Surface Ripples

Fraught with Friction

I received a brilliant newsletter from Michael Heppell not long ago about the “friction” that we encounter in multiple aspects of our daily lives.

Michael, in case you haven’t heard of him, is the author of How to Be Brilliant and other books on service and self-improvement. 

For Michael, “Customer Service” means more than the proverbial “fake smile” and “Have a nice day”.  We should always be on the lookout for how we ourselves can improve, innovate and make things easier on others.  His bugbear, in his newsletter, was “friction”. 

Surprisingly, Michael claims that we can be rude, drop the ball, mess up pricing and still be forgiven if things go smoothly. If, however, our interaction is “fraught with friction, we shouldn’t be surprised if our customers vote with their feet and look for smoother alternatives.”  

Michael has spotted a number of the ways in which we experience friction (but I bet we can all add others!):

• Enter your password (No, not that one…).
• Print this (don’t worry we’ll never actually look at it).  
• We need your details for security (only to have to repeat them... twice).
• Please choose: 8am - 1pm or 1pm - 7pm for your convenient appointment.
• You need to download the app first.
• Please speak in your normal voice. What is your postcode? 
• Please repeat your postcode.
• I'll be with you in a minute.
• I'm not authorised to...
• It’s policy…

Each encounter with friction slows a customer down and gets them annoyed.  It slows them down (or even stops them) from making a buying or loyalty decision.  

Is this what we really want?  

If we don’t enjoy friction when we’re customers, do we think it’s any different when it comes to those who use our products or services?  What friction does that result in for our staff and business?

What could we all do (starting with just one  thing) that could remove or at the least reduce friction and give customers a smoother experience?  

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience 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.

Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Strategy

posted by William Martin @ 13:07