The Trust Index - A Key Success Metric

Success measurements. Most take an aggregated look. Measuring performance over an entire market, an audience, or a population of customers/end-users.

What about on a 1-to-1 basis? That’s how success is achieved, isn’t it?

For example, how well are you doing with that specific customer/end-user? Or that one…or that one…or…

How can success be measured 1-to-1?

Customer Satisfaction Ain’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be

Typically, the burden falls on a single satisfaction score. The happy face survey results.

Customer satisfaction is a feel good measurement and it’s still important. But it’s an attitude, not a behavior.

People will describe how they feel - but their actions may be different. They say they love you, and then do something less than love. Familiar, huh?

Trust is King in the land of 1-to-1

However, if you’re an in-house service provider or outsourced vendor, a good measure of your success is how much you’re trusted.

Isn’t that what you want from customers/end-users? To be more trusted than their alternatives?

How Can You Measure Trust?

Trust can be measured in utilization.

For example, how much your customers/end-users use everything you have to offer. That’s the key: using everything you have to offer.

Think about it. The more customers/end-users trust you - the more they’ll use your services.

Not just the one service they have to because of in-house/contract requirements. But all those other services you’re capable of providing. It’s the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th services that show you’re trusted.

When customers/end-users trust you, they rely on you to help them, to work for them. This goes beyond the usage of the mandated/base contract.

In-House Service Providers

Trust as measured by utilization might be hard to comprehend at first.

If you’re like most in-house service providers your end-users have no choice. They have to use your service, it’s mandated.

But what about all those other services that you COULD offer? Are your end-users coming to you for them? Are they even aware of what else you could do for them?

In addition to your basic service, there are probably 10-20 other services you’re capable of delivering. Any of those associated services, end-users might use, if they know you offer them.

There are even some services farther out there that you might offer. Consider:

• Planning with end-users to get the most from your service
• Liaison with end-users to help them engage service from other providers at outside locations

In-House Service Mission

As a sign of success, using more in-house service may seem counterintuitive. The more your end-users use you, the higher your department’s spend goes.

But that’s what your department is there for. In-house support services enable end-users to focus on their jobs. And its your fellow end-users who are working directly on your company’s survival and success.

So, the more end-users can concentrate on their jobs, and trust you to do more of what you do well, your company wins.

Outsourced Service Vendors

Trust as measured by utilization (aka add-on sales, or share of wallet) is right in your wheelhouse. At least it should be.

Add-on sales to the same customer typically provides:

• Higher profit levels
• Lower cost of customer acquisition (you’re already serving them)
• Faster revenue due to the above

Please tell me you’re measuring share of wallet, along with all those other aggregated measurements.

The Trust Index

Measuring trust is not easy, but not impossible either.

Think of it as an index, a combination of several measurements mashed together. Simply put it only takes 3 steps:

#1 Figure out everything you offer & quantify/price it

#2 Find out what your customer/end-user can use (ask them)

#3 Calculate the percentage they are using of what you offer (%)

Not easy, true. But you can tell the degree to which you’re succeeding with customers/end-users. On a 1-to-1 basis.

How do you determine how much your trusted?

~~~~~~

Chris Arlen
President, Service Performance

Technorati: in-house services, outsource services, trust

Image by: superk8nyc

Add comment August 18th, 2008

Who Defines Your Service?

Recently a client brought up the question of “who defines service”. Not WHAT the specs were. But HOW the end-user should receive service.

This client is a large corporate service department of a large, very large corporation (did I say they were large?). They provide service to their end-users, all who are part of the same company. Get the picture?

So, my client, as a service provider, asked “who defines service”?

The Dilemma

My client was concerned their end-users would expect Nordstrom’s type service. When obviously that wasn’t possible even with their significant resources.

Their end-users are mandated to use my client. They’re not supposed to have the option of going outside for service.

Mandated or not, end-users still have some expectations of HOW they want to be served.

And my client felt they couldn’t give everything that their end-users wanted. And so the question arose “who defines service”?

An Answer?

We did our best to provide an answer. And it may not have been as definitive, or as satisfying as our client would have wished. But reality is like that sometimes.

Here is one answer in two parts to “who defines service”?

Part #1 Service Scope

The budget and business contribution of the end-users defines WHAT is done for them. You’ll recognize this as scope defined in service specifications.

The more important and/or valued the end-users, the more services will be scoped, budgeted and paid for to take care of them.

Part #2 End-User Expectations

End-users define HOW they want to be served.

Just ask ‘em. They’ll tell you.

The service provider must do everything they can to bring end-users expectations as close to reality as possible.

Then the provider must work hard to help end-users perceive as much of the services that were delivered, and the quality of those services too.

Expectations Aren’t Always Fulfilled

Seems a bit too simple, but there it is. Just because end-users might expect Nordstrom’s service within their corporate office, doesn’t mean they’ll get it.

But the burden to communicate to end-users falls fully, and entirely on the service providers’ shoulders. It’s their job to influence expectations and raise perceptions.

And that’s in addition to doing the work on time, on budget, and in compliance with contract, environmental, social and legal requirements.

Tough order? Nah, it goes with the territory of service provider. Doesn’t matter if you’re an internal department serving your fellow employees, or an outsourced contractor. It’s all part of the game.

How, and who, defines your service?

~~~~~~

Chris Arlen
President, Service Performance

Technorati: service, service scope, specifications

Add comment August 12th, 2008