Detailed Planning is Obsolete

“The unknown and unknowable” is a phrase Dr. Deming used to describe the knowledge needed to run a comp

English: Albert Einstein Français : portrait d...

English: Albert Einstein Français : portrait d'Albert Einstein (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

any perfectly.  Some view this statement as wishy-washy, especially those that believe the universe (or anything) can be explained.  This is old school . . . meaning that Einstein, Planck and many others have proven that there are things outside of our control.  Meaning, you just can’t plan for them.

Frederick Taylor would have loved the planning culture that exists today.  It would seem so tidy that everything could be predicted and plans could be made.  So few organizations spend the time they need to understand their own organizations as systems, customer-in.

Instead the top-down plans because they are written are set in stone.  Careers are put on the line when the plan and timeline to “hit the numbers” cascades through the organization.  Daily and weekly meetings to be sure everyone is “working to plan.”  No one can – the universe is unpredictable.

The “here and now” may not be as sexy as spending a week at some boondoggle where you can play golf and write a strategic plan. However, the results are much better when you live in a world of reality and  modern science.

One may find it more appealing that the world is not as predictable as business wants it  to be – you can always discover something new . . . if you look.

Tripp Babbitt is a service design architect.  His organization helps executives find a better way to link perspective to performance and use workers to build and refine your service.  Read his column at Quality Digest and his articles for CustomermanagementIQ.com. Reach him on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/TriBabbitt or LinkedIn atwww.linkedin.com/in/trippbabbitt.

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Best Buy Scripts – This Will Lose Workers . . . and Customers

From time to time, I visit the Consumerist website and find the occasional jewel.  A recent article – Some Best Buy Customer Service Reps Not Thrilled with Having to Stick to the Script – displays a contact center reps frustration at having to use scripts with customers.

Unfortunately, scripts have become the norm in contact centers.  Legalese and overzealous management and support folks are the culprits.  I don’t find too many reps asking to be scripted.  It is the Neo-Tayloristic mindset of controlling the reps and inspecting for compliance.

I doubt that the folks that implement such thinking have ever spoken with a customer using the script they write or they would understand the frustration.  This is the epitome of a inside-out and top-down perspective.  Using scripts is like texting and driving . . . your attention is on the script and not the customer.  Just as there are consequences for texting and driving so will there be consequences to organizations that unwisely use scripts.

Verifications (too) are a close relation to scripts.  I have seen many banks that have asked their reps to verify a customer as step one.  However, often the customer just wants to know bank hours or the latest interest rates.  When customers are asked to verify themselves – it seems silly . . . and it is.  Reps are forced to comply to pass the compliance and management muster.

Another form of scripting is the IVR menu.  Again, a poor source of absorbing the variety of customer demands.  With all the statistical data management has a hard time coming up with data on how many times are routed to the wrong function by wrong choice in the IVR shell game.  Worse, they lack data on whether customer was able to satisfy their demand or solve their problem.

Are scripts always damaging?  No, of course not.  When reps ask for them to help facilitate their work.  I rarely find this to be the case.  Usually, you have the management and support fascists dictating scripts.  Rarely, will you have ask for something that they know will make the person on the other end of the line uncomfortable or mystified.  No, these are uninformed dictates from the hierarchy.

Some organizations have 100s of scripts for reps to navigate with a fundamental belief that a good rep is a scripted rep.  But when customer demands start to pour in reps find that scripts don’t always fit the demand being placed on them.  There is script #44, #162 and a little of #217 that fits what the customer wants.  Then management wants to know why their AHT is so high.  Note: AHT is still a poor measure (except for planning) for improvement, but it does display how a focus on reducing costs increases them.

Instead of a brigade of the inspection regime to write and seek compliance to scripts – both costly measures – a better method would be to embrace the customer demand.  Embrace the demand by listening and satisfying it completely.  Few, if any, scripts are needed.  Costs go down and customer satisfaction up.  Counter-intuitive? . . . yes!  Crucial to service?  Absolutely.

Tripp Babbitt is a service design architect.  His organization helps executives find a better way to link perspective to performance and use workers to build and refine your service.  Read his column at Quality Digest and his articles for CustomermanagementIQ.com. Reach him on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/TriBabbitt or LinkedIn atwww.linkedin.com/in/trippbabbitt.

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