Quality Isn’t Enough

** Originally published on LinkedIn

I figure that I know as much as the average person about how cars work. I can tell you what a cam shaft is, what spark plugs do, and why the carburetor is a relic. But still, I’m at the complete mercy of auto mechanics. If the mechanic tells me that the alternator needs to be replaced and, a week later, tells me that it has been replaced, I can’t open the hood and evaluate the work. I don’t know whether right component has been installed, whether any bolts were replaced and tightened correctly, whether the work was adequately checked and tested, or even what questions I should be asking.

Effectively, I can only make useful judgments about the work product of mechanics in the case of gross failures. To me, all basically competent mechanics are qualitatively equivalent.

Clients judge the service level, when they can’t judge the service

What I can and do evaluate, though, is the quality of service that mechanics provide. Does the mechanic clearly explain to me the problem and its remediation? Do the final charges match the original estimate? Is the work done on schedule or predictably late? Is the mechanic attentive or did he or she make me wait on hold or stand around in the garage while attending to other matters?

Naturally, I’m inclined to believe that a mechanic who is transparent, reliable, and detail-focused where I can see is more likely diligent where I can’t. As the tractable aspect of the interaction, customer service becomes a proxy for judging overall value.

The moral for mechanics, and the rest of us, is that client experience matters tremendously. Adequate work backed by great customer service can be better than great work plus mediocre customer service.

Focus on your client’s values. Know when they’re different from yours.

The key to great service is to focus on what’s important to the client. And, clients often value different aspects of the experience than the people they hire to do work for them. Experts and technicians naturally value deep expertise, attention to detail, and elegance, all of which are good values. But, they’re not necessarily the client’s primary focus.

Imagine you are building an iPhone app for a client. You decide that it would be a good idea to build in the flexibility to deliver the app on Android later. So, you take the initiative to use a framework that supports multiple platforms, which requires 3 extra days of work.

You may proudly declare that you spent an extra 3 days at no charge to ensure that the client has the option to use Android in the future. But, the client may only hear, “Your app will be 3 days late.” The fact that you went above and beyond will be lost because the client perceives no difference in the outcome. Focused on what you value, future-proofing, you miss what the client values more, time to market.

Don’t take this as an argument to cut corners and take advantage. Just remember that it’s your job to stay in alignment with the client. Surprise delays are always unwelcome and the explanations we make for them, even when valid, get heavily discounted.

Identify with the mechanic and think like the client

Here’s a good test of the value of some aspect of customer service: How much would the service affect (or not) your choice of an auto mechanic?

As professionals, we are all in the mechanic’s position. By the nature of specialization, professionals at anything have a better understanding of the work that they do than their clients. Yet, we have imperfect access to understanding what the client values.

From our privileged, yet also disadvantaged, position relative to the customer, we can do two things to put the customer at ease:

One, reduce the information gap by making reasonable efforts to explain neutrally to the client the work that is being done and why. Include a basic analysis of trade offs, cost drivers, and risks. A better understanding of the work will help a client to evaluate quality objectively and rely less on soft indicators.

And two, focus on the perspective of the client in order to deliver a great experience. Specifically try to exclude what you know about the quality of your product or service that, because of experience or information disparity, may not be accessible to the client.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to convince the client of a truth that she or he cannot see. The success of such efforts will depend on your credibility with client, i.e. on subjective judgements. Frequently, they are attempted precisely because credibility has been damaged and bear the weight of apparent conflict of interest. Think of a mechanic trying, after the work is done, to explain the necessity of replacing an expensive component.

Better, focus early on how a client will reasonably assess your contribution and provide relevant and appropriate tools.