Category: leadership

Post-sale nuisance

Fabrizio1 Comment

One thing many customer service professionals fail to understand about customer service is that their work is not fixing issues.

It might be that a customer reaching out for a late delivery, an unexpected charge, a faulty product actually wants that rectified. But that’s only on the surface. What matters infinitely more is for them to find somebody to connect with. Somebody who can chat with them through a bad customer experience – and sometimes something more that goes on in their lives. Customers want to be heard and respected. And that’s why sharing ten possible solutions to their superficial problem is often ineffective, even when one of the ten might actually help them.

For companies to not look at customers as post-sale nuisances, they need to invest in a customer service that starts with empathy and does not immediately falls prey to problem solving. A customer service that says I am sorry, that explains what is going on, that asks smart questions, that forgets about the script, that takes the customer by hand and guides them towards what’s next – which, by the way, might be a non-resolution.

Of course, that will mean some of the metrics will be off.

And in that case, just make sure you are measuring the right ones.

Negative impressions

FabrizioLeave a comment

Reporting on tens of different metrics give one of two impressions.

Impression #1 – You are shooting in the dark. Since you can’t agree on what success means, you are just tracking and reporting everything in the hope that some of the numbers will look good on your deck to the board.

Impression #2 – You are going to cheat. Many metrics mean infinite interpretations, and something tells me that the one you are going to deliver today is not a story of failure.

Next time you are preparing a report, make an effort to avoid both.

Stay on point

FabrizioLeave a comment

If you are busy trying to understand whether your team should work remotely, in the office, or in an hybrid format, you are most likely busy with wrong kind of questions.

Atlassian, State of Teams report – There is no material difference in a team’s health based on where they work from.

It might be yet another issue that distracts from focusing on the need to reassess what management means and what people seeks in organisations and their work.

Let’s stay on point.

Making up

Fabrizio1 Comment

Saying that you are sorry is great, and of course when you do that often for the very same reason, then deep down you are not sorry anymore.

I am sorry I am always late.

I am sorry I never call.

I am sorry I keep getting mad.

If you catch yourself doing that, there are two options.

Either you realize that the thing you are always sorry for is not as important for you as something else.

I am always late (not important) because I like to arrive when everyone is already there (important).

I never call (not important) because I do not want to talk to you (important).

I keep getting mad (not important) because that is my go-to way to express discomfort (important).

It is legitimate, and you have got to accept that others might have a different set of priorities and decide to move on.

Or you might realize that, while you genuinely want to change the behaviour, you are stuck. And in that case, as you go through your own soul searching, there is one important question you need to answer: How can I make up with them?

I am sorry I am always late, I will take some time after the meeting to edit the notes and send them around.

I am sorry I never call, I will keep you updated by sending you an email every week.

I am sorry I keep getting mad, I will make it clear to others it is on me if we are not getting along.

Of course, you can always ask: How can I make up with you?

Compensation strategy

FabrizioLeave a comment

Data about average salaries at a company, combined with data about average salaries at similar companies, is a huge and underutilized opportunity for any organization.

And not because one has to match or surpass the others, ensuring that they offer the top rates in the market. Quite the opposite, in fact. It is an opportunity because it gives the company the chance to start a conversation about an important piece of their culture and identity, and about how that compares with the rest of the market.

Money is but one motivator for most people, and not even the most relevant in many cases. Offering lower salaries and more of the rest can be a powerful statement and a winning strategy when done intentionally.

The alternative is what already happens in most cases: money as the main leverage in individual, secretive, transactional negotiations that leave each employee with the conviction that they can leave as soon as somebody will pay them more.

It is wasted potential.