I had an interesting experience recently when sourcing equipment parts from a big-brand agribusiness. Having called the dealership, listened to a lengthy advertisement about all the ways they could help and then, with no-one answering, I left a voice message. No-one called back.
I remembered to follow up a couple of weeks later on a Saturday morning, and again, no-one answered. The website said they were open on Saturday morning, so I drove out there. Gates locked – they were shut. So, I called on the Monday, and the parts guy was surprised to learn that no-one responds to messages on their recorded service and that they’re not actually open at the times the website says.
As businesses scale and gain complexity, there are lots more opportunities for the left and right hands to not know what the other is doing. Our job is to have a way of trapping the issues before they cause issues for either our team or customers.
When did you last ‘shadow shop’ your customer experience… or sit in another department for a day or two to see what your team experience?
What divergences did you notice between your expectations/assumptions and what actually happens? (what needs to be done, and is the issue part of a pattern in the way your train, onboard or deploy systems?)
If you haven’t done this, what is the most important process that you should review first?