is just like Service Management
In a recent article in S+B “Brand Transformation on the Internet” Aaron Shapiro, CEO of the digital agency Huge explains the shift from customers to users – also the title of his new book – Users, Not Customers: Who Really Determines the Success of Your Business.
A key point he makes is that most business will need to see themselves as two business. Their original core product / service and then the online version of that same business – which is an interesting thought – makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
But what really caught my attention was this :
To be effective in social media, you have to empower junior people to be brand ambassadors, to communicate online rapidly. That seemingly tactical, small move can lead to massive organizational shifts. Somebody 20 levels down in the hierarchy who’s responding to a tweet has to know and understand the whole company’s strategy around things like pricing and social responsibility. There has to be a tremendous amount of training and a very big cultural shift.
This is no doubt true – but it is also the essence of what it takes to run a great service company.
Only when front line staff see themselves as brand ambassadors in everything they do, do we get that very special customer experience.
At the heart of a great customer experience is the sensation that the person who is looking after you has the knowledge, skills and authority to do what ever it takes to provide a great experience.
But that requires leadership who understand what it takes to put that in place