaller businesses, a personal touch isn’t an issue, but for larger ones handling hundreds, if not thousands, of calls a day, it’s statistically more likely that their Customer Service Hotline will see more action.

Ideally, your hotline should be in the same country as the caller.  For some, cost considerations have meant “offshoring” to other (read “cheaper”) countries.  The result has been complaints that Customer Hotline Staff in the country receiving the calls are not fit for purpose.  Indeed, some UK businesses now boast that their hotline staff are UK-based.

One way of minimising calls to the hotline is to make sure that people get the right product/service at the right time and price.  You can never guarantee that service will always be perfect, but ask your customer service staff what the main issues are that they have to deal with and they’ll tell you where the main problems lie. 

Otherwise, what’s so hard about having a person to re-route calls?  Train them well enough, and they may even be able to field some opf the questions themselves…


I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. After more than 20 years in the global financial services industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own Performance Management Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

Labels: , ,

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Save When Times Are Good; Spend When Times Are Bad

Many would react by saying that we should do the exact opposite: spend when times are good and save when they’re bad.  Why might this not be the best advice?

I’m not advocating that one shouldn't cut costs during a downturn - quite the contrary.  What I am asking people to do is consider this: when is the time to buy?  Surely it’s during sales?  Leaving aside the usual jokes that you buy something that you don't need at 50% off in a sale, there’s a reason to look at this.

Let’s start, though, with saving during good times.  This can be hard; when times are good, we want to enjoy them.  The problem is that we start to believe that the good times will last forever, we want them to last forever and everyone else is acting as if they will.  There’s often pressure on us to spend as well from all the different “stakeholders” in a business…

I’m not advocating no spending, just that we should continue to put something (preferably more, if we’re seeing increased income) aside for the proverbial rainy day.

As for spending when times are bad, it’s straightforward.  First, if people see you spending, it may give them heart. 

Second, when times are hard, people may be more willing to negotiate.  You may be able to clinch purchases or deals at a price that you wouldn’t get during the good times.

Third, if you’re buying from other suppliers, you're helping them to stay in business.  Hopefully they’ll remember that when things get better…

Two other expenses worth considering are training and investing in new equipment.  Every good organisation should look to “upskill” its people and if you have “downtime” and spare funds, it’s a way of preparing people for when things improve (as they eventually will).  You may also be able to obtain new equipment at lower prices.

Imagine if you’ve invested in more training and equipment whilst others have “marked time”.  You’ll be in a better position to take advantage of the upturn as the business that’s ready to go whilst others play “catch up”.

This is long-term thinking and will be opposed by short-termists who can only see the now.  It takes a brave CEO to go against this.



I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world  running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

Labels: , ,