The common thinking is that inertia means “doing nothing.” Nothing can be further from the truth. Inertia means being in a constant state or “uniform motion.” This means, essentially, repetition of whatever is being done, constraining movement into a new state.
One of the major challenges that businesses face in their effort to elevate the customer experience is the gravitational pull of inertia that perpetuates a state of uniform motion. People doing what they’re accustomed to doing, transactions being executed mindlessly, legacy payment solutions, information being communicated without being tailored for urgency, conflicts being ignored and well, you get my point.
It’s imprudent to think that inertia can be cured by simple means. A change in technology system, a short teambuilding workshop, a one day customer service training program, a superficial leadership development retreat, or the onboarding of digital labour to combat poor customer interactions, don’t make a dent.
One of the major challenges that businesses face in their effort to elevate the customer experience is the gravitational pull of inertia that perpetuates a state of uniform motion.
Any effort to undo or destabilize the stranglehold imposed by inertia, will need to be informed by the roots of its existence. A major question would be, “Why and where does inertia exist in this business?” Another fundamental question would be, “How strong is the force of the inertia and what is powering its strength?
Accurate and thoughtful answers to these questions, will create the basis for course correcting the existence of inertia in a business. Because some of those answers may point to weaknesses in leadership intelligence and inadequate efficacy in business outcomes, facing up to their disclosure will require a bit of maturity and neutrality on the part of business leaders, who view unfavourable feedback as an admonishment of their brand.
Inertia is the antithesis of excellence, so a good starting point in dismantling its existence, should be a critique of the relationship that the business has with the most rudimentary element of its existence. It’s belief system.
It’s imprudent to think that inertia can be cured by simple means.
I have discovered that many businesses veer away from the wholesome foundational beliefs that underpinned their noble start-up aspirations. Many get entangled in the web of day-to-day business imperatives that appear to bear greater urgency to survival of the operation. It’s easy for a business to become consumed with its day-to-day operations. It’s equally as easy for this modus operandi to become so supreme, that original vision, aspirations and belief systems no longer act as the moral and operating compasses for the businesses. They get relegated to the list of areas to be addressed at the annual strategic planning session.
Sometimes, inertia can lull a business into feeling satisfied with its legacy performance, where “good enough” becomes the acceptable milestone. The business does not show the ambition to set stretch goals that locate the performance goal post competitively within the marketplace, so that the risk of death by “un-competitiveness” can be reduced.
We’ve been scrutinizing the impact of inertia at the strategic level of the business. The service delivery and customer experience levels are also impacted adversely, when inertia becomes normalized. One of the most glaring outcomes of this impact, is the feeling of achievement when customers indicate that they are “satisfied” with their experience. As I’ve mentioned before, the minimum level of exchange between a business and its customers is satisfaction. It represents the lowest level of expectations being met and should not be an aspirational level for a business.
Inertia is the antithesis of excellence
Inertia breeds comfort, which together, is a lethal brew that lowers the level of vigour a business needs to remain top of mind with its customers. In each instance, if the business does not invest in a new cadence in the way it thinks, acts and behaves as a brand, there will be a new cycle of inertia just around the corner, waiting to be tapped.
Businesses rouse themselves out of their inert zones either through their own ambitious intentions, through investor clamour or through the burgeoning force of competition. The simple act of a business committing to remaining relevant in the face of an ever-changing competitive landscape, can begin the process of immobilizing inertia, which is limited in its ability to thrive in a space that is committed actively, to continuous movement.
This process of redirection can guide a business out of a state of uniform motion, into a trajectory that is built around achieving a competitive advantage that is strategic, measurable and differentiating.
One of the most glaring outcomes of this impact, is the feeling of achievement when customers indicate that they are “satisfied” with their experience.
One point for contemplation though, is that a curated process will be required to unwire the business from uniform motion, to a rewire around unified motion, if inertia is never again to be a co-habitant.