Service-Ability

Times have changed.

Long gone are our days of being kings of the manufacturing industry, we are now immersed in the world of ‘service’ where the relationship between an organization and the customer is an integral part of the "product" offering. The nation is suffering from a widespread lack of truly customer-satisfying service. We lack the very thing that we need to make this new paradigm work efficiently: service-ability.

Organizations of all kinds are facing high customer churn, serious customer antagonism, loss of consumer confidence and plummeting customer satisfaction. Research shows that totally satisfying the customer is the only thing that will secure loyalty and offer significant competitive advantage. Yet still, on a daily basis we encounter service that frustrates us.

Whilst the emergence of technology has no doubt brought efficiency to many areas of business activity, including the third sector, it has led to the standardised and indifferent service we regularly receive. We appear to have lost sight that people do business with people. Through efficient technology, our organisations may be serviceable but they are not service able.

The arrival of Generation Y and the developments in social media, provide businesses with a whole new way to engage with their customers, but also provide a new way for customers to rate companies, products and services: not always in a positive manner. 'Like' or '#Fail' have become part of our social language.

Organizations that refocus on the need to treat customers in a way that satisfies them, and not the technology, will have better customer retention, lower costs of replacement and will build their brand value through better reputations.

Service-Ability delves deeply into these areas to show how today's managers need to re-think the way we structure, manage, lead and organize our companies to achieve total 'customer-centric' work cultures that develop lasting relationships with customers.

Foreword xv

1 Connectedness 1

2 Customer Satisfaction and its Link to Pro t 17

3 Our Industrial Legacy 37

4 Our Service Economy 61

5 Servicing Customers is Not Customer Service 83

6 Understanding Service-Ability 105

7 Getting the People Right 115

8 Appropriate Organization 143

9 Effective Leadership 173

10 Clarity of Purpose 211

11 Bringing it All Together 241

Index 253

Kevin Robson is a former Managing Director and Chief Executive of a number of companies (including as a charity CEO), with extensive management and consultancy experience in a variety of sectors.
He was awarded his MBA with Distinction by the University of Durham and won the Academic Prize in his year for Best Dissertation on the subject of Human Resource Management in the Small and Medium Enterprise, in which field he has also lectured and conducted research at Durham's Business School.
The holder of the internationally recognized Graduate Diploma in Marketing, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and in 1998, was one of the first practitioners to be awarded Chartered Marketer status following the Privy Council granting authority to the CIM to award that status to individuals.
Kevin's insight into organizations is deep and wide ranging, and it is from this that the idea of Service-Ability was born.
www.service-ability.com

Times have changed.

Long gone are the days of being kings of the manufacturing industry, we are now immersed in the world of service where the relationship between an organization and the customer is an integral part of the product offering. The nation is suffering from a widespread lack of truly customer-satisfying service. We lack the very thing that we need to make this new paradigm work efficiently: service-ability.

Organizations of all kinds are facing high customer churn, serious customer antagonism, loss of consumer confidence and plummeting customer satisfaction. Research shows that totally satisfying the customer is the only thing that will secure loyalty and offer significant competitive advantage. Yet still, on a daily basis we encounter service that frustrates us.

Whilst the emergence of technology has no doubt brought efficiency to many areas of business activity, including the third sector, it has led to the standardized and indifferent service we regularly receive. We appear to have lost sight of the fact that people do business with people. Through efficient technology, our organizations may be serviceable but they are not service able.

Developments in social media provide businesses with a whole new way to engage with their customers, but also provide a new way for customers to rate companies, products and services: not always in a positive manner. ‘Like’ or ‘#Fail’ have become part of our social language.

Organizations that refocus on the need to treat customers in a way that satisfies them, and not the technology, will have better customer retention, lower costs of replacement and will build their brand value through better reputations. Service-Ability delves deeply into these areas to show how today’s managers need to re-think the way we structure, manage, lead and organize our companies to achieve total ‘customer-centric’ work cultures that develop lasting relationships with customers.

"Kevin has described what I think is one of the most significant changes of the next 10 years and gives those that follow the guidance in his book the chance to be not a survivor but a 'thrive-r'. It is timely, thoughtful and important."
—From the Foreword by Sir Ian Gibson, Chairman of Morrison plc

"Kevin Robson's new book is right on the button. I discovered a long time ago that to provide good service you've got to trust your people to deliver it in their own way ... this is not about following a mechanical process, but about employing great people and trusting them to deliver."
—John Timpson, Chairman of Timpson Ltd

"In Service-Ability Kevin proves that a great customer service is a mind-set that is present through an entire organization, not the responsibility of one single department. He makes a compelling argument that companies that aim for complete customer satisfaction will gain loyalty and increase profit. Everyone with customers needs to read this book!"
—Dave Carroll, Singer-Songwriter and author of United Breaks Guitars: The Power Of One Voice In The Age Of Social Media

"Developing strong, long term relationships with customers is core to today's marketing strategy. Kevin Robson addresses these issues with a straight talking, no nonsense approach. Packed with practical examples, this book is essential for managers and marketers whatever their industry sector."
—Anne Godfrey, CEO, The Chartered Institute of Marketing