The Problem with Problems

Have you ever had a problem with a company’s product or service, and usually from a large one? Of course you have. We all have. That these problems exist is not novel, but we all remember the frustration of the event when the issue was not solved in the best possible way. This is a failure of brand.

Problems are brand opportunities. Huge brand experience opportunities. If you pass them by in this modern age of members (or consumers) having a voice that can traverse the web and possibly heard by millions, you have to listen and act differently.

Gone are the days that you could frustrate a small segment of your membership and it was an acceptable business practice, because the majority of your members were satisfied (or at least you thought so) with your offerings.

The main issue is how credit unions handle and solve their members’ problems and create brand value. It really just comes down to ownership and measurement. Apply these two elements and then have them tracked by the CEO. Oh, you think that the CEO is too busy to do this, I think not. A new approach can be implemented with the CEO only looking at a one issue a day. But why is he looking at that issue is the key to the whole system.

Ownership

Ever call a company and get your problem passed around? Let’s just call your problem a ‘ball’ for discussion purposes. The person who answers the phone is usually a lower level employee and their job is to solve it quickly or pass it on to someone who can. If your problem is too complex to solve quickly, your ball gets kicked to someone else down the field. If that person never receives it or if it should not have been kicked their way in the first place, then it’s not a real issue for the person who answered the call first, because it’s not his problem to begin with, and it doesn’t really belong to the person who got the ball, because they can’t solve it. Your ball is now in limbo, and no one is trying to get it to the goal. The goal being you having your problem solved.

This happens in many ways and at many opportunities in all organizations. Credit unions can enhance their already exceptional members’ service by having the person who answers the phone take ownership of the problem. That being said, it is like handing the problem over to them and it is now theirs. Imagine me calling up your credit union having discovered that the rate on my line of credit is for some reason 3 points above the rate that I agreed to when I signed the loan. What would happen?

I don’t know what would happen, but this is what should happen…

CU Problem Champion “Thanks Mr. Reed for explaining the problem. I will get to the bottom of this for you. This problem is mine now. Can I have your email so I can send you my complete contact information? You can contact me anytime if you have anymore info or want answers. I own this problem and won’t pass this on to anyone else. I may have others help me solve it, but it is mine. This will be my problem until it is solved or fully explained to you.”

Imagine what is going through my mind now. I just called you with an issue and now I am impressed that the person has taken ownership and has shown empathy for the issue as if they were the person with the problem. They are trying to solve the problem like it was theirs, because now it is.

How you make this happen, will no doubt require changes in your organization. The first most important change you will have to make is that the first, that’s right, the first person who answers the phone is empowered to champion problems and cannot hand them off to anyone else. If you pick up the phone, and there is a problem, it is yours. Tag, you are it. Your job is now to get the ball to the goal using all the resources, knowledge and passion to solve the problem.

You think this approach is too expensive. I say if your organization has more problems than people who can take ownership of them, then you should cancel all of your advertising and take that money to hire more Problem Champions. Cancel your communications, public relations and product development expenses if you need more.

Do you know how hard it is for a marketer to tell you that you shouldn’t spend any money on advertising? Because if the experience of the brand is frustration, then there is no use in bringing in more members so you can frustrate them. Focus on solving your problems first, both by making less of them happen and by quickly solving the ones that do occur. Doing this will be better than any advertising you are doing. Remember, ‘Word-of-Mouth’ is the new power in branding. It is more important to solve a problem than it is to tell people about your new best thing. Why? Well, you can see how our staff handles problems here and the results of doing it right. Practice what you preach.

I think the bonuses of the Problem Champions should only be based on how many, how quickly and how satisfied the members were with the resolutions. Problem Champions should get big, big bonuses and it should be one of the better paid jobs in the credit union.

Measurement

In this day and age with our advanced computers and software, we can track everything. What we measure is more important than how much we measure. You want to have a successful company with a great brand? Then measure, track and actively record problem resolutions. Start from the first phone call up to the final resolution, and here is a little hint, the problem is solved when the member thinks it’s solved.

How should you measure? This is what I would like to see.

Every morning the CEO opens his computer, the only thing that shows up on his screen is the report from yesterday tracking people still having problems with his company. People having an issue with what he is leading. If I was the CEO, I would want to know what my members are having problems with. Can I look into them all? Well no, of course not. But he can look into one personally. Do one problem audit every day. Which one? Well, I think it should be the one that has been the issue the longest. The one that has yet to be resolved from the very first call.

What should you be tracking? Track the number of resolutions and the length of time they have been in the queue. These two simple metrics will work wonders for your credit union. The average CEO doesn’t even have the slightest idea how many issues his members have with his credit union and how long they have had these issues. These numbers need to continually trend down – if you are not improving, you better be close to perfect. Are you close to perfect? Is that what your members are telling you?

So, the CEO has a graph in front of him telling how many problems there are and what the average number of days are that it takes to solve problems with his/her organization. And the CEO has access to the complete file for the one problem that has been in the queue the longest.

What does the CEO have access to? Well, I would start with a recording of the first phone call and every call made on the issue since. They would have access to all the following correspondences pertaining to and resulting from the issue. Obviously, this issue needs its’ wheels greased, and if you get a call from your CEO at 8:30 am I would hope you have answers as to why the problem is not yet solved. I’m sure that the CEO can get you the assistance you need to solve that problem. If the Problem Champion is having an issue getting the problem solved, have the CEO ask why they weren’t given the information, or action that was required to solve the issue. As the CEO walks through the problem with the Problem Champion, we’ll see how many of those roadblocks to the solution are quickly resolved. Who wants the CEO calling them asking what the problem is with getting the problem solved? If it was me, I don’t want that call – so I’m gonna make sure that I help solve problems and solve them quickly for the Problem Champions, because they have a powerful friend that really cares about the brand experience of the credit union.

I think you will be amazed how quickly all problems begin to be solved all around you. People will begin to comment about how many problems they prevented, how quickly they solved them and how happy the members were by the result of their commitment and passion that travels all the way up the chain to the CEO.

Do this for every problem, every problem, from the smallest to the largest. Any issue that a member made you aware of is an issue worth tracking.

The Unsolvable Problem

I’m sure their will be people whose problem you cannot solve. But have you made every effort to do so? Or have you tried very hard to explain why the issue can’t be resolved to their satisfaction? Will your CEO accept and understand your explanation when it hits the top of his list? This should be your guide because the phone call is coming.

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