Customer interface

We all know now that the customers, or “service users”, or whatever you call the people who need the outputs of your organisation, should be the key beneficiaries of your Programme. I’m always banging on about the importance of collecting their views and requirements.

But risk creeps in very quickly around the topic of “customers”. Here are some tips for handling the challenges of getting the customers’ views first-hand:

Gatekeepers

The first problems arise if other parts of the organisation become protective about customers: “They’re ours” say Sales. “If you lot talk to them, you’ll only go and upset them.”  That might be Sales or another part of the organisation - typically, gatekeeping comes from the department that usually speaks directly to your customers/service users.

These people are right, of course, to an extent. It is a very dainty path you need to walk to discuss your offer with customers without inviting criticism or raising expectations you cannot fulfil. You shouldn't do it: it's a definite case of Do Not Try This At Home..  But equally, Sales shouldn't do it either. You are going to need Professional Listening to do this.

To gather customers' views using facilitated customer interviews or focus groups, I would always advise using experienced professional intermediaries. They will have the conversation with representatives of the customer base on your behalf (btw: Ignition Transformation has talented people who can do this for you). These people will be skilled at not judging, agreeing or promising. But you’ll still need to sell that idea to Sales.

So involve Sales – or any other resistant colleagues – in the discussions about how the customers will be approached and reassure them about how expectations will be managed. Be entirely transparent about what will be discussed and what will happen if customers express negative opinions or frustration.  Persuade them of the benefits of being seen to listen to the clients. And always, before you approach any customers, make sure any resistant colleagues are on your bus.

Over-promising

Other customer-centred problems can arise when you are using particular delivery methods. Imagine the scene: you consult with the customers; they state their expectations; you assure them that these can be included in your programme, almost immediately. Everyone gets very excited. Fireworks, champagne, rejoicing.

And then, on reflection, you select a waterfall development mechanism with the supplier sitting way outside the business and producing phased development that takes weeks, or months, or even years. Customer delight = zero.

This isn’t necessarily solved by changing your delivery method to suit one stakeholder – yes, agile delivery may produce quicker visible results, and that would be attractive here. However, you nonetheless need to balance your decision with other significant considerations (e.g. budget, culture, capacity) and use the method that’s best overall for your stated purpose. So if it’s going to be a while, you need to manage customer expectations throughout the build. You need to do so right at the start – when you’re gathering their ideas - and then all the way through the process as you develop a solution.  And again, Do Not Try This At Home. Instead, ask your Communications Team to set up a plan with Sales on how we keep customers excitedly patient. And that way, everyone stays in the loop...

This is based on an extract from Mark Aikman’s book Uncommon Sense: Alternative Thinking on Digital Transformation

Amazon location: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Uncommon-Sense-Alternative-Thinking-Transformation-ebook/dp/B08KSG513Q  

Apple location: https://books.apple.com/gb/book/uncommon-sense/id1536877985