Every decision that is made regarding the service has an impact on the customer. It is essential to be aware of this impact and act accordingly.
As a company grows, the processes increase in complexity and it is normal for internal actors, that is, those who provide the service, to focus more and more on these processes. This often makes contact with the client more and more automated, and it even seems that common sense is lost to serve the procedures. This obviously affects the customer's perception of quality of service.
Christian Grönroos talks to us about the concepts of internal efficacy and external efficacy. And he says that internal efficiency "is related to the way the company operates and the productivity of labor and capital." "On the other hand, external effectiveness refers to how customers perceive the operations and performance of the business." It is the perceived quality.
What comes from traditional management, the most common, is to measure everything in terms of internal efficiency, and forget about internal. It is looking for short-term results (cutting costs, for example), without realizing the long-term consequences (loss of customers due to service deficiencies).
I'm going to give you an example so you can see a real case. It happened to me today.
A few days ago I decided to change the device of my phone, to update it technologically because it had already become obsolete. Telephone companies are very encouraged to change equipment, but do not take into account the costs for the customer.
After taking my new equipment home, I receive an automatic message saying that my phone was going to be reprogrammed for better performance. Let her follow the instructions. The instructions never came. With the use I was noticing some failures in the equipment. At first I thought that I did not know how to use it properly, but later they became evident as a malfunction of the device.
So I decided to go back to my old device, which I fortunately kept, and take the time and trouble to go change the new one. Big surprise when I arrive at the store today and they tell me that my account executive was on a course, and he wasn't going to come back all day. At my insistence, they referred me to another person, who after several minutes of communication informed me that he did not have the information he needed to process my order. My account executive had to give it to me.
Behind me came another client, who was also informed that his executive was on the same course (most vendors were absent today for this reason). The secretary complained that for this reason she received all complaints and could do nothing. So far the story.
A decision that improves internal efficiency, but harms the external one. A course, which surely has the ultimate goal of improving customer service, is directly affecting the satisfaction of several customers, due to its inappropriate organization.
"It is that people come from Buenos Aires to teach the course." Sure, let's make the most of these people's time, which costs us a lot, and send all the sellers to the course together. Let's save costs, at the cost of neglecting customers.
Will there be no other alternatives? Nobody foresaw what to do with customers who need their sellers today? Or should customers understand that "they are in a course", as if it were the supreme reason that enables them to cancel the service?
I propose, from this example, to become aware of the impact that each decision you make has on external effectiveness, in addition to the internal one (for which we were trained to serve).
• How will this decision affect the satisfaction of my clients?
• How can I reduce this damage, if it is inevitable?
• Should I organize a special plan of operations to cancel the shortcomings in the service that this decision generates?
• Are there other alternatives, which have not been analyzed so far, to achieve the same without affecting the customer?
The customer focus is this: always consider it. Because the client is the raison d'être of any organization. He is the one with the need that you seek to satisfy with your work. So, always keep it in mind, to serve it, and thus you will achieve lasting and sustainable success.
