BLOG: Heard the one about the Ugandan divorcée?

Have you heard the one about the Abbey customer who became a Ugandan divorcee overnight? The chances are that by now, you will have read about the rather embarrassing incident that saw an agent interfere with customer details in response to a less than flattering customer feedback survey.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/consumer_affairs/article5042629.ece There are many who will be sympathetic to the situation Abbey suddenly found itself in – ridiculed on a national scale for the actions of one individual angle. But it got me thinking…in stressful situations can you really trust the individuals in your organization to do the right thing? And if you can’t, then are there measures that can ensure the right thing is done regardless? Well, quite frankly, the answer is yes. Sure – you can’t legislate for heat of the moment reactions – but you can minimize the risk and ensure your people, processes and technology are less likely to land you in hot water. These are my top tips for ensuring your customers don’t experience a similar identity crisis. 

1.       Support your agents. Staff are far less likely to find themselves in stressful situations or react inappropriately If you provide adequate training and confidential advice and support.
2.       Interrogate your environment. If possible offer a paperless/penless environment – this will increase security dramatically and prevents details being recorded or discarded outside the security of your IT system.
3.       Processes – Set up systems that require dual signatories to approve changes to customer accounts.
4.       Manage feedback carefully. Many agents are paid accordingly, so ensure there are elements such as appeals processes in place.
5.       Technology – create business rules around access to customer records and editing rights.

by Neville Upton, Nov 20 2008, 05:23 PM