Sub-Base Performance
The epidemic of struggling at Bare Minimum
Moving house. The residential equivalent of getting wisdom teeth pulled out. It is costly, time consuming, inconvenient, tiring, and is full of logistical coordination. In my case I am lucky – my wife Jana is a professional organiser. Jana’s ability to get ahead of problems and sort out details is beyond my comprehension.
Source: Jessica Lewis
But even with Jana leading the way, we suffered all sorts of problems starting with the hot water service not working for the first 48 hours of our tenancy. This got me thinking about the all too often situation where customers feel they are receiving a ‘Bare Minimum’ service or product (see the video below). I see Bare Minimum as delivering to a standard to merely get by. To do just enough to avoid a major complaint. To rely on consumer apathy in order to avoid rework or follow up.
From a workflow point of view, it is difficult for any business to build real momentum and rhythm into their processes and teams when this is the norm. An example of this was our internet provider in our move. Tomorrow they will be sending out their third engineer in an endeavour to finally get our internet service to work. We have spent hours on the phone, and they have received more than one complaint from me. Think about the wasted man hours and general resources this has cost the company, let alone reputation harm. Their Net Promoter Score has taken a beating!
Struggling at Bare Minimum takes more work for worst outcomes. I remember learning how to ride a bike. It was hard work to ride very slowly. I fell over a lot and couldn’t dream of taking on corners or hills. Once I got the basic skills sorted out, I was able to understand how to react to all of the micro data my eyes, inner-ear balance, and body was giving me. This set up my Base which enabled me to begin to build momentum and eventual rhythm. Our roles and businesses are similar.
In the figure above, the Technical and Analytical Skills form our Performance Base. If we don’t have these elements in place, we struggle to deliver the bare minimum. Across industry I found this to be all too common. By getting detailed and clear on what these skills are and delivering to a consistent standard is critical.
In an age of Leadership and Emotional Intelligence there is a strong case for creating a strong base before working on the factors that create Performance Feedback and Performance Execution to create ongoing rhythm.
What do you do in your role to deliver above Bare Minimum? How do you track your customer’s user experience satisfaction? What tools do you use to gauge your customer journey.
