4 Customer Service Mistakes to Avoid in Shared Services

Twice in the last week I have walked into the same London high street shop and come out feeling agitated. The “customer experience" is a delicate and nuanced moment. In business, we can sometimes, indeed often, get the balance wrong.

At face value, customer service may seem to be about being nice, and welcoming customers promptly, with a smile. While this is of course expected, if there’s no authentic helpfulness behind it, it can leave the customer… agitated.

So what did this shop do wrong, and how can shared services take something from this experience (because they can!).

The purpose of my first trip was to return an unwanted gift. I drove a little out of my way on a Sunday to do this. The two young ladies at the till were charming when I arrived, but the moment I presented the item for return, with no receipt, the charming moment started to unravel. The problem was there was a “policy” which meant neither sales representative could process a return without a receipt and provide me with a refund or store credit. “Only managers are authorized to deal with things like this” – and managers don’t work on Sundays. Without any thought of how it might inconvenience me to come back on another day, their suggestion was, “You will need to come back another day.” Mistake number 1: They presented me with a problem.

Hearing this recommendation, my feet rooted themselves more steadfastly to the spot. I suggested they call a branch where a manager did work on Sundays, and ask for authorization over the phone. This they did, and five minutes later, I was told the policy was overlooked on this occasion, and they could give me a voucher. Mistake number 2: Because they presented me with a problem, I had to come up with the solution. Don’t engineer it so your customers need to come up with solutions – that's for you to do. Offloading a problem to a customer doesn’t get rid of the problem. It makes the problem bigger! And mistake number 3: Don’t hide behind policies if they’re not true. Customers hate policies – we are encountering seemingly endless policies when dealing with banks, for example, and these policies are designed to aid the company, not the customer. Policies are rarely in place to help customers, are they? Hmmm.

The following Sunday I returned to the shop, looking forward to spending my voucher.  Yet again, I was met with a beaming smile and a happy hello. I found an ideal present for an upcoming birthday and took it to the till to ask for a stock item. Unfortunately, this display item was the only one left. It had been fingered and knocked a little, so I asked what the discounts were with this particular display item. Wait for it… the response came back to the tune of, “Sorry – I can’t authorize a discount.” Mistake number 4: Smiles and hellos are secondary (though of course essential – that warm connection is a must), and it almost counts for nothing if the customer’s requirement cannot be fulfilled.

So how does this apply to shared services? I think we know the answer: It’s about getting the balance right. As a customer we know what “right” looks like, but when rendering a service, our perspective changes, and this can affect what we deem as important. In a restaurant, a customer has 5 or 6 requirements, mainly to do with timing and quality, and each has to be right, otherwise the balance is off and the journey soured. In a hotel, guests want to be received quickly – without too much administration and waiting – and shown to their room. In a shared services organization, the users are very conscious of the quality and speed of the service. And quality is measured by helpfulness, and attitude. As far as cost is concerned, the bill payer is concerned with this the most. However, if they recognize the quality and speed as being the best in the industry, and the service is excellent (i.e. helpful), they are less likely to over-examine the cost.

If you haven’t already mapped out each customer experience, plotting each journey that a customer or user could take, do so. And then make sure at each touch point there is responsiveness (speed) and helpfulness (quality), and your staff are empowered to problem-solve. If they hide behind policies, change the approach. Policies aren’t there to help the customer – they are inelegant managerial necessities that make the customer feel unimportant.