Exception Tracking Can Reveal Hidden Problems

Have you ever tried to buy a product or service only to be rejected by a less than well-informed employee of the company? Have you ever wondered who hires these people? Have you ever wondered if the “company” knows how their employees treat their customers? The misperception to all of these questions is that the root cause that inspires them is the fault of the employee. It’s not the employee at all…it is the management! Even more insidious…it is probably happening in your company or department as well. The fact that we are often unaware of our “nos” is the actual problem.

Let me start with a couple of examples of this common problem, how it manifests itself, and how it can even pervade the operations of the company.

I recently had cause to visit my family’s veterinary office to pick up some food for our dog, Abby. I noticed a decal on the front door signifying that they are a member of our local Chamber of Commerce. Also being a member of that group, I was aware of a “member to member” discount program in which they participated. I selected the needed food and brought it to the receptionist to pay for it. I asked her if this food was subject to the discount program and showed her my program ID card. She said “no, we don’t participate in that program”. “Hmmm, that didn’t sound right” I thought to myself. When I returned home I decided to check the Chamber’s list of participants and, sure enough, there was listed the Vet along with their special offers for members.

A few weeks later I happened to be speaking the owner of that office and mentioned the fact that their receptionists were apparently unaware of that program. Her response was one of surprise, and she wasn’t even clear on the program details for which she had signed up. Little wonder, then, that the employees were also unaware; but the bigger question would be “how many other details were being mishandled by staff?”. And, how would the owner ever know about them?

Another example shows an even more common attitude that some employees have. “If I don’t know about it then it obviously doesn’t exist” is a common modus operandi in many departments and companies. Take my recent trip to our local hardware store. I entered and asked the first associate to direct me to their “washers” department as I held up a gas container’s cap that was missing a washer. His response was that they “didn’t have anything like that”. An associate standing nearby who obviously heard the discussion chimed in “wouldn’t that be in the O-rings and washers section?”. I smiled and said “yes, that’s what I want, the O-rings and washers section”. Is this starting to sound familiar? If someone doesn’t know it’s very easy to simply answer “no”.

Some would respond to these examples by blaming them on employee training. Obviously the receptionist hadn’t been “trained” on the company programs. The associate hadn’t been trained on the company’s entire inventory. Those responses assume that all training is 100% effective and that there is no possibility of human error, both of which are fallacies.

So how would you respond? These issues can certainly negatively impact any organization in its dealings with customers and other stakeholders. The issue of “I don’t know = no” pervades many organizations to their obvious detriment and consternation. It is a problem that must be addressed in order to improve company performance, improve customer satisfaction, and often improve one’s sanity!

Software programs have handled such exceptions for eons. When something unexpected happens there is an exception handler that will generate an error report. Saying “no” to customers or other stakeholders should be treated as an exception to normal practice. After all, in an ideal world…or in an ideal company, wouldn’t you want all your customer contacts to be positive? If you handle a negative response as an exception, then management can then has an opportunity to review those exceptions if, for no other reason, simply for the purpose of tracking such data for possible future product or service offerings, improvements, or additions. Perhaps it might illustrate a need for further training or, perhaps, a new system aid or tool to preclude the error. The point here is that if management knows that there is a trend in negative responses to customers, or if there are erroneous negative responses taking place; management is in a position to deal with those occurrences. Without such knowledge, management is powerless to make improvements and line personnel will remain unaware of any such issues.

Implementing an exception handling system can be as simple as a list of “nos” maintained at points of contact with customers. Or, it can be as sophisticated as an exception report generated by POS or other point of contact systems used with all customer contact points. Each time a “no” response is used, it must be noted in the appropriate system with notation included which details the cause, be it a customer inquiry, request for service, special delivery time, etc. This can be an eloquent way of gaining Voice of Customer data which can help guide future company expansions, improve current operations, and perhaps bring a new level of sanity to daily operations. Oh, and did I mention retention of customers? If you are not hearing your customers, I can promise you that they will find someone who will hear them! If you’ve ever wondered why some of your customers become your competition’s customers; this may be a good “first place” to look.

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