Mary Coffin of Wells Fargo has a great nugget about customer experience at 90 Ideas. I found it to be a new way to look at efficiency versus effectiveness.
Each customer interaction depends on four ingredients:
People, Process, Data, and Technology
Coffin asks, “Which gets the focus?”
She made the point that technology gets the focus. Think electronic billboards. Or the touch-kiosk we need to use to sign in to get help at our mobile phone provider locations. Or the web-based contact forms.
This happens because it’s easy. Technological shortcuts are efficient, but not always effective or customer-centered.
What if you looked more closely at People, Process, and Data?
Data, because it can be parsed automatically, sometimes gets looked at second. Think about the automated marketing emails you get. Or the targeted Google Ads. Those combine Data and Technology. But we’re on to that. It’s not impressive anymore. Mary says, “Without incorporating all four, you often get poor things done faster!”
If you’ve heard me speak, you may have heard me speak about WAWS—Worrying About the Wrong Stuff. This is another way of getting at that. It’s like the old analogy of searching for your lost item where the light is better, rather than where you dropped it.
Coffin contends that focusing more on People and Process is the way to go. “Success comes from great people using great process and enabling great customer experiences.” Combine your technology and data with smart process and great people who have empathy and smarts. Then, you’ll do the right stuff.
This post is part of a set of posts inspired by the Business Record’s “90 Ideas in 90 Minutes” event in September 2017. Learn more, download a pdf, and see all the speakers here.
Post 1: Leaders Develop Everyone
Post 2: Leaders Encourage Thinking “A Step Above”
Post 3: Leaders Ask “Does it Need to be Said?”
Post 4: Leaders Use Time Wisely: Rethink the Block
Post 5: Leaders Champion Inclusion and Diversity
Post 6: Leaders Stay Hydrated
Post 7: Leaders Make Changes Stick
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