More than any other time, lockdown last year gave me a masterclass in how to manage scarce resources and invest in activities that mattered. On a typical day I’d be presented with a dizzying list of choices: which subjects should I work on with the kids (English, Maths, Science etc.), how much time to play, tell them stories, make their meals or take them out for exercise. This, alongside choices at work: take the call with the CFO, prep for the steering committee call or spend time to coach the team? What made it possible was a clear set of priorities, good dialogue, regular review and flexibility. I was thinking that this type of structure works well if you are also managing a digital portfolio.
I’ve met executives that have a long list of opportunities and expectations. They want to modernise, drive down costs, increase revenue, improve customer satisfaction, improve employee experience, be innovative….the list goes on and often the horizon is quite soon (get it all done by summer next year).
This can be really tricky if you are leading a digital portfolio where there are a lot of options and budgets are tight. You want to get the most, ‘bang for your buck’ but can’t afford to spend too much time analysing your options because the clock is ticking.
So how do you start to prioritise? The UK Institute of Customer Service, an independent body that measures customer satisfaction, published their July 2021 report and found that for the first time, 50% of the customer experiences recorded in their index were digital. This underscores the importance of investments in the experience and making the right choices.
They have defined and measured five dimensions of customer satisfaction relating to the customer experience:
- Customer experience
- Complaint handling
- Customer ethos
- Emotional connection
- Ethics
This is a great framework for your decisions. Spending time looking at organisations that do this well such as First Direct and John Lewis will help too.
You only need to look at their goals to see how obvious their priorities are!
“We aim to be the bank that puts you first, every single time.” First Direct
“…we go above and beyond to offer quality products and outstanding service to the people who matter most, you – our customers…Because for us, it’s personal.” John Lewis
If you are looking for quick wins or no regrets decisions, they, helpfully, list the top 3 most impactful changes that organisations can make to improve their service:
- Make it easier to contact the right person
- Improve website navigation
- More friendly/helpful staff
I find it interesting that being successful in delivering customer service improvement requires a mix of investment in understanding your customer experience, digital services and employee engagement.
Armed with this guidance on what your customers want from your service, we can move on to how to make the decisions. In our next blog, we will look more closely at how my lockdown survival tactics can be employed in digital portfolio planning.
If you would like to learn more about how we can help you on your digital transformation, please contact us.
