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Guest post by: Douglas Long Become an Author

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When I was about 6 years old, one of my friends had ducks. One day I decided that our family should have ducks, too. My friend and I carefully selected a new duck egg and we set off to my place. We knew that it should be kept warm until it hatched and the plan was to wrap it in something soft then put it into a warm cupboard alongside the water heater. On the way home I dropped the egg, which didn't break but the shell certainly cracked. "That's ok," said my friend with 6 year old wisdom, "it will make it hatch more quickly."

We proceeded home where I found my father's best scarf, carefully wrapped the egg, and placed it in the previously selected warm, dark location. Some days later my mother, wondering about the smell emanating from the hot water cupboard, found the mess. I learned that it's not usually a viable option to assume that something cracked will actually be ok and that it will continue to function how you want it to!

Recently I posted an article entitled Leadership and Service in which I spoke of my trials and tribulations with Dell Computers. I closed that article with the comment: "As an aside, how do you think I currently rate Dell Computers? In fact I continue to rate them very highly - mainly because of the responseI got whenI finally spoke with their Mr Buxton. The sad thing is thatthey should have given me this good feeling and they should have had this high rating all the time."

I had forgotten about my experience with the duck egg!

Despite Dell Australia's Stuart Buxton's written assurance: "We strongly agree with the connection between leadership and service. ... with our Studio PC systems on Dell.com.au, we now default bonus ... to ensure Dell owners are the most satisfied in the industry."

I cannot imagine how bad the other computer manufacturers must be if my current experience is designed "to ensure Dell owners are the most satisfied in the industry."

It took until late onthe third day before I was contacted by their service department and, at that time I was again told that a conversation I had on Monday could not have taken place (even though I have a printout from Dell with the reference number on it) and that the reason why I haven't received a quotation for the service is because I hadn't offered an email address - even though initially I was told someone would phone me with a quote. Obviously the whole saga is my fault! (I must point out that a day or so later I still haven't received the quote even though they now have my email address.)

Mr Dell, your organisation has the odour of a cracked, bad duck egg!

Why is it that so many organisations during the entrepreneurial stage and into the early corporation stage, are exemplars of service and quality, but then slip down to mediocrity and below? And why won't the leaders in these organisations face the facts and actually deal with the situation?

Back when I was 6, my mother cleaned up the mess. She was somewhat annoyed but recognised that a 6 year old boy operating with the best of intentions, didn't warrant punishment. She ensured I smelt what she could smell! Then she involved me in removing the mess and fumigating the cupboard. She explained how things should be done for hatching duck eggs and we moved forward - even if my father had lost his best silk scarf!

One of the things we have found in helping organisations realise the value in their company is that an essential component of getting committed customers is, when negative customer feedback is given, talk is immediately followed by action that the customer can see and relate to.

In our work on Value Frameworks, we have found that, with most customer satisfaction surveys, the information is very good; the report provided is detailed and thorough, but there is little or no impetus for action. Managers read the report, nod sagely, talk with their staff about the need to improve customer service, and discipline a few people - all the while refusing to address the underlying systemic issues that are actually causing the problem. In the worst cases, they sometimes "shoot the messenger" by stopping any further association with the ones who provided the bad news.

Great organisations are predicated on highly satisfied, totally committed customers who want appropriate quality and a fair price for the goods or services they buy. These customers, as long as they can see that they are receiving value for money. are perfectly happy for their supplier to make good profits - they want to know that the supplier will be there in the future. It's the marginal customers for whom price is a key determining factor.

What happens with the customer feedback you receive in your business? Does it reach the right people?

In "great" organisations, customer feedback is seen at the highest levels - especially if it is "bad" - and the questions around this relate to "what has been done to satisfy this customer and what is being done to ensure a similar problem doesn't arise again?" As with my mother, there is no effort to blame and punish - education and prevention of repeat behaviour by dealing with the systems issues is paramount.

In the really great organisations, the complainant is then involved in the response and remedy.

Great organisations have leaders: the others don't!

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