Oct. 27, 2003 Management and frontline customer representatives talk to each other all the time… Don't they? I'd like to tell you about an anecdote I read recently in NetworkWorld Magazine that talks about how untrue this is. The story talks about a man who saw an ad that showed the same PC he had just ordered except it cost $300 less. The fellow then called the PC manufacturer and asked for this new price. The customer service representative told him they couldn't give him the new price, but that they could cancel his order (which was already in the mail), pay to ship it back to them and order the same PC at the new price! This turned out to be what they did, because their process and system didn't allow for anything else. The article goes on to say how sad and yet prevalent this type of process-run-amok is. The cause for this astounding waste of time and money is the fact that most managers do not ever ask for or act upon feedback from the people who work with their customers. The bottom line: Communication and feedback are rare birds indeed. So ask yourself: Can you out-perform your competition just by talking to your employees and/or your managers? I'm willing to bet that you can.
A Tale of Poor Processes