Postcard from Bishkek

Last week I read an article where the author asked: “How easy is it for people to do business with your organization?”  He advised that, “if you don’t know, you’d better find out—and fast.”

The experience is basically instrumental in both attracting and retaining a customer … and hence in the firm’s income stream, turnover, profit and, (ultimately), success … or otherwise.  Unfortunately, the author opined, a lot of managers have no idea about what that consists of, yet alone the quality of the experience.  He recommended that one way to find out was to go “undercover” and pretend to be a customer in order to see what unfolded.

This is similar to the technique of employing a “mystery shopper”: a person whose identity is not known to other employees, who has been engaged to perform specific tasks such as purchasing a product, asking questions, registering complaints or behaving in a certain way, who then provides the management with detailed reports or feedback about their experiences).  In fact the author tells how he apparently, (inadvertently ?),  became such a “mystery shopper”:

While I was in Russia recently, I went into one of my client’s retail stores. His employees ignored me. They offered no greeting, no assistance, as I perused various cell phones and computers. Using my cell phone, I took a picture of them. They immediately became very attentive, but not in a nice way. They wanted me to delete the pictures, and they threatened to have me arrested. What did I do? I sent the pictures to the owner, who apologized at great length.

Now, I wouldn’t want to disagree with the general point that the author was making, about the value of a manager seeing their organization from the point of view of a customer or client.   I thought, however, that this specific  incident raised a number of other issues and in particular, the following thoughts came to mind:

Firstly, it all sounded so familiar!  Although the author identifies the incident as happening in Russia, I suppose that it could have happened anywhere in the world.  I have experienced similar “service” in a number of places over the years.  Such incidents used to be a feature of the level of “service” here in Kyrgyzstan back when I first arrived here, but I am pleased to say that the situation is improving.  To be frank,  there are still some occasions when something similar happens, but it’s by no means as common as it used to be.

Secondly, at the risk of sounding defensive, (see below), I can’t help thinking that there could be several other factors at play here.  I assume that the author didn’t do anything provocative, (although, I suppose, some people might consider that taking out your cell-phone and snapping away to be a little provocative).  At first glance, the account suggests that the staff wanted to protect themselves by demanding that photos be deleted and threatening to call the police – but there are rules rules about this.  Try taking photos in an airport or on the New York Subway and, (although there may be no adverse comeback), be prepared to face questions from security or the police.  As it happens, several shops here do have a rule forbidding photography on the premises, and enforce it.  One might well question the wisdom of the rule, as well as the reactions of the employees and, for that matter, several other aspects but it is not necessarily a case that the staff were simply being defensive – or ulterior in their being attentive in a “not nice” way.

Thirdly, I felt that there was some missing details from the story, in particular about the response of the employer …  Having received the feedback, it should be acknowledged – but we are told that in this case there was an  ”apology” – but what for?: the lack of service in the first instance?, or the reaction of the staff to being photographed?, or what?.  More to the point, what else was done about it?  The implication is that the employer agreed with the author … but did he? … did he think it was important enough to merit further action?  The article made me think about the way we react to customer feedback.

Now, it’s a fairly standard maxim or motto that “Customer feedback is always welcome” … although, perhaps, “welcome” isn’t quite the right word.    The trouble is that some comments are not necessarily received “with pleasure” or” satisfaction”, and are anything but “agreeable” or “gratifying”.

As it happens, although I don’t like receiving negative feedback, I tend to welcome it more than positive feedback.  Whereas it is pleasant to receive “positive feedback”, (that is: “praise”),  there are other comments that are more critical which it is not so pleasant to hear … because it tends to be negative.  The former - highlighting where something was good, or well done – and, as well as  providing psychological reinforcement, (a form of reward, a “pat on the back”), it emphasizes something that should be continued and/or repeated in the future.  The latter indicates where something was bad, went wrong or was, at least, less than satisfactory, and points to areas of concern that need attention in order to learn from and improve in the future.    Although it may not pleasant to receive adverse criticism, such comments can serve a very useful purpose in helping to improve both goods and services.   Negative comments also tend to be detailed than positive ones and help you to concentrate on issues that need attention.

Hence, I think that “valued” would, perhaps, be a better word to use: “Customer feedback is always valued“.  If it is truly valued, then it will be listened to, taken into account and lead to some action which should have some impact on future performance.  Please don’t misunderstand me.  I am not saying that we should accept and act on every piece of feedback as if it is “gospel” – the client may not be aware of all the relevant factors, they may even have been mistaken, (no-one has a monopoly of “rightness” or wisdom).  I am saying that we should listen to and acknowledge the feedback that we receive, consider it and take it into account when drawing up plans for future action.  Sometimes that will result in immediate and specific measures, but sometimes it will be more appropriate for the results to emerge later.  The most important thing isn’t what is contained in the feedback comments, (although that is obviously important), it’s what is done about it, or with the information once it has been received.

Positive feedback can reinforce good practice and negative feedback can help identify and lead to the elimination of problems.  My father used to tell me that: “What has happened has happened, what was done has been done and cannot be undone … “, you can try to make amends and to learn from the experience to ensure that what was good continues and is repeated in the future whilst what was not … is not.

One of the main problems with negative feedback however, is that it tends to produce a defensive response, (hence my reservations above), where the natural reaction is simply to try to justify and explain rather than to listen, acknowledge, consider and analyse it to see what can be learned from in order to bring about  improvements in the future.

 

Maxim has taken up a new hobby interest – photography.  He sometimes brings me photographs and asks for my opinion.  I quickly realized that he didn’t really want my opinion; he just wanted praise: “Great”, “Wonderful”, “Well Done”, “An excellent photograph”.  The trouble is that although, as a former schoolteacher, I recognize the importance of reinforcement and encouragement, I also know that there is little in life that can be “perfect”, which is impossible to improve upon.  Something can be “Excellent”, or “Very good”, but can still be improved upon, can teach us something if we are prepared to observe, to listen and to think.   As a result, I tend to give comments which are a bit more critical that a simple expression of praise or  criticism …

There I go again … English is a funny language …  many words have a multitude of meanings and in one context they can have a different interpretation than in another … take the words “criticism” and “critical”.  We tend to use them to refer to “adverse” or negative” comments – to find fault – but they are, in fact, quite neutral words implying careful evaluation.  A theater, film or book critic can give a “rave” review just as he can give a “damning” one.  Perhaps this negative aspect arises because a lot of criticism is negative – after all, it is easier to be negative and identify problems and what is amiss, than to be constructive.

… my aim is to give him something to think about so that he develops his skills and the photographs he takes and posts in the future will be better.  There is a tendency to pick out the “good” features of the photographs and emphasize those whilst playing down, (if not actually ignoring), the points I am trying to draw attention to as things which need further thought and which could be improved.

He doesn’t have to agree with my comments, but having asked me for them I think he ought to “accept” them in good grace and in the spirit they are proffered; (that is, as constructive comments to think about which are aimed to having  a beneficial impact on his future work).

 

 

 

Tags: Business, Feedback