12 sources of business failures and managers’ careers. About InPost errors

Customer service at InPost – a true story

First, I will present you the real story of ours and our client, then I will draw conclusions and show you how to apply them.

These types of applications are the key elements that we work on as part of the Academy of Leadership and Change Management that I implement for companies and in the CVP Elite Program when I work with 1in1 leaders.

It was December 2018. We published my third book, which I wrote for 2 years with a great journalist and copywriter, Wojtek Maroszek. Since we were publishing a book for the first time, without the participation of a publishing house, we also started cooperation with a courier company. We chose InPost.

The offer was clear. They had efficient parcel lockers. The service at the sales stage was very good. Everything was running smoothly.

In the first wave, in mid-December we sent several hundred books. At the beginning, we were afraid that there would be delays due to the upcoming holidays. We wanted the books to arrive before Christmas Eve.

We asked three different people on the hotline three times and the seller who served us how long it took to deliver a package in such a crazy time before Christmas. He said they ship a huge number of parcels a day and they cannot afford to have parcels waiting in warehouses. So everything goes to the client as soon as possible. There is no downtime.

And it happened. The courier picked up the parcels from us. And in the next 2-3 days the books were with the clients. We were satisfied. InPost respect. However, after Christmas s a client contacted us with the information that the book had not reached her.

She told us she called InPost twice but did not receive a solution to the problem. Nobody knew where her book was. In addition, she was informed that the book had been delivered to her.

We call the hotline. The lady informs us that you refer the problem to the manager who will check the topic and contact us. A day, two, three passes. Nothing happens. We call again. Again, another lady is listening, we translate again, we are waiting again for information from the manager. And so a few more times.

In the meantime, we agreed with the client that we would provide her with a new copy. We wanted to do it right away, as soon as InPost did not solve the problem the first time, but we agreed with the client that we would wait a while longer. However, we finally gave her a new book.

Finally, tired of the topic, we file a complaint after a few weeks.

As customers, we mean:

• why should I fifth- sixth translate the same once?
• How did the book get lost?
• or is the client confusing something?
• maybe not, but someone in the family picked up the package and didn’t hand it over?
• even if the fault is on the customer’s side, InPost should inform about its position as soon as possible, contact us with the courier who delivered the package or with the manager responsible for it. Or have a procedure that instantly gives us back PLN 59 + shipping cost – even if not to the account (because InPost does not want to be used by fraudsters), they could return the costs to the company account in InPost, used for shipping parcels.

This morning (15/02/2019), almost two months after the book was lost, we received a response to the complaint – a scan of the document below:

As customers we think (not necessarily factual thoughts, but as a customer we have the right to think so):

• Are they normal?
• Not only are they delaying the solution to the problem again, but they also use the words “We cannot recognize the complaint because the documents are missing”, instead of saying: “Sorry for the inconvenience. We lack documents, and this prevents us from considering the complaint. We want to do it as soon as possible so that we can help you and explain this situation. Can you please answer the following questions ?;
• Not only did they not settle the matter after a total of 10 or more calls from ours and the client; they lost our book, made a complaint, it makes it difficult again;
• We provided all this information when reporting a complaint via the hotline, and after 20 days they say that they have no data, not referring to the client’s problem.

Sources of low customer service and company collaboration

As advisors supporting companies in improving strategies, processes and communication, we see here one or more problems from the universal list, which we call in our methodology “12 sources of low standards in cooperation and customer service”

1. They have no values ​​and principles which should guide employees
   or / and
2. They cannot cope with staff shortages , they have too much on their heads and are not able to process such a number of reports, therefore their priority is to answer another phone call, not to get the case done
   or / i
3. Have no procedures and processes to guide the worker through these situations
   or / i
4. There is no good IT system which allows for continuous improvement of customer service, document content
   or / and
5. People are not implemented in the system and procedures
   or / and
6. You don’t pay enough and employees feel a constant regret and resentment about it
   or / and
7. People are not motivated and do not engage in customer relationship
   or / i
8. The employees had a bad day and they could not mentally mobilize themselves to take care of quality despite their bad mood
   or / i
9. The supervisor of these employees cannot manage and introduces chaos into the team, lowers morale, motivation, willingness and quality of service
   or / i
10. There is no sense of responsibility among service personnel – they focus on answering the phone, filling out applications, but not on completing the case and helping customers. Lack of employee education in taking responsibility
    and / or
11. There is a lack of human language culture – communication by e-mail and documents is dry. It does not relate to what the client expects. Even if the documents are missing, because the person on the hotline did not complete the data in the system, the text of the document should sound like human language.
    
    It should include:
    • sorry (this is not always adequate, but if Ms. Sylwia could see the case history, she should apologize for the confusion)
    • reference to the matter, eg “I know that you have reported a complaint via the hotline and you have been waiting for the problem to be solved for 2 months. Please provide any additional information that we are missing. “
      and / or

12. There is no strategic approach to grinding – maybe there are people who are trying, but there is no strategic approach to improving quality, improving standards. They’re good at one area, but many gaps in another.

Is that really a problem?

This is what this trip looked like in a nutshell. Nothing terrible, right? One of several hundred books is missing and it is only PLN 72 (book + shipping cost). No big deal, especially that mistakes are human and the client got a second copy. I agree.

But everyone who runs their own business or in a company is responsible for contact with the customer and sales, or was a waiter in the past, or at least bought anything, anytime, he doesn’t want to lose PLN 79.

At the same time, anyone who understands the importance of reputation, credibility and quality also knows that one small mistake can turn into a plague. I know because I used to run 3 companies myself and I constantly experience how details matter.

I now have one increasing year over year. I work or have worked for companies such as Śnieżka, Samsung, Orange, Smyk, Metlife, Societe Generale and I see every day how small things create big problems and are sometimes more dangerous than huge difficulties because you cannot see them and suddenly hit them with great force we’re not ready for.

At the same time, I can see how smart people in these companies make good decisions so that the problem does not escalate at the right moment. It’s a big art. I learn a lot myself and get inspired by seeing the work of these leaders.

These 12 sources of low standards are also the 12 sources of business failures or managerial careers. If they ignore these areas for too long, neglect them, underestimate them or still don’t have time for them, sooner or later they will have to pay for it.

As part of the Academy of Leadership in companies or the individual CVP Elite program, I always repeat: only looking broader, strategically and treating changes as a priority saves us from the corpse coming out of the closet, which, when it falls out, disrupts the operation of almost all areas.

How will the complaint be processed? We do not know yet. We have to write back to the letter.

The story continues, and that’s when I finish this article.

If you want to find out how this story ended, please enter your email in the navy blue box below j and you will be informed as soon as we have a new one information. By signing up, you will also download a free fragment of the book “Wall”, in which I write about what will affect earnings and efficiency at work in the coming years.

What are the business and strategic lessons to be learned from this experience?

1. If the customer has lost something that is valuable to them, don’t take it as a simple complaint, a problem. But take responsibility for bringing it to an end as soon as possible.
   • In the case of InPost, one solution could be to assign a consultant to the customer’s problem number.
     
     • Pros: As in some countries, when you call 112 for help – the same policeman or call center assistant always answers there. Your number is assigned to him. And if he is on vacation or ends his shift, the matter is transferred to a specific person. Then the client does not feel dismissed and does not have to explain the problem all the time. I don’t feel anonymous. It is easier to track a customer’s problem in the system.
     • Cons (which are not really cons): Costs of implementing the IT system and teaching people to take responsibility.
2. Never ignore a client – always keep your word.
   • Pros: Happy customer.
   • Cons: More effort.
3. If you promise that, for example, a manager will call you, make sure he gets in touch. If you do not have access to information about whether he has done so, call the client and ask: “Because I do not have access to the information, whether the manager has contacted, I would like to ask if he did it and whether the matter went forward … “
   
   • Pros: Happy customer.
   • Cons: More effort.
4. If you make a mistake, apologize and suggest a solution.
   • Pros: Happy customer.
   • Cons: More effort and sometimes ego strained.
5. When considering a complaint, be interested in the customer’s story to know what he has already been through and refer to it in an interview with him.
   • Pros: Happy customer.
   • Cons: More effort.
6. You must periodically verify the list of 12 sources of low standards in the company
   I have a gift for you – giving your email in the frame at the end of the article you can download a PDF in which you will find a table that will help you quickly evaluate each of the 12 elements. It is worth giving it to a few or a dozen people in the company to spend 3-5 minutes completing the table. You can also ask several clients for it. Check the results and draw conclusions, see what needs to be changed.
   • Pros: Happy customer, more sales. More time in the long run.
   • Cons: Greater effort. Bigger costs. Less time in the short term.
7. Make changes based on the list of 12 sources whether you are small, medium, large or part of it.
   • Pros: Happy customer, more sales. More time in the long run.
   • Cons: More effort. Bigger costs. Less time in the short term.

What should managers keep in mind?

I know that there is often not enough time, money, and people’s support to make any changes. I am aware of this. Often times, even if we feel like it at the beginning, it refuses later. But the decision is ours.

Sometimes we are in a rank and file and we don’t have the power – then write down your ideas, share them with people you trust and wait for your moment. Share your conclusions with a wise decision-maker at the right time.

If you are a decision maker remember one thing – listen to people. In the last 2 years, I worked in 3 companies, which in total spent over PLN 4 million on reports of large consulting companies (one – 2 million, the second – 1.7 million, third – PLN 300 thousand) on audit.

The conclusions that appeared in the reports coincided with those that I heard from employees. Perhaps, in fact, such powerful audits were needed, because then we have more confidence in the objectivity of conclusions. But sometimes it makes sense to think from what other source to draw inspiration for change.

Such aspects are an important element of the CVP Elite Program – when I advise managers, leaders, entrepreneurs in this program, there is always a moment to verify either such a list or other elements that affect effectiveness and profits.

If you feel that you may have such gaps in communication in the company or in contact with partners, clients, write to us as soon as possible: [email protected] and arrange an initial session that will help us determine together what needs improvement , changes. It’s not worth the wait. Such problems are booming at a crazy pace.

Do companies have communication and customer service problems?

For several years we have been considering whether to introduce a customer service audit as well as consultancy and training in the field of the highest quality customer service in our main offer.

Perhaps this situation is another piece of information for us to take care of as many companies are lame. While more and more companies already have nice service, are able to talk to the client, the processes, procedures and mentality focused on finding a solution leave a lot to be desired.

Does InPost have a bigger problem with that? I do not know. As I said at the beginning, maybe we were unlucky and that’s 1 situation in hundreds of thousands – everyone happens to be. But every entrepreneur, manager, director, board member should take such cases very seriously and improve the management of such processes.

Thanks InPost for this bug 🙂

An interesting fact from a different barrel is the fact (perhaps it was supposed to be so and we should thank InPost for it) that a client who waited over a month for a book writes to us and proposes: Let’s do this: I will meet Mr. Adam, he will give me a book, and I will tell him about our company and the project to which we are thinking to invite Mr. Adam.

The company the client works for is a huge business, operating on all continents. I was invited to a group of people who are to design the development of a 1,600-person company for the next 5-10 years from every possible angle.

A large project, extremely interesting and potentially very profitable. Will something come out of it and will it be profitable? I don’t know, but the potential is huge.

At the same time, during the first meeting, when I was introduced to the topic, another expert of this company suggested that I give them a lecture on change and openness to change for 150 employees of the company. It was the fastest contract performance for specific money without participating in tenders and talks. It has already happened.

As I wrote in the first sentence: perhaps I should thank InPost for their mistake. Because not only have I already earned over 100 times the value of the book, but maybe an even more interesting challenge awaits me. The client received a second book as a gift as an apology – we apologized for InPost. So everyone benefited.

Even you, the Reader, have benefited (I hope) because you can learn important lessons from this story and start making changes to your customer service, partner relationships and company communication processes from today.

Thanks to InPost. You are another inspiration.

At the same time, important information: InPost – be careful that this one bug does not start multiplying like a virus. Feel free to contact me if you need any help with this.

Download the table of 12 sources of high standards of cooperation and customer service

Enter your name and email address in the frame below. After signing up, you will receive a PDF where you will find a table for a quick audit of 12 sources of high standards of cooperation and customer service.