Issue 7

Andrew Bass's Pragmatics Newsletter
Practical techniques and thought-provoking ideas

May 2008.

The main article takes under 4 minutes to read.
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In this issue:

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Stating the (elusive) obvious

It's said that Lord Seiff, when Chairman of Marks & Spencer, would disguise himself as a tramp and visit his stores to see whether he was treated with respect. Difficult for Stuart Rose to do the same, as TV means he is highly recognisable, but anyway he and his team clearly know how to run a shop, so let's talk about another business that still needs to figure it out: DSG International (formerly Dixons Group), operators of PC World and Currys.

DSG are in the news at the moment (May 2008) - their new CEO has announced the results of a ‘strategic review’. It's left analysts pretty cold, but at least he noticed that customer service is dire. The previous incumbent seems to have been more interested in disappointing international acquisitions (hence the name-change) than sorting out this fundamental of mid-market retailing.

Don't executives mystery-shop their own businesses?

The recent review included a customer survey - research overkill, really. If you popped in to any of their stores at random over the last few years, you’d be sure to get a masterclass in poor retail store management. The following are not unique to DSG, they've just got very good at them:

Such behavioural information - unfiltered by surveys - is evident to anyone spending a few minutes to experience the business from the customer's point of view. And it's precisely the vital information that an organisation will tend to keep from its senior people, not just in retail, but in all sectors, B2B as well as B2C.

Recommendations

If you're the boss, here's an experiment: call or visit one of your offices or departments where you will not be recognised. Don't identify yourself. If you don’t like the idea of adopting a pseudonym, use your middle name. Are you treated the way you want your clients to be treated? Amazingly, in offices of higher-end service businesses, in capital city offices, and particularly with firms who consider themselves 'creative' or ‘prestigious’ (i.e. all cases where clients are worth lots of money), you may be astounded.

Hiring mystery shoppers is ok but there’s nothing like seeing for yourself. If you are a busy leader with position power, and are therefore vulnerable to the distorted reports of courtiers, shop your business yourself, and shop the competition, too. i.e. if you are a Starbucks exec, go and buy a latte at one of your outlets, then at Caffe Nero. If you work for BA, fly out on your plane and come back on American (and fly economy once in a while). If you are at a bank - phone your call centre..... Well OK, maybe that is too much to ask.

What’s it like to deal with your business? Wherever possible, the best way to understand it is to be the customer or client yourself.  Read more about customer experience (pdf format).

P.S. We will soon know whether it is actually possible to do better in consumer electricals than DSG have managed. Best Buy – the US electronics retailer famed for its service – are teaming up with Carphone Warehouse (where my experience when I got my new BlackBerry was wonderful) to go head-to-head in the same market. My American friends kill themselves laughing at British service. My prediction is that they will kill DSG. Time will tell.

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If you still have a minute..

New-look website and white paper on Leadership Development

Leadership advice needs to be less about 'charisma', more about learnable behaviours. Organisations need to work with and through humans, not supermen. Read the article on our website.