Using Customer Experience to make Strategic Service Management an Operational Reality

Steve Downton, Downton Service Management Consultants Ltd, Noventum Group

Our research, initiated last year and extended this year, has reinforced the conclusion that certain strategies are proving to be most effective in creating increased revenue by providing the customer with what they require. However, translating a strategy into a realisable goal is not always achievable, top down, because there is not a clear understanding of the drivers or customer environment at senior level within the supplier and sometimes too much emphasis is placed upon dealing with symptoms, rather than tackling actual causes. Converting a strategy into an achievable goal is not achievable bottom-up, unless there is top-down commitment! Successful companies focus on the customer’s developing needs to anticipate the need for change and not wait till the customers leave. They have effectively learned to combine top-down commitment with bottom-up understanding through close attention to the experience of their customers and their customer interface staff.

When dealing with a service organisation, working from the “bottom-up” means working from the customer interface, and therefore the approach must recognise the customer will be responsible for significant input and reaction to change. A major change in operation might require moving customer interface staff from one area to another;