Customer service is dead…Long live customer service. Join the debate!
Mike Newman
Working with senior marketers to supercharge marketing operations by driving efficiency and effectiveness both inhouse and through the marketing supply chain
Customer service is dead
Over breakfast with an old industry colleague we were discussing how the print management and marketing services market had changed over the last 10 years. He highlighted two major changes:
1. The key to a successful contract is to get very good at reporting performance and savings to international procurement teams (a debate for a later date).
2. The need for hands on, technically capable account teams was gone – he qualified it by saying that most projects are briefed electronically, via e-mail or over the phone. The account manager just places the order and project manages, often remotely. Files are distributed and flight checked electronically and most proofing is online; the account manager doesn’t physically touch the artwork or finished products anymore.
I get that improvements in the technology has radically changed the industry over the last 30 years. Repro houses have been replaced by production houses (TAG started life as Ad Plates where future TAG CEO, Steve Parish, was a scanner operator), film is no longer needed with direct to plate and digital imaging and improvements to press technology have eradicated fit and colour issues for the competent, leading to a better quality product all round. In short, producing printed product has become more of a manufacturing process and less of an art.
This is a good thing for those of us who used to spend hours press passing, watching colour fluctuate as the minder played piano with the colour keys on a press running at 40,000 sheets an hour. Often the job was well into the run before colour was signed off. But my question is does improving technology remove the need and benefit of knowledgeable account teams helping marketing clients to establish what they need to execute their marketing campaigns effectively?
What service are you proving?
The fundamental question for me is ‘Is the service you are providing account management or administration?’ What my colleague was describing to me sounded like administration. This would be fine if the client knows exactly what they want, the supply chain or manufacturer is set up optimally, brand colour guidelines and press curves established for each substrate and process, pricing automated and nothing goes wrong. Of course there may be companies and accounts out there that tick all those boxes, for all their work…I just haven’t met them yet.
I agree that often a significant percentage of the jobs that make up any marketing spend are low value and standardisable bar the changing images. That work should be automated and administered, but what about more complex Cross Channel Marketing campaigns, instore theatre or complex Point of Purchase campaigns? Who sets them up and manages them and what skill set do they require to ensure the client gets what they need (which isn’t always what they ask for)?
Long live customer service
Is the truth that there still is a role for a knowledgeable account team who can hold a client’s hand and navigate them through their options when it comes to executing marketing campaigns effectively and maximising Return on Marketing Investment? If the account team don’t offer the support, then the onus is put back on the client to know what they want and be technically proficient enough to specify it. Where is the value add from the print manager or marketing services provider in that case? The client might as well take over all the management themselves.
Outstanding customer service has never gone out of fashion. People buy from people they like and trust, who help them get better outcomes, while making them look good to their bosses and colleagues in the process.
In just about every survey I have read in the last 5 years the same key reasons marketers give that are holding them back from executing more effective data driven marketing campaigns keep coming up. They are:
Time; Resource; Technology; Systems; Knowledge; Internal Skills; Understanding
If that list doesn’t constitute a cry for knowledgeable proactive account teams who can provide the resource, systems, time and expertise to help the marketing team I don’t know what is.
So, what is holding everyone back?
If I am right and the need is there for knowledgeable customer service, why is the service provided being dumbed down? Inexperienced account teams, administrators or generalist project managers are being deployed and expertise let go (as demonstrated by Konica Marketing Services when they made their entire UK print procurement team redundant earlier this year).
The reasons for this are various, but I think the key one is selling on price rather than value. The true cost of providing a managed service is not being disclosed and procurement teams are choosing to believe the cost of service and savings numbers they are being given. As a consequence, the marketing services providers are reducing their cost of service, while they try and make their money elsewhere or through the back door via rebates and technology charges.
I think this is short sighted and a mistake I made back in 2001. A cost reduction driven audit by Management Consultant McKenzie’s at Sky reduced the fees we could charge for providing an onsite print management service. They imposed a manufacturing model for cost recovery which didn’t work for a company with no drop through into manufacturing. Rather than fight it, I reduced the team size and experience and with it the quality of service and confidence of the client, eventually losing the client.
Expediency seems to be driving managed services providers down a route where they honestly believe that the changes in technology and the way we work means that experience, expertise and outstanding service is no longer required in order to provide a great customer experience and retain clients.
What can we do?
Sell - and put a value back on - applied experience, knowledge and expertise. Educate clients on the market and the benefit they will get from working with a managed service provider or manufacturer in terms of time, resource and getting more done. How deploying your systems and technology will improve efficiency, effectiveness and results for their marketing campaigns. How your team’s involvement will help them get more customers, sell more and measurably improve their ROMI.
This applies as much to Creative Agencies, Production Houses, Marketing Service providers, Print Managers or Manufacturers. The alternative in a cost and savings driven market is to hunker down, accept the current direction of travel and continue to de-skill customer service teams and reduce the quality of service. I tried that. It certainly didn’t work for me.
Join the debate
Please comment on this article, share your experiences and bring others into the debate, whether you agree or disagree with me. I want to challenge the current trend and thinking, for what I believe will be to the benefit of clients and suppliers alike.
Founder at Cresco Marketing | Owner at The Hideout | Marketing Director at Scarborough Athletic Football Club
5yI think if you’re a print management company it’s essential to be both service and technically focused. This also needs to be applied to both your supply chain and your clients, without both wanting to work with you you’re nothing. You could be the best service provider in the world, but if you don’t know and understand the trade you work in, mistakes will happen. Likewise, you could be technically brilliant but if you fail to interact with people effectively then you’ll come unstuck. Being both, adds trust and credibility to both clients and suppliers. So for me, both in equally high measures! Great article 👍🏻
Founder Mibrand Limited
5yI see my job as to listen. Once I have all the facts only then can I offer solutions - to give the client what they want but also to offer alternatives that A) may be more cost effective and B) offer a better ROI. Auto response or web based QA does not work in my world.
Account Director at Konica Minolta Marketing Services
5yIf you only want bland or average then automated will get the job done. If you want a little more than that you will need a professional that knows the trade and can bring a job to life by bringing processes and materials to the table that a client won't even know about, this and doesn't have to mean extra cost. You only have one chance at a first impression and a piece of print may be the first physical contact that a potential client has with a brand, it has to be right.
Managing Director at MM print services limited
5yMore important than ever in my world.
Print is still amazing. Talk to us and let's see what we can do.
5yI think customer service is perhaps more important now than previously. We're in an era where so much can be done without any human interaction that good customer service, let alone great customer service now seems to be the exception rather than the rule. I am often told that my company offers great customer service. For us, this is just our normal practice. However if we stand out of the crown because of our actions then that's something to be very proud of.