T
TALKING HEADS
John Sills
The human factor
T
hink back to the last truly
great customer experience
you had. I’m guessing it
didn’t involve a chatbot. And that’s
because, while automation can
create a consistently good customer
experience, truly memorable ones
almost always involve humans.
My family moved house last
summer. Like most families on
moving day, we were stressed and
hoping we’d get out before the
new owners arrived. Our removal
company was brilliant. But not
because of their efficiency or
time-keeping, wonderful as that was.
What made them so good
was how they involved our
three-year-old son. They asked him
to help pack the boxes, let him draw
all over them, and even gave him a
toy version of the removal van to
play with. Incredibly simple, but with
an significant impact on the ease
of the move. They understood that
there are two types of customer
experience: the functional and the
emotional. They focused on getting
both right.
For years, companies have
been fixated on optimising the
“
functional experience, largely to
save themselves money by removing
people from the process. More things
can now be done more efficiently:
banking has moved from branches
to smartphones; health advice from
GPs to NHS 111; retail from shops to
the web.
However, while the functional
experience has been advancing
at pace, it’s often to the detriment
of the emotional experience. And
yet, the thing that really influences
a customer’s experience (and
therefore their decisions) is how you
make them feel.
Think about buying a train ticket.
You stand in front of the machine,
and stare at around 14 different
options for your route that day:
single, advanced, off-peak, super off-
peak. The list goes on. Functionally,
this is great: you have every option
available, at the touch of a screen.
Emotionally, it’s terrible. You’re filled
with uncertainty and confusion,
and after you’ve had a guess and
chosen a ticket, you spend most of
the journey dreading the appearance
of the guard, half expecting a slap
on the wrist, or the wallet.
Understanding which services
to automate and which require
a human touch may become
the biggest strategic decision
companies have to make in
terms of customer experience
”
This is why many passengers
still queue at the ticket desk to get
the best-priced ticket for them. It’s
also why savvy businesses across
all industries are upping the human
factor, especially when it’s a big life
or money moment. In an increasingly
digital world, having humans as part
of your experience isn’t the cost it’s
seen to be, but a benefit, a premium
differentiator in an otherwise
price-based race to the bottom.
Luxury companies – be it
five-star hotels, upper-class flying, or
chauffeur-driven cars – have always
known that it’s the people at the
heart of their experience that make
the difference. In banking, First Direct
still differentiates by “recruiting
the smile and training the skill”; in
tourism, Trailfinders remains hugely
successful by bringing in advisers
with real-world travel experience.
Even the likes of Amazon and
Airbnb still have a person at the end
of the phone for when something
goes wrong.
Understanding
which
experiences to automate and which
require a human touch may become
the biggest strategic decision
companies have to make in terms
of customer experience over the
next few years. And getting the
right people recruited, engaged and
motivated to deliver that experience
will be crucial.
After all, it’s relatively easy for
competitors to copy your IT platform
or your business model. It’s a lot
harder to copy your people.
John J Sills is managing director at
The Foundation, which helps
organisations to achieve customer-
led success.
March – May 2019
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