Presentation on "Customer Service Excellence" by Terry Pilcher during the 6th International Benchmarking Conference organized by Dubai Quality Group from 6-7 March 2012 at Al Bustan Rotana Dubai

1. Customer Service Excellence
Some Useful Tools
Terry Pilcher
BCS Management Services
Cambridgeshire
United Kingdon

2. Business Excellence

3. Customer Service Excellence
Benchmarking

4. Who is the Customer
The first step towards finding out what our
business is, is to raise the question: 'Who is the
customer? - the actual customer and the potential
customer? Where are they? How do they buy?
How can they be reached?
Peter F Drucker

5. Segmentation

6. Segmentation
Subdividing people with distinctive shared needs
and characteristics into reachable groups, based on 3
dimension:
1. Who they are ?
2. What they do ?
3. How they think and feel ?

7. Some areas where we apply segmentation
Strategy/ Policy
Evidenced based policies and strategies
Targeting resource
Identify new people needs
Delivery
Planning number and nature of delivery solutions
Identifying special needs
Planning for different ‘customer journeys’
Communication
C&M targeting and media choice
Insight and proposition development
Developing effective message

8. Ways to Segment People
Use & Behaviour, e.g.
Needs, Benefits,
Frequency
Place Demographics, e.g. Motivations, e.g.
Time Need convenience, need reliability,
Occasion Gender need support etc.
Extent of use e.g. heavy, light Ethnicity Beliefs, desires, wants
Persistency e.g. loyal Family Deep-seated drivers e.g. love,
Channels used for contact Age and life stage belonging, praise, security
Household type/ composition Loves & hates
Lifestyle, e.g. Education Attitudes & Beliefs, e.g.
Holidays taken abroad Income and social class In general
Multiple/holiday homes Benefits claimants/non- Government specific e.g. to our
Lodgers/rental income claimants brands, services
What money is spent on Working status Balance between time, cost,
Physical status convenience
Urban vs. rural To value and money
Media Consumption e.g. Postcode & region
Internet and digital usage Mobility
TV channels, radio, press Moving frequency Influencers e.g.
Where most info comes from House ownership Authority figures, e.g.
How information is absorbed accountants, solicitors, tax
What media engage them inspectors
Access to media Parents, friends, peers
Role models
Community influences

9. Ways to Segment Business
Use & Behaviour, e.g.
Needs, Benefits, Motivations, e.g.
Frequency
Place Economic/demographic
Need convenience, need reliability, need
Time support etc.
Occasion Turnover of business Beliefs, desires, wants
Extent of use e.g. heavy, light Loves & hates
Number of employees
Persistency e.g. loyal
Market sector
Activities, e.g. Attitudes & Beliefs, e.g.
Area of business activity
Membership of trade bodies Level of profitability In general
Lobbying activities Geographical location Government specific e.g. to our brands,
How profits are distributed services
Number of sites/locations
To value and money
Media Consumption e.g. Private or limited
Influencers e.g.
Where most info comes from
Internet and digital usage Authority figures, e.g. police, tax
How information is processed inspectors
Access to media Community influences
Key shareholders
Media

10. Segmentation – Success (1)
There is some form of segmentation to guide a better
customer experience
Segmentation is fit for purpose - investment in it is adequate
for the business
Segmentation is actionable – people in each segment can
be reached
It’s clear who needs considering separately- who has very
different needs etc

11. Segmentation – Success (2)
Segments can be quantified -it’s clear who’s most important
in achieving aims
Segmentation is workable- it’s not so complex and granular
it can’t be applied
Segments have been properly prioritised to guide resource
allocation
Key measures -e.g. customer satisfaction - are at segment
level

14. Insight

15. Insight
What compels people to act, think & feel as
they do?
Deep truth is based on behavior, experiences,
attitude,emotions or beliefs.
Is it relevant to your task?
Does it ring true with people?
Will people act differently as a result of applying it.

20. Possible Insight Questions
What are people's basic motivations?
Difference between heavy and light use?
How do people think things work in this area?
What do people love and hate?
What are the triggers, life stage, an event etc.
What stops people doing things?
Who are the influencers.
What is your relationship with influencers?
When, where, how & why do things happen?

21. Insight Transformation
a. Collect important pieces of data and
information.
b. Group data to understand what information is
telling us.
c. Move to insight – the deeper underlying
thought.

23. Successful Model
Multiple/best sources have been used- formal research & informal ‘closeness’
Customers are seen in ‘3D’- who they are, what they do, and why they do it
There is real understanding and insight - capable of achieving change needed
There is insight for important customer groups
There is customer focus - insight guides decision making, strategies, actions
Insight guides the whole customer experience to make it as good as it can be

24. Journey Mapping

25. Journey Mapping
The process of tracking and
describing all the experiences that customers have as they
encounter a service or set of services, taking into account not
only what happens to them, but also their responses to their
experiences.

26. Questions?
Do you have gaps in your understanding of the experience
that customers undergo at the moment?
Would it help you to have high impact feedback to challenge
conventional thinking?
Do you have intractable policy challenges – where you keep
trying things but without getting anywhere?
Do you need to convince colleagues in other functions about
the importance of a customer-focused approach?

27. Use of Journey Mapping
Understanding the reality of people’s lives
Facilitating inter- and cross- departmental working
Designing and overhauling systems and processes
Making decisions

28. Will it help?
Do pressures to Are there advances in
reduce costs technology or comms
threaten to affect that are likely to affect
the customer Are there lots of the way customers
ways customers can
experience in an want to interact with
access or
adverse way? you?
experience your
service?
Are you incurring Are you seeing a shift
extra costs Is the service in the balance of
through high offered to a wide channels used?
error rates or range of people?
avoidable
contacts?

29. Will it help?
Do you deal with
Is there is a high or particularly vulnerable or
rising number of at-risk groups?
customer complaints?
Is this an issue that leads
Are you asking a lot to emotional or heated
from your customers? exchanges with
(What’s it costing customers?
them in terms of time
or money, and do Do you deal with issues
they accept this?) where the cost of failure
can be catastrophic?

30. Journey Mapping
Q u a lita tiv e ,
fo c u s e d o n
e m o tio n a l in s ig h ts
to te ll a s to r y w ith
p a s s io n a n d n a r r a tiv e .
P o w e rfu l w a y o f
e n g a g in g s ta ff a n d M e a s u re s
c u s to m e rs h o w w e ll
th e e x p e r ie n c e
is d e liv e r e d ;
lin k s to c u s to m e r
s a tis fa c tio n ,
C o m b in e b o th
m e tr ic s & tr a c k in g
a p p r o a c h e s fo r
in c r e m e n ta l b e n e fit A llo w s y o u to
q u a n tify th e
e ffe c t o f
ch an g es an d
c o n tr ib u te to
M a p s s te p s in a b u s in e s s
p r o c e s s– a l s o k n o w n cas es
a s p r o c e s s m a p p in g .
Id e n tifie s w h e r e to
a c t to m a k e th e
e x p e r ie n c e a s e a s y ,
p le a s a n t a n d
e ffic ie n t a s
p o s s ib le

32. Success?
The business thinks in terms of customer ‘journey’- not just
a point in time
There is recognition of when journey thinking is right for
customers
Journey maps start and end at a relevant point
The right type of journey has been applied- e.g.
understanding vs. efficiency

33. Success?
If methods used are informal e.g. using frontline
staff, they are fit for purpose
Customer Journey thinking has been applied
e.g. to improve the experience
The right people have contributed e.g. staff to
help engagement with customers
Customer satisfaction along the ‘journey’ is
measured in some way & actioned

34. Questions?
Terry Pilcher
BCS Management Services
Cambridgeshire
United Kingdon
BCSMgt@aol.com
BCSManagementServices.com