So, is it just me, or has everyone else noticed an unmistakable rise in crosstalk at frontline counters these days? I don’t think that it’s a figment of my imagination. It seems as if everywhere I go, there are endless conversations happening behind the counters that have nothing to do with my transaction.
Honestly, it’s a menace that needs to be stopped. If not, customers like me, who have an affinity for frontline etiquette, will begin to defect. The problem with defection, is that because this phenomenon is so widespread, the defection options have become pretty slim.
Frontline etiquette is an integral part of the rules of professional conduct, which allows the customer to feel respected, validated and valued.
Now, while cross-talking is not a new occurrence, today, it carries a certain level of audacity. In the past, the frontline employees would have paused (sometimes), if the customer looked offended at the level of rudeness. Not so these days. They continue their conversations while eyeballing the customer. At those times when I have pointed out my disinterest in their private conversations, the employees have stopped, but not without casting the most scathing looks in my direction.
Frontline etiquette is an integral part of the rules of professional conduct, which allows the customer to feel respected, validated and valued. Professional conduct activates the customer’s emotional senses and allows the customer to interact with employees who understand socially acceptable rules of engagement. The payoff here, is that customer conflict is minimized. The businesses that are smart enough to pair frontline etiquette, professional conduct and transaction efficiency, release customer bliss. This formula turns out to be a huge prompt for repeat business and bigger share of the customer’s wallet.
The businesses that are smart enough to pair frontline etiquette, professional conduct and transaction efficiency, release customer bliss.
The problem with some frontline encounters, is that rudeness, lack of manners and crude communication are lapses in behaviour that can escalate quickly into conflict situations. In many cases, not even managerial intervention can repair the damage to the brand reputation. The best option in these scenarios, would have been for the breakdown to not have occurred, in the first place.
When a business takes steps to pre-empt disruptions like these, the need to repossess squandered goodwill from ill-fated encounters, does not arise. Situations are navigated so deftly and with such tact by frontline staff, that there is little need to escalate issues up the chain of command. Decisions are taken close to the customer and guess what, routine transactions do not feel like battles.
One of the biggest hidden costs, is the existence of a leadership blind spot that allows this frontline weakness to persist.
The overall mission of investing in frontline etiquette, is to ensure that the customer’s encounter is not doomed from the start of the journey. A bad beginning in the form of ball-dropping, is not the best first impression that a business should sell to a customer.
We’ve been contemplating the visible problems relating to poor frontline etiquette. The bigger problems are those that are hidden. The cost of irreparable reputational erosion, loss of customer confidence and prolonged weakening of the operational systems that keep the customer’s need moving to resolution.
One of the biggest hidden costs, is the existence of a leadership blind spot that allows this frontline weakness to persist. Some leaders are so far removed from the frontline experience, that they never grasp either the customer’s pain points, or the endemic operational weaknesses. There is so much over-reliance on surveys, that the lived experience in the frontline trenches, is lost. Additionally, frontline etiquette that preserves the start of the customer journey, is not treated as a business strategy.
Attacking the problem has to start with a business enquiry. “Do we have a frontline etiquette problem?”
Attacking the problem has to start with a business enquiry. “Do we have a frontline etiquette problem?” I believe that many businesses do, if I pay attention to the many customers who air their grievances on a daily basis.
So, the second point of enquiry has to be the weighing of an action to invest, versus inaction regarding the existing problem, avoiding an expenditure, compared to doubling of the cost of slippage.
The defining question becomes, “In the long run, which payment will be more costly?”