Telstra has kicked off a restructure what has been described as be the most comprehensive since the company was privatized. Called “Project New”, the Telco has in the order of 500 people working on 27 sub-projects, with one of these sub-projects already claiming the jobs of around 350 senior managers in the last two months.

On the surface, some of the early messages seem to be aligned to the success of customers; “The restructure aimed to simplify Telstra's internal business processes and improve to the way it approaches - and delivers - customer service”. Simplification is one of the keys to delivering customer success, remove the causes of work and make every customer interaction a successful one. Unfortunately, this is what follows and it shows the old Inside Out thinking as it talks about “a view to cutting underlying fixed costs and becoming more competitive.”

Perhaps Telstra should learn from the thinking and experiences of some of this century's most successful companies. Apple has become the leader in the mobile device space despite Nokias long standing dominance in the market. Nokia still maintains the stance that it has the best technology and perhaps this is correct but dominance is no longer achieved simply through technology. McDonalds has been the leader in the fast food industry for decades yet their profits started to decline when their goal was to have the most franchises. Around 2003, they turned their focus to delivering what customers needed. The secret behind the success of these, and many other of this centuries most successful companies is the adoption of an Outside In strategy.
 
One of the Telstra sources was even quoted as saying "examining its organizational structure" as part of its move to a leaner operating model.” And Telstra don’t appear to be trying to change customer expectations very far judging by this statement ” Telstra had been testing the network and customer services provided by its competitors - going as far as buying their products and "lodging complaints and seeing what they do" about them.” Perhaps the fate of Telstra will be similar to that of Toyota if it adopts the same process improvement methodology. The demise of Toyota is perhaps attributable to its shift away from delivering what customers want to a desire to become the largest card manufacturer, classic inside out thinking.

Looking further we see another aim to be an increase in the number and percentage of sales and customer service interactions are through online and self-serve channels from a current level of 10%. So, instead of allowing customers to get frustrated with their automated voice system before eventually being able to speak with a real person, Project New will encourage people to get lost in a tangled web of poorly designed internet systems designed by online marketers. Telstra New should take a leaf out of Zappos experience and put their customer support number on every page of their website and encourage people to talk to a real person and empower the customer service representative to fix the customer’s problem.

In fact, I wonder how many of the 500 people and 27 projects are really dedicated to improving customer satisfaction, fixing the causes of work, eliminating moments of truth. How much of Project New is really about aligning the company to deliver successful customer outcomes and how much of it is merely about delivering the same old poor service at less cost; effectively shifting the deck chairs on the titanic?
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So, you've got an website and you're selling things online. Great for you. But are you really making the most of your online channel? Doesn't matter how small or how big you are, you could be doing more to increase sales and if you are going to compete with the likes of Amazon, the one thing you can learn from them is to provide an exceptional customer experience to make your customers lives easier, simpler and more successful.

So, in the physical world, setting up shop takes a lot of effort because you have to choose the location, fitout the shop, put your merchandise on display and wait for customers to come through the door. Well, you would probably argue that these same challenges exist in the online space too. In fact, some of the challenges are even more difficult because of the sometimes competitive nature of the Internet and the ability to quickly compare prices. So, the goal remains the same; How are you going to get customers to come to your online shop and purchase from you and not someone else? Well, your opportunity might not be to continue to compete on price alone.

These days, service is such a forgotten art that companies incorrectly believe customers will not pay a little extra for it if you can make their lives easier, simpler and more successful. So, look at your customers, understand what they really want from you and deliver it to them. Deliver it well and they will thank you for it by returning and telling others. Provide a poor experience and they are likely to go elsewhere. And it's easy to judge the service level you provide your customers. In a recent article from Canadian Business magazine (see http://bit.ly/OIVirgin), Richard Branson said "The trick is always to look at your business or brand from the outside in. Instead of looking strictly through the prism of the latest quarterly financials, attempt to see yourself as your customers see you. Start simply: call your own customer service line. Just finding the number can be interesting. If you’re subjecting your customers to some kind of electronic hell, redesign the system — pronto!"

Here's an example of knowing what you customers really want. If you find that your customers are looking for gifts for family and friends, provide a gift service where presents can be wrapped, cards created and attached to the present for delivery to the loved one. An opportunity for you to make your customers lives more successful and an opportunity for you to increase your revenue. What about helping them choose the present by asking them some details about the recipient and then displaying something like "Customers who searched for presents with similar profile purchased" ... Ever forgotten to send a card or present, how about providing customers with a calender with a reminder service and a history so you can see what they purchased last year.

Remember, user interface and navigation is important. If you make it difficult for customers to find and purchase what they want, they may just give up. The principle to remember has been around for quite some time and that is the more interactions a customer has to go through, the less successful the interaction is. Apple knows the importance of this, just have a look at how simple their devices are to use. They're complex and powerful devices but simple to use. Look at your site, how simple is it to use? How many keystrokes and button clicks does it take for someone to find what they're looking for or for them to check out? Ask yourself, are they really all necessary? If the answer is no, then get rid of them and in doing so, help make your customers lives easier, simpler and more successful.
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According to some recent research done by the Social Media Academy, there is a direct link between company profitability and customer experience.

See http://bit.ly/cFTMuz
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