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The 3Ps in Driving Customers Perception

by Jeannie QuekConsultant, SEA

FUSION Consulting Sdn Bhd

In this era where only Service (and not Price) is the key differentiator of anorganisation against competitions, phrases such as Exceptional, Branded &Distinct Customer Experience no longer sounds foreign to any customer servicepractitioners. As the quote says, If we dont take care of our customers, someoneelse will.Organisations are finding ways to create that special emotional connectionwith customers in order to WOW them.

In every organisation, regardless of the industry it belongs to and its nature ofbusiness, there are three key factors that influence customers perception towardsthe organisation. Coincidentally all of them start with the letter P Product, People

and Process.

Product:The types of products and/ or services offered by an organisation will affectcustomers perception and experience. In this dynamic business world, organisationneeds to evolve constantly and continuously in meeting customers needs. Take theconsumer based industry for instance, electronic giant such as Sony which duringmore than a decade ago, was the brand in provision of home appliances. In recentyears, we noticed that Sony has added its product range to cameras and mobilephones. Such organisations strategic move clearly demonstrated how organisationscontinuously innovate in order to gain industry market share. In organisations thatconstantly strive to offer products and/ or services that meet customers demands,

the Marketing or in some cases, also the R&D department plays a vital role. The keymethod to find out what customer likes or dislike is to directly ask them for feedbacksand suggestions and incorporating them into future product and/ or serviceenhancements. The ability to listen to your customers and then take actions to meetcustomers evolving needs is the key differentiator for a winning organisation.

People:As any customer service front line would agree, the People element is viewed asthe most important factor in driving customer perception. Front liners such as theContact Centre and Sales Agents are the ambassadors of the organisations. Theactions they take; the choices of words they use when interacting with customers; thebehaviour they display when handling customers, would affect the customers

perception towards the organisation. A customer would not care exactly whichcustomer service representative he or she interacts with, as they represent the samecompany. As such in the mission to exceed customers expectations, organisationsmust ensure consistency and continuity in the service experience provided by ALLemployees. In doing so, it is a common practice for organisations to incorporatestandards / Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), training, monitoring and coachinginto its internal human capital management process.

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Process:In order to function in a structured and manageable manner, organisations cannotavoid but to put in place different processes, which include policies and procedures.Personally, as a customer, I have came across organisations (that I am a customerof) that have put in place processes that are not customer oriented. The impact to me

as a customer ultimately is negative experience because it caused inconveniences /hassle for me to do business with the organisation as a result of a newly created so-called internal policy. The primary learning area here is, whenever an organisationintends to change or revise its processes, the first thing is to think in the customersshoes. Keep in mind to ask questions such as If I am the customer and theorganisation that I deal with impose such policy / procedure, how would I feel?; Howwould this impact my experience as a customer?

In conclusion, Product, People and Process are the key drivers of customerperceptions. All drivers are equally important and do complement one another.Imagine this: an organisation offers a top quality product but has a team ofunprofessional customer service agents. Will customers continue to purchase fromthe organisation? High probability they will not, or they will look out for alternativessuch as a competitor which offers the same product quality but with better service.Organisations should focus on all three key drivers in order to provide the brandedcustomer experience. Any element if neglected, will not make the puzzle complete.

About FUSION CONSULTING and the Author:

Jeannie serves as Consultant, SEA for FUSION Consulting Sdn Bhd the leading specialist inWorkforce Optimisation (WFO) Solution, Human Capital Development and Business Consulting services

in the South East Asia region. Her areas of expertise include Contact Centre Operations Review andAssessment, Monitoring and Evaluation of Call Quality & Face-to-Face Service Interactions, OperationsManagement, Workforce Management, Performance Management, and Customer FeedbackManagement.

To find out how FUSION CONSULTING can assist your organisation to implement a successfulcustomer feedback strategy, please give us a call at +603 7494 0399, or email us atjeannie@fusioncomms.com

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