Businesses typically invest an incalculable number of hours and dollars to craft value statements proclaiming to provide the most superior service.  Yet the service delivery to the customer is so often far removed.  Where does it fall apart?

The creation of the well-intentioned pledge, more often than not, is led by marketing departments who have little or no control to carry it through.  Not begrudging the brand building teams, but the vision and values piece is an organisation-wide commitment, not just a set of fancy words to park on a website.  

For an organisation to meet its customer expectations it needs to do more than profess its values ensuring that its people walk the talk, taking care that behaviours align with those beliefs.

‘Living into values requires moving from lofty aspirations to specific, observable behaviours.’

Brene Brown

Remembering that to be truly impactful, service needs to be a philosophy within the business, not just a focus for customer facing teams.  I see many businesses fall short on this account by not extending the accountability and training across the breadth of the organisation. It is essential that all departments understand their part in cultivating a truly cohesive service culture.

Imagine if a proportionate number of marketing dollars were to be invested in the frontline staff, to recruit, to develop and to equip them to deliver on the company promise.  This way you can close the gap between the customer expectation and the real delivery and stand a chance to ‘delight the customer’.

Years are invested in the pursuit of perfection of brands and products, yet little time is invested in the service delivery. After a series of stakeholder discussions, one of my luxury clients highlighted time to be highest form of luxury.  So, if time is luxury then luxury is time – let’s invest the time to get it right.  It’s time to close the gap.

HOW TO DELIVER ON YOUR BRAND PROMISE

• Don’t let your user experience testing stop at the digital platforms.  You need to know exactly what your customers are experiencing.  Start by conducting a qualitative customer experience audit

• Extend the audit to your competitors to determine what your business is doing well and where you need to improve.

• Operationalize your values.  Translate them into actionable, measurable performance guidelines for your teams.  Teach your organisation by offering techniques on ‘how to’ live the values 

• Review how your front facing teams are incentivised.  Are they rewarded for delivering on the brand promise or for individual sales results?

If you are serious about closing the gap and delivering on your brand promise, Contact Us for an exploratory discussion. Rabbani Collective has extensive experience of custom designing and delivering customer engagement and organisational culture programs across a spectrum of luxury, premium and niche businesses.

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