Transitioning from a product to service mindset

How many different products does your company offer to your customers? Probably more than 5? If you’re a financial institution or a government agency probably even more! And have you ever thought about the different experiences that your customers have when they access each of those products? 

Let’s look at this example…

Julia and Mark have just found their dream house, they need a home loan, so they jump online to the bank they usually work with. Last time when they opened their joint bank account everything went smoothly- they completed their details online, chose the type of account, downloaded the app, set up a pin and voila! 1 week later they got their cards in the mail and were ready to go! So when it came to selecting a home loan, they had a great previous experience to help make their decision, they had no doubt this would work!

What Julia and Mark didn’t realise was that those are different products are managed by different teams with different targets and ideas. So long story short, their experience with a home loan was completely different. For instance, for the account, they presented all the paperwork online, but this time they had to do it in person- their ability to see the whole process and requirements wasn’t the same and they didn’t feel as safe as they did in their first experience.

Why does this happen if it’s the same institution? The answer is simple, it’s because most organisations are structured around products instead of services, and the processes behind each product may be completely different and therefore you have a lack of coherence in the experience that the customers have with each of them.

This not only happens with banks, but it also happens with telecommunication companies, government agencies, energy companies, and the list goes on and on.

We recently worked with a government agency that offers a wide range of services to business owners, basically, they are one of the many permit providers that businesses need when they’re starting. 

They are responsible for around 10 permits, but each of them is different. For some permits you may need to go in person, others are sent via email, some may require that you complete a form online while others need you physically complete it by hand, and that’s only the start. Before we worked with them, when you asked for guidance they would talk to you about one of the permits, the most common, and you’d be happy, you’d think “it’s only one, I’ll get it quick” but 4 months down the road, surprise! You need 4 or 5 more! And why did this happen? Because every product team (permits in this case) work in a different way, without collaboration.

So there are 4 key things that you need to nail when transitioning from product to service mindset:

1. What are you selling? Michelin sells kilometres, not tires anymore! 

In this case, the government agency used to think they give a set of permits, but what they are really doing is enabling businesses to trade while ensuring that they do it in a way that has a positive impact on the community. Businesses don’t care about their permits, they care about doing business!

Financial institutions may be selling financial tools for their customers to achieve their dreams, and that may be through credit cards, home loans or applications – the customer doesn’t care about who’s behind it, they’re interested in being able to do what they need.

2. Define what is the customer experience that your customers need, want and enjoy?

What are the moments of truth for your customers? What are the moments when your customers think “ok, I am in the right place” or “crap, what am I doing here?” What do they care about? Is it a sense of safety? Is it seeing progress? 

3. What are the processes that all your services have in common? 

If all your products require a payment, gathering documentation and an approval process, then you need to ensure that there is coherence in between those things across the organisation. 

This makes it easier for your employees to perform a task, audit the process or even make changes but it also has as a consequence that your customers no matter what they are doing, they know what to expect and they have a good experience.

4. What parts of your processes really add value to your customers?

There is where you need to invest! And think not only about those things that your customers see but also about the things that they may never know exist. 

Does this sound familiar? Let’s chat! We’re just one email away hello@three6.com.au