I recently wanted to move some money from one account to another. It seems a simple process doesn’t it? Although one account was international, the process would, I thought be easy. To ensure that it was actioned quickly, I went in person, to a high street branch of a national bank. The help desk was manned and I began to explain my wishes. I was surprised to learn that the process wouldn’t allow me to transact in the way I wanted, but was disappointed to be advised that my tranaction could not be actioned at all. Not that I had done anything wrong, but that the systems didn’t seem to work that way. Later on that day, I returned to the bank and asked a different person the same question. I was advised that, although I couldn’t transact my original way, I could in another way, and they went on to help me with the transaction.

The point of this story is to highlight how important not only Customer Service is, but how critical it is, to solve the customer’s problem. I appeared to have a problem with a transaction, I knew there must be a solution so asked the experts to help me find it. It would have been very easy to move the account to another bank, but I gave them a second chance. It worked, but I should not have been the one that instigated the solution. It may have been a training issue-they nearly lost a customer, not something companies should be doing at the moment. Without customers, there is no business, without good customer service, the business will lose customers, then refer to the beginning of this sentence.

There are some things that businesses must do better than their competitors, customer service is one of them.

Marj

I have recently had a conversation with a contact of mine, who was a senior director in an international industrial company. After the meeting I realised that there was still some way to go to enlighten top management in the way they sometimes behave, if they are to  keep and get the best out of the people they employ.  

Several things happened to make this person realise that they did not want to stay with this particular company, but amongst them was the way in which top management behaved and the impact that had.

In a period of economic downturn, when companies are watching costs, trying to maintain profitability, and competitors are encroaching on the customer base, the one thing a company cannot afford to lose are good senior directors and managers. This is were ’Vision’, ‘Leadership’ and ‘Team’ become critical to riding the storm, surviving and moving the business forward. All directors have a responsibility to the company and its stakeholders and only by pulling together and working as a team, can that be achieved. If a Director fails in his/her duty, the Chairman must be made aware of it and deal with it, otherwise colleagues will leave and all stakeholders will suffer.

Fortunately, I don’t think this particular person will be without a challenge for long, but it again highlights that people work with, not for, people, and if they don’t feel valued, they can and will leave.

Marj

I have attended two events over the last week which referred to the building of MediaCity in Salford, Manchester as the biggest media centre, outside London. Peel Holdings, the company that owns such diverse developments as The Trafford Centre, a shopping centre on the outskirts of Manchester and  Liverpool John Lennon airport, has committed to build a media hub of 200 acres and has already secured five divisions of the BBC as its anchor tenant.   They are also reported to be talking to several international companies with a view to encouraging them to locate their regional headquarters in MediaCity.

At one event, Brian Greasley, the MD of MediaCity, said that he is confident of building the infrastructure to support businesses of all sizes and has a vision of MediaCity being the platform for education and growth of the sector in the UK. At another event I listened to Caroline Thomson, the COO of the BBC, talking about how she sees the move of the divisions to MediaCity, as being a positive statement for Salford and confirmation that the BBC is quite prepared to relocate departments outside the Greater London area.

This is a good start for the sector and the area, but MediaCity will need to secure several more major companies and  smaller companies in the hub, will need to show that they can build and grow their businesses in that environment. It will require determination, and teamwork from all parties, if the vision is to be realised. Marj

This is the first week in June and as this is my first blog on this site, my thoughts turn to the plans for the week. There’s several meetings which need preparation from me; work to be done for a new partnership, with international links;  ‘phone calls with a view to arranging to meet and follow up first conversations; a seminar to go to; an evening charity committee meeting and a workshop. This, apart from the usual e-mails and ‘phone calls and checking that actions have been taken on certain things when they should have been.  The week will not be quiet.  Marj