What are we actually doing all this for? A frequently heard question in uncertain times. Cynthia Mak in search of the answer.

 

In the changing times we find ourselves in, I am always reasonably happy with a bit of stability. Now that Soldaat van Oranje really turns out to be ending, we have to make do with the other cliché: that ultimately, everything revolves around the satisfied customer.

It is a comforting thought. One that works well in annual plans, strategy sessions, and presentations on customer centricity. We want satisfied customers. Preferably very satisfied customers. And if at all possible, we turn them into fans.

Why we actually want that is a question that is asked remarkably rarely, probably because we already know the answer: everyone aspires to become a second Coolblue. Anything for a smile!

Coffee mugs with a payoff

Yet, in organizations, there are often only two people who take this *really* seriously. The marketing manager prints the slogan on the coffee mugs. The customer contact manager works themselves to the bone to get customer satisfaction above an 8. Everyone happy! Until the quarterly figures disappoint and the latter manager has to come and explain why the budgets have been exceeded. An 8 is important, as long as it doesn't eat into the dividend and thereby ruin the shareholders' smiles.

In a way, that is of course logical. An organization is not a charity, and keeping customers satisfied costs money. Often much more than you would like. Staff costs money, extended opening hours cost money, and that employee who is given all the time to listen to Mrs. Jansen's story with genuine attention still has to pay the mortgage at the end of the month. The AI ​​assistant, on the other hand, doesn't have to do that, but it costs money too. Think, for example, of implementation, training, maintenance, and quality control.

I would like a larger budget for even better service.

Yet, within customer contact, we talk remarkably little about what it *really* costs to provide service. Nor do we discuss whether organizations are truly able and willing to dig deep enough into their pockets to pay those costs. As a result, only one acceptable ambition still seems to exist: being more accessible, responding faster, and offering customers *even* more service must ostensibly be the standard for all companies. Platform providers are happy to capitalize on this: according to them, customers simply *want* a faster answer. Going for 'less service' instead of 'even better service' therefore feels about the same as telling your ten-year-old nephew at his birthday party that you don't care for children at all. It is perfectly acceptable, but you must then be able to explain very well why.

While the question should not be how much service an organization can offer its customers. The question is how much service an organization *should* offer its customers.

Good service is different from maximum service

A price competitor does not have to provide five-star service. An organization that sells simple products does not need to have a highly trained employee ready for every question. And a customer who primarily wants to be helped quickly and cheaply may not be looking for the personal attention we like to talk about so much within the industry.

That does not mean that 'bad service' is suddenly a brilliant strategy. It does mean, however, that good service is something different from maximum service.

Response times must go down. Accessibility must go up. Contact must be more personal. Why? Because it is 'better'.

Yet, I regularly see organizations striving for a service level that seems to be based primarily on what competitors are doing, what is considered 'good' within the industry, or what someone once said at a conference. Response time must go down. Accessibility must go up. Contact must be more personal. Why? Because it is 'better'.

Until someone presents the bill. Then customer satisfaction suddenly turns out not to be an end in itself, but one of the many interests an organization must take into account. Alongside costs, growth, profitability, and indeed: shareholder satisfaction.

Smile

Perhaps we should just be a bit more honest about that. Not every organization needs to offer the best service. Every organization must offer the service that suits its customers, its proposition, and the bill it is willing to pay for it. Because ultimately, it is not about satisfied customers at all. It is about the question of how much of his or her bonus the CEO is willing to give up for that coveted smile.

(Ziptone/Cynthia Mak)

Customer Experience, Featured, Opinions