Wednesday 27 November 2019

Service Standards: A Double-Edged Sword

One of the increasingly common sights on company websites is their “Service Pledge” or “Service Standards” – a promise to customers to treat them in a particular way.

Given that customers expect to be treated “right”, this may go some way to maintaining satisfaction levels.  The key, though, if we don’t want our promise to turn against us, is to find out what customers want and then work out how (and if) we can deliver.

Getting this information isn’t easy.  For one thing, we don’t like hearing that we’re doing something wrong.  That’s easily addressed – we have to be prepared to “bite the bullet”.

More difficult is asking the “right” questions.  I’ve just been asked to complete a membership survey for a club and found myself puzzling over questions that weren’t particularly clear or didn’t actually address what I felt should be addressed.  They were asking either the “wrong questions” or not being specific about what members were being asked to answer.  For example, “What do you think about the décor?” may seem a good question, but what is the information they actually want?  Members were asked to give a score from 1-5 (1 being worst, 5 being best).  My “OK” (or 3) rating might be another member’s 5 (or 1).

Assuming we can obtain some useful information from our surveys, our next question is, “Can we address this and if so, how?”  Do we need to train people, buy new equipment, put signs up, for example?  Are our instructions for customers clear (remember, they may be to us)?  Can we afford the changes required both now and in the longer-term (training, after all, is a continuing expense)?

After we get useful information, we need to develop our standards with those who will be responsible for implementing and maintaining them (i.e. our people).  These are the ones who know what can and can’t be done, what the main areas for complaints (and praise) are, and what gets in customers’ way (e.g. slow management decision-making!).  If we don’t engage our staff, we can’t expect them to engage with processes “forced” on them.

Once expectations (customers, staff and our own) have been raised, can we meet them (or better still, exceed) them?  

High standards, if sustainable, are what separate our business from the others.  


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 provide 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.

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