The Customer Service Triad

Let's talk about the Process

My favourite car is a Jaguar and I am still saving money to buy one. I would probably buy a prototype this year just to start from there, but that is not the point of this post.

Assuming I have already saved up (courtesy of numerous physical and virtual piggy banks), paid for the Jaguar but have no driving skill! The purpose which is cruising around Lagos in my sweet ride is defeated. You can even call it a backward hustle. That is exactly what it feels like to have a great product and amazing people with no process…

You can define “Process” as the engine that drives people and product(s) and here is why;

Most brands are focused on the technicality and making the brand look good on the outside and neglecting the process that makes the brand outstanding. Process involves;

●      Making a presentation

●      Responding to a customer

●      Delivering of goods and services

●      Creating a product

●      Record keeping

●      Follow-up on feedback(s)

These are all seemingly simple steps yet very important and ensure the functionality of the business and improve customer experience.

The questions of how, when, and why are answered by implementing an effective process in place. This is to say, you can have a process in place and it might not be effective. Because just being able to drive in theory does not necessarily equate to being a good driver (you would learn this the hard way on Lagos roads).

An effective process would require intensive research, brainstorming, problem-solving skills, and finally, implementation.

It is important to note that while there is an organisational process, there is also an individual process that applies to and determines your workflow and team and this is very necessary to every customer support executive because how you go about responding to and resolving customer’s complaints is just as important as responding and resolving the complaint.

Here are a few steps to building an effective individual process;

●      Itemise: It is important to break your activities into smaller units and then group them. This makes them seem less cumbersome and achievable.

●      Create a workflow: This could be a table or a chart that shows your activities and the order in which you wish to carry them out. Note that this has to be in an efficient manner.

●      Do the work! This is not going to be like a new year resolution we only remember on the 1st of December that we are yet to achieve. The greatest adversary is procrastination and you must resist it by force!

Effectiveness is important but so is efficiency. This goes to say you might even have a process but how effective and efficient is it? Think about it!

Cheers,

Kiki