Navigating the Customer Experience

When a small company is bought by a global, publicly traded company, many changes are inevitable. How that operation handles both the processes and the people involved directly affects the customer experience. We recently partnered with a company that experienced just this. After being acquired, they not only took on many new product lines, they also experienced turn over in their Customer Service Division.

These many changes over a short period of time manifested in customer complaints, increased mistakes, and employee frustration. We were asked to assess the current crossroads through a data-driven process where we interviewed managers and the customer service team as well as published an electronic survey for other internal employees and external customers. Once the data was analyzed and compiled, we validated it through a team building session with the customer service team. Immediately, we found a cohesive, driven team who just wanted to treat the customer like they would like to be treated. Given the opportunity to be together in one room, they shared best practices and brainstormed ways to be more efficient. Leadership was excited to hear they had a good team in place and began crafting strategies for improving the customer experience throughout the organization.