Resources

Innovation. What’s Your Take?

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Samantha Lee

A term that is used repeatedly by companies, yet I am not sure we fully understand what it means, how we can nurture an innovative culture or whether it is a good or bad thing.

I read a blog recently by Pat Lencioni entitled “Is innovation good or bad” and started thinking about this interesting term and how frequently it is used or requested without there being a clear understanding of what it means and why we are doing it.

There are several written definitions of innovation but the one that I feel is the most relevant is: “Innovation is creating value by implementing ideas”

If adding value is the measure, then who is the measurer? Is this a personal measurement? I ask these two questions because I feel in today’s world it is so easy for people to say “we are an innovative company” or “you are not an innovative company.” The same applies to personal beliefs.

So what are my thoughts on how to deal with this?

Review your customer survey to ensure that the “innovation” section / questions are asked in the right way so that you can specifically understand what this means to the person responding. I believe that innovation is personal so this is crucial. Without this you will not know what to do more of, less of or where to spend your money.
Look at the employee innovation feedback and the client feedback to see if there is a correlation.
Define innovation in your organisation, sector and identify when innovative ideas occur and tell people about it, reward people for innovation.
Implement a robust ‘idea to innovation’ process that aligns to your vision so that ideas become real commercial services or products that add value.

So what does the future look like in relation to innovation? I hope more clarity, better measurement and personalisation. To avoid thinking that innovation is about large investments but to focus on the smaller things that truly add value to your customers and employees.

An Insight Into A Big Media Player – STV

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Emma Kennedy

The Percepta marketing team recently attended the Communications Breakfast in Glasgow with guest speaker Rob Woodward, Chief Executive at STV. The theme of the breakfast was ‘Digital STV – the Future’, focussing on the vision of the organisation and how television is going to affect us and the businesses we operate in, in years to come.

Rob opened his presentation by demonstrating that people who watch TV are more than just viewers – they are consumers. They dictate what they watch, where and when, and this has been heightened by the ability to stop, record and play live TV. He pointed out that this will only become more evident as the lines between television and internet become increasingly blurred.

Being one of the first channels to launch its own channel on YouTube, undoubtedly places STV at the forefront of digital media. Rob pointed to the fact that their success in this area can be attributed to the combination of excellent technology coupled with an enthusiastic and skilled workforce. Creating an effective team ethos and culture is central to the progression of the organisation, and Rob gave us an insight in to how they do this at STV:

Be accessible internally and externally
Trust instinct
Instil confidence in the team
Know when to make change in your organisation
Communication internally with staff is key – they must be informed
Implement and measure your KPI’s
Companies can ‘super perform’ by inspiring others to over achieve

Rob talked about the 3 pillars of STV – Connectivity, Community and Creativity. Our data rich environment means we know more about customers than ever before, and STV utilise this information to create a community with customers. At STV customer insight is key to enabling new relationships, something that Rob insists is a marketing must for all businesses who want to survive and thrive.

I’m Confused About Your Values

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Samantha Lee

Your opinion of this blog may be different if you are working for a “client” versus an “agency”, as your perspective I fear will be based on your role and background. Let’s take a look at the client – agency relationship and in particular, the behaviours of each party and how this neither does nor does not uphold their organisational values. This relationship is important because of its multi-faceted nature. One day I could be a supplier to your company, but the next day be one of your customers, thus it is imperative that your company values are translated equally to every stakeholder.

So what’s my point?

As a supplier we respond to tenders and briefs from clients asking for our proposal to support a part of their organisation. Nearly every time, the brief will include details of the importance of company values: how we can deliver experiences that support the clients’ values and how our values must be aligned to the clients’ values. Now we all know that you cannot measure values, you measure behaviours that demonstrate those values. So why do some organisations still behave in a way that does not support the values they talk about? If they cannot behave in the right way, how do they expect their suppliers to behave in the right way? How do employees of that supplier feel about that organisation and would they, as a customer, be able to be loyal to that organisation? I feel that this is forgotten so many times and could so easily be rectified.

So here are my top tips for a great partnership between suppliers and clients:

From the start don’t just talk about values, demonstrate what this means in terms of behaviours. This does not start when you have signed a contract with a new supplier but from the very moment you meet, during the tender process and also if a contract has to be cancelled. The way these key stages are managed, says a lot about an organisation and the values it really has.
Clients’ HR and Marketing teams need to be spend time with your suppliers’ employees when you roll out new customer campaigns or when you refresh your values
Reward suppliers not just on achievement of financial targets but on demonstrating those behaviours that support your values

So what are your views – if you are a client, how do you feel this could be improved? Alternatively, suppliers, what are your thoughts – where has this worked well and why?

Customer Expectations and the Impact on Service Quality

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Nupur Chatterjee

The results of a recent study conducted by a leading professional services company revealed an interesting insight into the differences in perception of services to customers. The study surveyed nationals of different countries living in Dubai, and while nearly 60% of the respondents felt customer services in Dubai were better than that in their home countries, 85% of British expatriates felt that it was worse than customer service in the UK.

This stark difference in the quality of service as perceived by customers is obvious in this case. Britain’s high expectations of the quality of customer service has brought about a change in industry, with UK brands opting out of outsourcing customer services and bringing them back to be based out of the UK. Brands are also investing resources and training in their customer services, with Tesco (Britain’s top retailer) adding 20,000 new customer servicing roles over the next couple of years.

We know that Britain expects a good quality of servicing, but how fast is the rest of the world catching up? There has been a lot of debate around outsourcing and what 2012 holds for this sector. Many companies continue to work their customer services from overseas, and invest the time and resources to instil brand cultures and values in customer service agents. With companies aiming to improve and customers expecting more, this seems like a good place to start a discussion about customer expectations and loyalty, and how companies can strike a balance in cost and quality of the services provided. Do companies tailor their services to suit customer’s expectations or are they looking ahead to truly understand their customers, predict shortcomings and address issues before they affect customers?

What do you think, from your experiences in the sector and as a customer? Let us know in the comments section!

Percepta at the DMA Ball

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Lindsay Morrison

On the 11th of November this year, Percepta attended the Direct Marketing Association’s 17th Anniversary Ball, held in Edinburgh’s Prestonfield Hotel, located at the foot of Arthur’s Seat. The beautifully decorated stables adjacent to the hotel itself would host the event, providing guests with a spectacular setting for the evening’s festivities. Those attending were greeted to a champagne reception upon arrival, followed by a three course meal, ceilidh and late night disco, giving them the chance to chat and get to know other members of the DMA from throughout the UK.

The event also saw the welcome return of the Percepta sponsored “Groovy Booth”, where attendees could pose for photographs dressed in various comedy wigs, hats and oversized sunglasses (those of a nervous disposition have been warned). This year’s revellers did not disappoint, with queues for the booth stretching across the dance floor at times.

The highlight of the night was the ever popular Orcadian Strip the Willow, which got the majority of the crowd off their seats and onto the dance floor. As many of the attendees headed for the DMA after party, they were thankful that there was no repeat of last year’s weather (2010’s ball marked the beginning of the heavy snow, which lasted well into the New Year).

Overall, the night was a huge success, and the grandeur of the setting was matched only by the party atmosphere throughout the evening. Very much looking forward to next year!

Steven Spielberg’s Next Movie: “ The Data Black Hole”

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Samantha Lee

“Just because you have not seen something does not mean it doesn’t exist”. I remember my mum saying this to me as a child. In those days it usually referred to fairies or in even more serious conversations – God. Well I’ve taken this term and applied it to more recent events around the world of data and, in particular, the black hole that all the data I send to companies seems to disappear into.

As I say I have not seen this black hole, maybe it’s in a cloud somewhere (ha ha), but it must exist. The reason I’ve come to this conclusion is that I have, over the years, filled in surveys, attended forums, spoken to sales and customer service people…the list is endless. I provided these companies with my thoughts on the experiences I’ve had; always willing to state my views on things but I can’t remember anyone who has sent me any feedback following my input. Did they take any notice or was the data just sucked up into the “The data blackhole”?

A colleague of mine recently wrote a blog on the subject entitled “What do you do with your customer feedback” which generated a number of comments from people who have worked on customer feedback programmes where they gave examples of where things have been changed due to the feedback that had been received. I couldn’t find many that referred to feedback, back to the customer. So I wanted to check. How many experiences have you had, as a customer, where companies have said “Thanks, we could not have done it without you” or “Because of you, we have been able to improve the service we give”?

Featured Vacancy – Marketing Executive

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Percepta HR

Many people feel marketing is a strange and specialised area, with numerous complications and a slightly different view on the world from the other departments within the company. That simply isn’t true, as everyone has experience of marketing, whether they know it or not. There is one product that everyone should be able to sell, a special package of skills, experience and knowledge that is unique. That product is simple: it’s you.

Your marketing pitch is your CV; it’s how you present yourself, how you to get an employer to buy into the brand that is your skills and what you can bring to the company. Percepta are in the market for the right candidate.

We are looking for an experienced B2B Marketing Executive to join our marketing team. The successful candidate will be at the core of the marketing department, supporting Percepta’s regional strategy.

Should you be the successful candidate you will have a wide variety of duties including owning all activities around online, digital and external presence, external communications, brand design and development, CRM and supporting the lead management and brand engagement programmes.

We are looking for a flexible candidate with a variety of skills, particularly in digital work and a passion for marketing who wants to help Percepta make an impact both on and off the web. You’ll likely be qualified in marketing, or have equivalent experience, a strong creative side and great communication skills.

So jump into our elevator and apply here. We look forward to hearing you pitching your personal brand package.

The Disadvantages of Outsourcing Your Customer Service

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Steve West

Most of you reading this will already be aware of the term ‘outsourcing’ and the potential benefits it can bring to an organisation. Contracting non-core business activities to third party providers can reduce your operating costs, give you easy access to the latest technology and best practices with no capital investment and, with the right provider, actually improve customer satisfaction in the long term.

However, if you are considering outsourcing your Customer Service function there are some potential disadvantages that need to be considered:

1. Loss of Control and Security

Having another organisation take responsibility for the life blood of your company carries some risk. You are effectively relinquishing managerial responsibility of the way your customers are dealt with to someone else. Keep at the front of your mind that most outsourcers are driven to make profit from the calls they answer and are not necessarily focused on the experience and service your customers are receiving.

The fact that your outsourcer is operating from a different site, with employees that are motivated by a different set of standards to yours, and that you do not have any managerial presence within that operation could all lead to a loss of control of the customer experience. And for any company that values the importance of continuously listening to the Voice of Customer, this disadvantage of outsourcing may outweigh any potential advantages.

2. Loss of Expertise and Staff Loyalty

No matter how much you train someone, an employee of an outsourcer will rarely be as knowledgeable of your services, products and business as someone who has been employed by you for years. The short term gain of reducing your staffing overheads by outsourcing could lead to a loss of expertise, knowledge and loyalty that can never be replaced. Many companies have discovered that customer satisfaction and the quality of customer support is irreversibly damaged after making the decision to outsource their Customer Service function and end up taking it back in house to try and repair their credibility.

If you are going to outsource your Customer Service operation then redundancies may affect your existing workforce. You may also need to retrain employees as part of your staff restructuring. The employees that are kept may be left with a bad taste in their mouth about the company’s decision to outsource and may choose to terminate their employment forcing you to spend time and effort finding replacements. Employee morale always suffers during a shift too outsourcing which may seriously affect employee loyalty.

3. Loss of Accountability and Responsibility

When one of your staff performs poorly, or is identified as being suitable for development into another role, there are many options you have to create a preferable outcome for that person and your business. Put simply, you have control over what the outcome will be and can assign accountabilities and responsibilities to that person, their manager and any other employees that work with them. But if you identify that your outsourcer is not performing, it’s sometimes difficult to determine who exactly is responsible for making it right. And more importantly, you invariably have to leave most of the accountability and responsibility of finding a solution to the outsourcer.

If the outsourcer fails to improve then it’s still you and your business that gets it in the neck – your customers aren’t interested in who is causing them problems, they just want it resolved. Recent research conducted by IPSOS Mori across 39 of Scotland’s local authority CEO’s and CFO’s revealed that the most commonly cited barrier to outsourcing was the loss of accountability, with over half of CEO’s attributing their reticence to Outsourcing to this factor.

So after painting this grim picture of what you could potentially lose from outsourcing your Customer Service function you’re probably asking yourself if there’s an alternative. Well, you’ll be glad to hear that there is – it’s called Insourcing and I’ll be talking about its benefits in my next blog article…

The Debate- Can public sector workers skills transfer into the Private Sector successfully?

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Jean Campbell

A debate has raged since a survey conducted by Barclays corporate and the Financial Times shows that 52% of the private sector would not employ public sector workers who may lose their jobs in the government spending cuts.

Conversely, a survey conducted by recruitment agency Badenoch and Clark show that 44% of public sector workers surveyed, think that their skills will not transfer into the private sector.

I would like some feedback from anyone with insider knowledge as to why the private sector employers and the public sector workers think this way.

44% of public sector employees surveyed thought that they would not need retraining to join the private sector, whilst the same number expects to work within the public sector for life.

The private sector does not appear to have this perception of a job for life. Could there also be assumptions that public sector workers learn one job very well, and then are promoted within that business area only, for example, within the finance dept. Their skills are concentrated in one department, thus limiting their employability.

The public sector has also much stricter union participation, as well as employment regulations than the private sector so employees’ rights are much more protected. Could these people deal with the private sectors less strict regulations?

There is also a perception that communication flows from the top down in the public sector and that all business processes are filtered down to the “shop floor”, not allowing for any input from non managerial employees. Creativity and individualism is actively encouraged in the private sector so there could potentially be difficulties in adjusting to that way of working. I’d be interested to hear what others think on this subject.

As I have never worked in the public sector myself, I do not have any firsthand experience of the processes involved from an employees perspective, but I have had to deal with them as a stakeholder, and in a B2B context where I have found the communication channels to be slow, bureaucratic and rather lacking in any imagination when dealing with end users.

Have I opened a can of worms or shall we get some interesting debates going regarding this subject?

It’s all in the delivery!

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Samantha Lee

Before you dismiss this article as nothing to do with customer experience, please stop as this is not about how to deliver that all important punch line – it’s about the role of the delivery person and / or fitter in the experience your customers will have, having just purchased your product.

I am sure we have all been there. You have ordered you new fridge, computer, washing machine etc and are now very excited about getting it set up – all shiny and new – in your home. You patiently wait for the item to arrive and in many cases you have taken a day off work.

Patience is definitely a virtue in this part of the experience as most companies seem unable to offer slots for delivery that are any shorter than ½ day. You do worry that it will not turn up at all. So I wonder how much is lost through a poorly managed delivery service – many thousands of hours I am sure.

It still amazes me that companies spend millions on developing an excellent customer experience at the time of purchase, but let themselves down by providing a poor delivery service. Why do companies fail to recognise this element of the process, how many companies actually measure this part of the process and incentivise their drivers, fitters to provide great customer service? – I can only assume not many, if the experiences I have been through are anything to go by.

So what should customers expect?

- Integrated communications between the supplier of the product, the delivery company and the fitter.

- Smartly dressed, polite staff who represent your brand and deliver your brand promises. Not someone who talks negatively about your product or service when asked. The sales person would, we hope, never do that.

- Understand what drives up customer satisfaction in the same way your customer service staff will know

With all this said there are companies out there that do get this right – John Lewis to name just one. In a world where customer service is the differentiator, you would think that many more would want to do the same.

Percepta Europe

Creating customer loyalty