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CustomerSatisfaction

The Divisional VP made me the team leader of the Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty and Employee Satisfaction management teams for my division. Pretty interesting decision on the part of the VP because I'm not a manager.

The VP decided to make me the leader after a series of questions I asked at the divisional kickoff meeting last week. The questions had to do with how customer and employee satisfaction, both elements of his balanced scorecard, were going to be measured. More specifically, I asked "Who is going to do the measurement?" The VP answered my question with a question -- "What is the root of your question?".

The topic of answering a question with a question (AnsweringQuestionWithQuestion) would make a good thread so I'll spin that one off now.

Back to the topic at hand. My answer to the VP's question was that managers within the company are managing the customer satisfaction survey to optimize the rating rather than gaining feedback from the customers. This action distorts the feedback and prevents vital customer problems from being discovered. My answer about employee satisfaction was equally frank. I said that without safety, employees would never give him an accurate picture of their state. I recommended that, like the customer satisfaction survey, that an outside firm measure employee satisfaction.

You could hear a pin drop. No one had ever been so frank with the VP in a public meeting, especially with a 100 of his employees. The VP said that he wanted me to become a member of the aforementioned teams. I needed to see if he really wanted me on the team so I initiated an email conversation with him. I started with a message that reviewed the management plan from last year's operating plan. The message was frank. For instance, I said that speaking up at the company was like standing naked in the snow. He said that people have to learn to speak up. I replied, "That won't happen without safety." He must have liked what he heard because the next thing I know I'm the team leader.

So, here I am the leader of a management team that I suspect doesn't have the energy and desire to accomplish anything of value for the customer or employees. The VP wants new initiatives for this year. I've already told him that last years initiatives weren't even initiatives. For instance, one of the initiatives was "Driving relationship-building activities".

I am confident that I could build a better customer and employee satisfaction plan on my own. The VP would love it. But, if the plan has any chance of succeeding, doesn't it require the creation of change agents? In my mind, the managers that are on my team are a logical candidates for that role. So, I believe I need to build a consensus, which may be tough. Oh, I left out an important detail. All the members of my team are first and second level sales managers. In other words, the members of my team are political, opinionated and crafty. For them, customer satisfaction and loyalty is all about retaining customers and gaining more business. FWIW, in my mind, there is nothing wrong with that view because that's what the company expects of them.

The product for each team will be a 2-3 page write up for the divisional operating plan. My conversations with the VP lead me to believe he really wants change but he can barely get what he wants described let alone implemented.

I've got an opportunity to make things a little better for my customers and, just as importantly, the technical employees like me. I would like to talk to someone about my situation and get feedback. I know this is a good group to have that conversation.

Here are a few principles I believe in --

• The goal is to exceed customer expectation.
• The more the employee satisfaction, the more the customer satisfaction.
• Customer satisfaction is necessary, but not sufficient. How many times do satisfied customers switch brands? Answer, a lot.
• All initiatves must be derived from defined problems. For instance, disatisfied customers don't buy. That's an example of a clear problem.
• Initiatives must produce either measureable or conceptual benefits. Distinguish between the two benefits types.
• Rather than blanket initiatives for everyone, outline initiatives for each level of management. Keep expectations in line with the manger's span of control.
• Distinguish between goals and objectives.
• The plan must resonate with the VP and at least a minority of managers who agree with the objectives and initiatives.
• The plan must be clear and congruent (achievable, walk your talk).

Tell me what you think. I appreciate your help.

SteveSmith 2003.01.24

He said that people have to learn to speak up. I got similar responses when I mentioned safety being an issue at my company -- plus more blaming the victim language without a hint of taking responsibility for the atmosphere of my company.

Will you be able to recommend changes in the reward structure? My (untested) theory is that change is much more palatable when there are clear rewards for changing -- a change in how bonuses are given is more likely to make first and second line managers change their behaviors than simply telling them they need to change their behaviors.

It looks like that VP is part of the "core group" of the company. (see Art Kleiner's PDFs at ) What are the real goals of the core group? Examples: quick sale of company, maintain a dynasty, dominate a market. What does the rest of the company think will make the core group happy?

KeithRay 2003.01.26

I got similar responses when I mentioned safety being an issue at my company -- plus more blaming the victim language without a hint of taking responsibility for the atmosphere of my company.

Well, that response makes sense for a member of the core group. Membership in that group enables them to feel safe about saying almost anything to a nonmember. Members of the core group often need to be educated about safety. Some learn: Others don't.

BTW, my VP answered my quesiton with a question in a style that came across as inquisitive to me rather than blaming. The frankness of my response didn't come from feeling safe though. It came from being able to be congruent even when I feel danger. I don't know whether that skill comes from courage or training or a combination of courage and training. After years of training with Jerry, Dani, and Jean -- I'm a better communicator. Other employees may view me as courageous, but I do not. My messages come from deep inside so speaking them doesn't require courage on my part. Choosing when to speak them or choosing when to not speak them requires more will power or courage or whatever on my part than speaking them.

Will you be able to recommend changes in the reward structure?

Yes, clearly recommending changes is in the team's charter. And, I missed listing rewards and recognition in principles that I believe in. Thank you for reminding me. Let me add I believe that rewards require that the giver know something about the receiver and an effective reward must be given as close as possible to when the behavior occurs.

When I think about rewards, I'm thinking about employee rewards. Your question about management rewards has me in chaos. I reward people because it's the right thing to do. I don't expect a reward. I'm imagining someone giving me a reward for giving a reward. The vision creates a weird feeling. And, I don't like the feeling. Please give me any insight you have about this topic.

It looks like that VP is part of the "core group" of the company.

I think he is, but I can't say with certainty.

What are the real goals of the core group?

I don't have a relationship with the core group so all I have to go on is what thet tell Wall Street. We all know about stories to Wall Street.

How would you answer the same question about your company's core group?

SteveSmith 2003.01.26

My company's core group still talks like they are a tech-driven start-up, with rewards for heroic programming and testing efforts, but no measurements of quality other than bug-reports by end-users.

Customers are consulted about products only near the end of their development.

The core group likes to feel good about themselves being generous to the rank and file, so when there are profitable quarters, we get a gift of an audio-cd, or a wool coat, or (in REALLY good times) a partial-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas that's too short to enjoy, even if you skip the "optional" mandated parties. The core group has felt a twinge from customer complains about quality, but do not feel in danger because of the near-monopoly we have in our niche.

The core group has frozen hiring in the USA, but purchased companies in USA, Europe and the Far East, and elsewhere, as well as starting a new Far East branch of our main company, where they hope to take advantage of the low wages. The purchased companies are partly disversification, and partly enhancing the monopoloy (buying our competitors).

I once heard a non-core-group manager speculate that our purchased companies might have better development processes than we do, but since we dismantle them and lay off their middle-managers, we don't know. I also heard that the lastest acquisition in Europe may be left to run itself.

2003.01.26

Funny you should mention Las Vegas. I'm traveling there next week for the kickoff of a set of new products. I like the products, but I'm dreading the thought of being roomed with another person who may snore and prevent me from sleeping, crammed into a large arena with thousands of people, treated like a fourth grader, and forced to listen to babble. Of course, attendance is "mandatory".

We will have break-out sessions, which will have too many participants or someone attempting to lead who doesn't know anything about leading. Feedback will be gathered that confirms that this event was the best one ever.

I am impressed though with whoever it is that is contracted to organize the event. My goodness, what a logistical nightmare. For me, the result is a clossal waste of money and, most importantly, my time.

Profits were unacceptable last quarter so we won't get a polo shirt, wool jacket, or wind breaker embroidered or stamped with the company logo.

2003.01.26

I'm spinning the question of TestingPlanForCongruence off to a different thread.

SteveSmith 2003.01.27

I'm spinning the question of RequiringAnEmployeeSignature to another thread.

SteveSmith 2003.01.27

The thing that has kept coming back to me on this one is that you are being engaged essentially as a consultant. You (& team) are being asked to influence at least this VP. This is a bit muddled and complex because you are an employee with a day (line) job, indeed one in which you are being asked to commit by signature to some kind of "operating plan." You're doing two things at once.

If it were me, I'd go dig out Block's Flawless Consulting, and the Flawless Consulting Fieldbook, and keep them handy. I'd also track & report the two jobs - the consulting engagement, and my day job, separately and distinctly.

- JimBullock, 2003.01.27

SteveSmith 2003.01.28

SteveSmith 2003.01.28

This Mike guy is exactly right. Technology customers are getting steadily more sophisticated. They're aware of lock-in more than they used to be. So they try to avoid it.

So, a good relationship gets you the chance to be heard again. If you delivered the last time, you might even be at the head of the line the next time. But you still have to be cost & feature competitive.

I remember many moons ago, early in HP's entry into UNIS, buying some disk for a mid-sized HP system. SCSI JBOD from HP cost me 3 to 4 times as much as the same JBOD from a decent reseller. Reseller was actually selling HP platters and mechanisms - same stuff as in the HP box. The sales guy and I had a conversation about how much premium I was willing to pay to have it integrate clean. I'd pay 2x, but not 4x. He wasn't happy. Neither was I.

- JimBullock, 2003.1.28

Many sales people would say that working with them is worth a 4x differential. Most of them are kidding themselves. A select few aren't.

SteveSmith 2003.01.29

I think the following items amplify customer satisfaction

• Quality of a company's product and services
• Quality of the relationship between the company's agent(s) and the customer(s)
  • Responsiveness
  • Thoroughness
  • Creativity
• Demonstrations of the company's value to someone whose opinion counts

I think the following items regulate customer satisfaction

• Quality of competitor's products and services
• Quality of the relationship between the competitor's agent(s) and the customer(s)
  • Responsiveness
  • Thoroughness
  • Creativity
• Demonstrations of the competitor's value to someone whose opinion counts

I'm struggling with the link between customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction and customer loyalty. A satisfied customer isn't necessarily a loyal customer. I think though that a long-term dissatisfied customer never becomes a loyal customer. Do you agree? What measurable or conceptually measurable qualitites cause loyalty?

I want to get to more concrete qualitites. But, I am where I am in my understanding of the system. I know that I can be more concreate once I have a useful view of the system's interactions.

SteveSmith 2003.01.29

How to establish such a relationship? Ah... there's an interesting one.

I hope this view of loyalty as projected mutual interest as well as competence clarifies things for you.

BobLee 2003.01.29

SherryHeinze 2003.01.29

Excellent first line management can pay off big.

BobLee 2002.01.30

I've classified customer satisfaction into three categories --

• Yuck
• Okay
• Wow!

These categories seem self explanatory to me. I especially like the okay category because it's description sets an upper bound for satisfaction. Services that only satisfy the expectations, which might be better stated as requirements, only yield satisfaction (okay). Services that don't meet expectations throw you into the yuck (dissatisfied) category. I like the word "yuck" because it imitates the sound of vomitting, which seems particularly appropriate to me.

The wow category was the one I was most interested in exploring. People that help their comapny achieve wow experiences for their customers open the door to even more opportunities to compete for more business, which is the goal of my analysis. The opportunity to compete creates a flywheel for creating even more critical solutions as well as another flywheel for interactions.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the notation used in the diagram, please read Jerry's (Gerald M Weinberg) Quality Software Management Volume 1: Systems Thinking, which is a truly remarkable book that I return to again and again for timeless advice.

I will not share the interventions I'm proposing for the company that employees me. They are an overlay for this diagram. This action helps create a context for the interventions' significance.

SteveSmith 2003.02.17

I find your situation fascinating and am eager to see what transpires.

Here's my thoughts on your principles:

• The goal is to exceed customer expectation.
  

I agree with this. When you deliver what you said you would and deliver just what the customer wants, you often exceed their expectation.

• The more the employee satisfaction, the more the customer satisfaction.
  

Not sure there is a direct correlation for this statement, but I believe that if employees are dissatisfied then customer satisfaction is likely to go down.

• Customer satisfaction is necessary, but not sufficient. How many times do satisfied customers switch brands? Answer, a lot.
  

I agree with Sherry's view that people are loyal to people, not organizations. I'm not sure where "brands" fits into your company. Most companies like yours talk about "branding", but isn't it really about "image"? And people do switch companies with different images.

• All initiatves must be derived from defined problems. For instance, disatisfied customers don't buy. That's an example of a clear problem.
  

Agree. I'd look for defined problems that can be stated in a way such that we can determine a way to solve the problem. If you know that customers are dissatisfied, that is surely a problem you can tackle.

• Initiatives must produce either measureable or conceptual benefits.
  

Can you expand on the conceptual benefit? Is image in that category?

• Rather than blanket initiatives for everyone, outline initiatives for each level of management. Keep expectations in line with the manger's span of control.
  

I really like this. Blanket initiatives sound empty and are hard to relate to specific responsibilities and means of accountability.

• Distinguish between goals and objectives.
  

I agree. I think of goals as being business related statements and objectives as tactics that support the goals. Is that what you meant?

• The plan must resonate with the VP and at least a minority of managers who agree with the objectives and initiatives.
  

The VP sounds like the champion. I got lost with the "resonate ... with at least a minority of the managers who agree..." Aren't the objectives and initiatives part of the plan?

• The plan must be clear and congruent (achievable, walk your talk).
  

Yes, connected to rewards and policies and how people do their job.

- BeckyWinant 2-23-03