Reducing Customer Casualties

By Michael B. Tatham, President, The Tatham Group

You would think that a recession might wake organizations up and make them focus on reducing customer casualties.  And many spend a lot of time and money working on this issue.  However, no matter how hard organizations try to ‘create customer focus’ the business is disconnected and therefore is just not capable.  If you keep doing what you’ve always done…

Recently at Tatham we had a piece of equipment producing poor quality output.  After many experiments, the root cause remained elusive.  After diligently explaining the situation to the service department, and all the experiments we had run, they decided to call in a service representative to take a look.

First disconnect: Upon his arrival we had to explain the entire issue over again including the experiments we ran.  Déjà vu?

Second disconnect: Immediately, we were informed that what we were using the machine for was not what it was designed for (even though it was specifically recommended to us by the sales department).  Annoyance.

Third disconnect: He did not have the right tools with him to diagnose the problem.  Frustration.

The Path of Most Resistance

By Laurie Clarke,  COO, The Tatham Group

As I’m about to become a new parent, I am receiving a lot of parenting tips and advice.  Some I seek.  Most are offered upon spotting my unmistakable baby bump.  I have stopped wasting my time explaining to these many strangers that they are not considering the customer, me, when they share horror stories or unsolicited advice on how to avoid their mistakes or replicate their successes.

Setting my customer focus issues aside, I decided to go with the flow. I am a firm believer that everyone can teach you something and the collective knowledge of hundreds of parents must be greater than my own.  I made the decision to block out anything that will worry or terrify me and accept the other advice for consideration.

Of course, my Tatham mind kicks in and I start to turn these encounters into an opportunity.  I began to ask questions and categorize the answers.  Very quickly I saw a pattern.  The biggest regrets were other people’s biggest success – a parent must always follow the path of most resistance.

Finding Elegance in a Handful of Nails

By Michael Tatham Jr., President, The Tatham Group

I started working in the company at what I thought was the lowest level – producing training materials and processing customer orders. What I learned in this role were the key components to the success of any company: there is no role more important than one that services the customer, the more simple a process is the more elegant and everyone plays a critical part if the company is integrated.

More importantly, I learned the critical success factor for our company over the past forty years: our human nature leads us toward complexity. It is the desire to please, challenge or prove worthiness; the creation of rules, roles and processes to make ourselves feel special; the fear of losing control that creates a convoluted path to the customer receiving what they need; inability to accept and admit failure in order to learn from it; and many more. Since birth our environment has reinforced these behaviors making it difficult for us to change to an environment of success that requires less resources to maintain.

The Future Is Friendly

By Michael Tatham Jr, President, The Tatham Group

Are the members of Generation Y lazy or just searching for an environment to thrive in?

 The late 1990’s introduced an environment that expected more of Generation Y, the group that falls into the approximate birth timeline of 1980-1999.  This was a time when technology and more specifically the Dot Com phenomenon began. According to Wikipedia: “They needed to be faster and more efficient (with the advent of better technology), smarter (increase in college enrollment), and available (40-60 hour work weeks) than Boomers and Gen X. Therefore some of the defining characteristics of Gen Y are tech-savviness, family-centric, achievement-oriented, team-oriented and attention-craving”.  

The Cycle of Hell

 

By Laurie Clarke, Chief Operating Officer, The Tatham Group

Ever wonder why? Why some problems keep coming up over and over again?  Each summer I wonder why my city, Toronto, is taken over by construction workers fixing potholes and repaving roads?  Why are those five pounds (okay ten) shed in the summer regained in the winter? Why are meetings called to discuss the same things?  Why do short-term incentive goals appear the same year after year (or maybe pop up every two to five years)? Why can’t these problems be fixed once and for all?

 Welcome to the cycle of hell. Well, ok, the cycle of hell for some people.  And that is the problem. 

Knowing Your Limits…What Do We Really Know?

By Doug Powell, Senior Vice President, Wachovia

The Customer: Part I of III

I enjoy working on my house.  This is a good thing because the person I bought it from (also the person who had it built and, I think, had a direct hand in many of the ‘finishing’ touches) only did about a C+ job on most of it.  I fully realize that this level of craftsmanship (yes, craftsmanS-H-I-P) ultimately allowed me to be able to afford my house on a new, single income, with little real equity, having just relocated after a career move.  Yet each time I get into a project, I inevitably find a lack of attention to detail that reminds me of why I have to redo the work myself, causes me to shake my head and utter the words “how in the world did he think this was quality work?”  As you have no doubt read elsewhere on this site, I have found a very stable process.

An Unnatural Switch

By John Munce, Deployment Executive, The Tatham Group

I’m a solution-ing hero from way back.  Even when I didn’t have a solution I was the first to hop up and lead the group to one – quickly.  My theory for why this was the right thing to do was simple:  (a) the solution couldn’t be that hard and (b) if it didn’t work we’d just do this again.  This way was successful – some of the time.  When I was asked to abandon this solution-ing method and replace it with a systematic problem solving method I had a very difficult time adjusting to the discipline and pace.

Failure IS An Option

By Laurie Clarke, Chief Operating Officer, The Tatham Group

“Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” - Cliff Bleszenski’s

 “What a good workout!  You worked every muscle in your body to failure.”  These are the words of my personal trainer.  It’s 6:30am, I’m exhausted and aching everywhere.  “Why is this a good thing?”  She then goes on to explain that it is only when our muscles fail that a signal is sent to build them so that they can be stronger for next time.  Interesting.  I need to fail so that I can grow.

(Re)Learning Habits

By Corina Wong, Order Fulfillment and Customer Service Representative, The Tatham Group

When I first started working at the Tatham Group, I didn’t really understand why everyone in this company seemed such a stickler for following process.

First, let me provide a bit of background: my job involves a variety of different tasks, including maintaining all inventory, creating sales brochures, and printing and laminating takeaway packages. So you can understand how grateful I was to have the Production Guide – a handy binder filled with detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to do each task.

My general approach to following instructions is to read it all over, understand the gist of it, and then go hands-on. I can’t speak for the wider population, but I do know that the majority of my family and friends take this approach as well, whether its setting up a new computer, building an Ikea desk, or even following a recipe.

The importance of baseline measures

You’ve got to know where you are if you want to know where you’re going

“Well, I’m not going to sugar coat it for you. If you don’t change your habits now, you’re looking at a very long road ahead.”

That’s what the ultra fit and sculpted trainer who had been poking and prodding at my health history for the last hour said when I attended my very first fitness assessment.

“Ouch,” I thought. “But I work out all the time,” I pleaded.

“Yes. And that’s why I know you’ll reach your goals. See, the good news is that there is a huge amount of room for improvement,” he added cheerfully.

Double ouch.