Marcia's Leadership Q and As: What’s Your Speed of Business?

Q. Customer service is declining? How do we assess our responsiveness?

A. Quality is one key business strategy. It’s essential, but is often overlooked. Customers expect various kinds of quality from different organizations. We don’t expect the same quality from a fast-food restaurant as we do a Michelin star restaurant. But we believe our expectations should be met—or exceeded!

Speed can be another business strategy. If you go to a fast-food restaurant with several hungry little children, speed is necessary. But if a group of friends are dining for a ten-year reunion, service in ten minutes may be undesirable.

The speed of your service needs to match or align closely with the expectation of your customers. We have seen the speed of service suffer in some businesses (technical support, reservations, customer service.) Other services have improved: making online appointments or paying bills.

The role of leadership is to first, understand the Voice of the Customer (their needs and expectations.) Second, understand the Voice of Your Process. What is your process delivering? If a customer calls with a flight reservation question, the desired time to an agent is immediate. Does your process deliver, or is the customer on hold for twenty or forty minutes?

Your speed of business needs to align with the expectations of your customers. If it doesn’t, do you understand your customer? Are you aware of your customers’ needs? (Many executives are not. Call your company, and see how long you’re on hold.) Continually improve your quality. If that means, quality of speed, work on your processes.