I always remember watching a film a number of years ago of a famous racing driver in the late fifties. He had just won a race where there was a fatal accident. He was asked “after seeing the accident did you slow down?” His reply has always stayed with me. He said “whenever there is a bad accident other racing drivers slow down. I don’t. I see this as my opportunity to win. I accelerate and drive harder than before. As others slow down I pull ahead of them and win”.
This for me is the same as the “credit crunch”. Having worked in big business all my life, I am more than aware of what is happening today. The ‘powers of darkness’ are gathering. There are those people in an organization who have never really believed in the benefits of improving a Customer’s experience. They think cost cutting and efficiency is the answer to everything. The Powers of Darkness are “inside out”. They will see the credit crunch as their time to strike.
The Powers of Darkness are starting to cast their shadow far and wide in companies. They talk of the doom and gloom that will befall the company if we do not cut costs. Whilst professing their support to Customer focus, now is not the time. Now is the time to cut costs, now is the time to become more efficient, now is the time to look internally. They say “When times are better we will re look at improving Customer experience”.
As the doom and gloom spreads, the clouds thicken and people start to waiver. Maybe they are right? Maybe we should forget about improving the Customer Experience for a while? This doubt spreads and the clouds eventually overshadow the fledgling shoots of a Customer focus approach. Ultimately, they wither and die. Customer Experience is seen as a luxury, not an essential.
Only this week I have spoken to a client who was running a Customer Experience initiative and she was told that the Customer Experience project team was to be disbanded. Why? The official reason is “we have completed the Customer Experience work and we can now pass it to the operational teams to build on this work”. Whilst I would agree this is the ultimate goal for any organization the roots need to be strong and firmly established. In this clients case the roots are not strong enough. In my view they are doing this at the wrong time and for the wrong reason. This will eventually undo all of their good work and I guarantee their competition will catch up. I also guarantee that two years from now they will realize their mistake. But such is life.
My advice is the opposite. This is the time to invest. This is the time to accelerate, not slow down, this is the time to put some space between you and the competition, as they will be slowing down. This is a time to identify the Powers of Darkness and banish them from the organization once and for all. This is the time for leadership to stand up and be counted. This is the time when leader’s true principles are tested.
I appreciate that during these times businesses need to save money, but life is full of choices. Let’s be clear there is always money and resources available, it’s only a case of where they are deployed. As an example, the other day we were presenting to a client on some market research we believe they should be conducting. As I walked through reception I noticed it was being gutted and refurbished.
This client did not have any Customer research to talk of. They started to question if this investment was worthwhile, what was the ROI? A decent question. My response was to ask them, in a friendly way, what was the ROI on the refurbishment of the reception. The cost of this refurbishment must has been four times the cost of the research. The point was made. Life is full of choices. There is money and resources available it is only a question is where it is deployed.
During the credit crunch it is clear all businesses need to look at their costs. It would be silly to suggest otherwise. But is cutting costs on improving the customer experience the right approach? No. Leaders should see this as a time of opportunity rather than threat. South West airlines, in the wake of 9/11 famously allowed their customers to have a refund or change tickets. Other airlines didn’t. The long term benefit on Customer loyalty is obvious. It is easy to keep to your principles/values/beliefs when everything is going right. It is what you do when things go wrong that you are truly tested. Be very clear this is a test of leadership. Actions speak louder than words.
So ask yourself this. What do you want to be remembered for by your people and your customers when the credit crunch is a distant memory? Are you cutting or investing in Customer Experience? Do you see this as an opportunity or a threat? Are you advancing or retreating. During these challenging times we will see the leader’s true colors.
By COLIN SHAW | Published: SEPTEMBER 6, 2008