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John Lewis Partnership

John Lewis Partnership: What Went Wrong? (Unless It Didn’t)

This blog was originally published on LinkedIn on 21st December 2015 and generated some lively comments

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/john-lewis-partnership-what-went-wrong-unless-didnt-steve-sullivan?trk=pulse_spock-articles

Today, the last Monday before Christmas, is ‘Panic Monday’ for many retailers. According to modern tradition, it’s the day that customers decide it’s too late to buy presents online, so go (physical) shopping. In turn, that creates demand for switches from couriered delivery to ‘click and collect’ fulfilment, late-cancelled on-line orders, a need to for clarity and accuracy in differing stock levels between online and store locations, and so on. All this is grist to the mill for those of us interested in the omni-channel customer experience, but it’s likely to prove to be a difficult day if you’re working in a retailer’s contact centre.

This blog was originally published on LinkedIn on 21st December 2015 and generated some lively comments

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/john-lewis-partnership-what-went-wrong-unless-didnt-steve-sullivan?trk=pulse_spock-articles

Today, the last Monday before Christmas, is ‘Panic Monday’ for many retailers. According to modern tradition, it’s the day that customers decide it’s too late to buy presents online, so go (physical) shopping. In turn, that creates demand for switches from couriered delivery to ‘click and collect’ fulfilment, late-cancelled on-line orders, a need to for clarity and accuracy in differing stock levels between online and store locations, and so on. All this is grist to the mill for those of us interested in the omni-channel customer experience, but it’s likely to prove to be a difficult day if you’re working in a retailer’s contact centre.

So, today seems like a good day to continue looking at the John Lewis Partnership (JLP); part successful retailer and part pillar of modern British secular society. A few weeks ago, I published this post http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/john-lewis-never-knowingly-understood-steve-sullivan?trk=pulse_spock-articles, triggered by Patrick Collinson’s article in the Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2015/sep/12/has-john-lewis-lost-the-plot-complaints. The Guardian article had set me wondering if JLP had “lost the plot”. My post considered the growing challenges faced by brands seeking to deliver the very best customer experience across multiple contact channels, using multiple external suppliers and partners.

At the time, though, I said we’d come back to the very specific area of JLP’s contact centres, which seem to have become a growing focus of customer discontent. The Guardian article, above, suggested that there is unhappiness and disillusionment in the Glasgow contact centre. Furthermore, Ian Golding ’s Blog post from earlier this year http://www.ijgolding.com/2015/01/14/falling-out-of-love-with-john-lewis-even-the-best-find-it-tough-to-deliver-consistently-good-customer-experiences/ has attracted a long trail of additional comments – to be fair, not all about JLP’s contact centres – expressing frustration and disillusionment with John Lewis’ organisational and staff commitment to delivering great customer experience.

So, what’s gone wrong for JLP?

First off, let’s be honest; JLP aren’t on the skids. Their ‘man in the moon’ Christmas television advert is considered to be another great success, they remain one of the UK’s best-loved and admired brands (sitting at 6th place in YouGov’s UK brand index survey http://www.brandindex.com/ranking/uk/2015-mid – though dropping from 2nd place in 2012 & 2013). Just about any organisation would love to have JLP’s reputation for consistency, value and customer care. However, there are definite rumblings about how JLP services its customers. Those concerns are perhaps inevitably concentrated on remote, contact centre interactions which often deal with aligning different channels and fixing already-broken customer journeys.

JohnLewis onthemoon 3490240b (small)

Blame the Suppliers?

Is it a coincidence that in mid-2014 hundreds of contact centre agents working on the JLP account for Teleperformance transferred under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings [Protection of Employment]) regulations to Capita, when JLP agreed a new 5 year deal with Capita to provide customer management services and technology? To those of us familiar with the operational workings of contact centres and the delivery of customer management services, this is a notable but common occurrence. Major brands often use outsourced service providers like Capita and Teleperformance, and the inevitable transitions from one to another (or, indeed from in-house provision to an outsourced provider and vice versa) are carefully planned and executed exercises, typically conducted by management teams well-versed in the process.

Capita logo      Teleperformance logo tp 221x44

So, did something go wrong? In truth, I don’t know. I don’t have any particular insight into the JLP contact centres or how individuals and teams may have reacted to the prospect of maintaining their client, but changing employers. Even though LinkedIn is a great source of self-justification, egotistical outpourings and broadcast updates as to educational qualifications and blurry, 10-year old profile photographs, it’s hardly the right platform for whistle-blowers. That said, if you do have a revealing ‘inside story’ feel free to comment below!

Change often acts as a catalyst. Some employees may see a TUPE transfer and change of employer as an opportunity; others may see it as a threat. Some may feel that operational glitches and process failures – which contact centre agents know all about – may be addressed and fixed ‘under new ownership’. For others, JLP’s effort and investment in changing outsourced service provider would be better spent on immediate tactical fixes and improvements. Inappropriate targets, inter-departmental frictions, poor communications are often experienced in contact centres; is it the disruptive impact of change that has led these to be highlighted for JLP?

Blame the Business?

In any event, at a time of personal and business change someone needs to maintain relationships and staff engagement with the contact centre ‘frontline’ (agents, supervisors, support staff – and even additional third parties whose interface with JLP is through their outsourced contact centre). It’s not really feasible for either the outgoing or new outsourced employer to do this consistently through the transition. So by default, this becomes a client responsibility. Ironically, then, having reaffirmed a strategic decision to not attempt to provide online retail contact centre services in-house, JLP need to directly engage the (possibly wavering) hearts and minds of hundreds of staff.

hearts and minds shutterstock 105757790

Conversely, perhaps the transfer of outsourced service suppliers occurred seamlessly, with no ‘unintended consequences’ in terms of employee engagement, internal communication, the workings of technology and business processes.

Blame the Customers?

Maybe all that happened is that JLP partners’ awareness of a change in contact centre supplier percolated through to some customers who interpreted their cause of disappointment or experience of process failure as being because of contact centres being outsourced. Did outsourced contact centre agents really describe themselves as JLP ‘partners’? I very much doubt it. But equally I can see how confusion might arise and how much more damaging a ‘blurring’ of the status of individuals would be for JLP than for a lot of their peers. JLP, their customers and most observers directly link their reputation for customer service to their employees’ excellent benefits and part-ownership.

John Lewis Partners’ status is binary; you are a partner or you aren’t.

By contrast, successfully delivering consistent, aligned customer services through an outsourced contact centre – especially when the supplier and staff’s employer has changed – is a much more nuanced, non-binary challenge. Today is Panic Monday, but every day presents staff in JLP’s contact centres with the challenge of looking after demanding customers and often repairing their relationship with the John Lewis brand. There’s a heavy responsibility on both JLP and their suppliers to support the frontline contact centre staff meet that challenge.

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