Reflection – Design Thinking

The Challenge

I work at State Bank of Pakistan, one of the leading telecommunication companies in the world. At we State Bank of Pakistan strive to ensure that the  lives of our customers are greatly impacted whenever they have any form of interaction with the company. The  company has a policy which states that all customer complaints, enquiries, questions must be attended to within 48  hours of when the customer contacts customer service. This is done to delight our customers and retain them as well.  Now, there was an instance where a customer wanted a SIM change. A SIM change usually takes about 24-hours  tops. For some reason, the customer visited one of our service centers asking for a SIM change, filled paperwork and  provided all the necessary documentation for the process to be completed. However she was asked to come back in  24-hours, which she complied to. The customer came the next day and again was asked to come the following day  because her information had not yet been verified in the system and therefore a new SIM card could not be issued.  The next day, in order to avoid driving to our service centers and being asked to go back home or return later, the  customer called ahead of time to confirm completion of her request and again, was told she will have to come by our  service center the following day. After 3 days (72 hours) the customer was not only agitated, but also disappointed  and extremely furious with the run around and the terrible service she had received the past couple of days and even  threatened to cancel her subscription with the company.

Selection

After studying about design thinking and the various tools I decided to adapt the use of storytelling as a solution to  the problem stated above. Design thinking allows one to solve problems by encouraging questions, listening and  having a sense of empathy of understanding towards a person’s needs and wants. Storytelling is important because it  allows human interaction through the sharing of experiences and providing solution to issues through thorough  verbal and non-verbal communication.

Application

As the customer displayed signs of unhappiness and dissatisfaction with the service towards my colleague, I felt the  need to step in to assist. I remembered the storytelling tool in design thinking and decided to use this to elicit a lot  more information to resolve her issue. I introduced myself and asked for her name, which she said, was Joana. I  asked Joana to kindly go with me to a secluded area so I can hear her complaint and assist with resolving it  immediately. Once we arrived at my office Joana took a seat and immediately started venting and telling me how  unhappy she was with the service rendered over the past few days. I made sure not to interrupt and allowed her to go  on. While listening, I made sure my body language showed that she mattered, her concerns were valid and she had  every right to feel disappointed with the business.

Once Joana was done talking, I proceeded to tell her a story of how I experience a similar situation as an  international student in the United States of America (USA). The entire process was so exhausting and during that  time, I felt I was of no value to the company I was willing to pay for in order to have services rendered. My needs as  a customer were constantly being pushed aside and dismissed. Eventually, I was assisted and compensated by the  store manager after I asked to speak to someone in higher authority.

After telling my story, Joana smiled, sat upright in her seat and said “ wow I thought these things happen only in our  part of the world.” I then explained to Joana that in every human institution the goal is to strive for excellence  however, there are certain times when things take a different turn like this time. I immediately apologized,  completed her requested within the next 15 minutes and also compensated her by giving her 100GB free data.

I can say now that Joana has now become one of our most loyal customers, which we appreciate very much.

Insight

By incorporating the storytelling tool, I was able to show empathy to Joana, stimulate the situation and make her  understand that she is valued as a customer and dear to the business and losing her will be a huge loss to us. The tool  also helped establish a positive rapport between Joana and the business, which till date has been very exciting.

Approach

Feedback and ideas as to how best we can serve our customers in the future will be welcome next time I interact  with our customers. I will also ensure to ask a lot of questions to help recommend new ideas, ways of doing things,  techniques etc. to management. By asking questions and sharing ideas with management I will also help review  policies regarding our customer service procedures.

