Blog
Hey, Retailers: Who's Got The Monkey?
May 5, 2010 by William Cusick — President, Customerspectives
There was an article in the Harvard Business Review quite a few years ago that's become something of a classic, entitled "Management Time: Who's Got The Monkey?"
The piece described a scenario wherein employees walk into a manager's office, lay a problem (or "monkey") off on the manager's back, and then stroll out again. In short, the point was that managers should delegate more effectively, which meant not allowing everyone to pass off their monkeys. Interesting metaphor, and it came to mind in a slightly different context recently when I was dealing with my bank.
I was trying to do something relatively simple (or so I thought): stop a monthly automatic debit that had been set up to automatically pay the office rent. Lease was up, no need to keep paying. Yet, I couldn't figure out how to do it online. And the kind folks on the 800 customer service line couldn't figure out how to do it, so they referred me to the e-banking service people. The e-banking rep didn't know how to do it, and sent me back to the 800 customer service line.
So here's the question: who had the monkey? It appeared to me that they weren't just passing the monkey back and forth; they were keeping it at arm's length.
Hmmm. What to do?
So I called a teller at a local branch, Sharon, who had been helpful in the past. She listened patiently to make sure she understood. Then she took the monkey. Sharon owned the issue. She took it upon herself to call the internal departments that could help stop the automatic debits. She told me what was supposed to happen, and when. Then she called me back to confirm it had happened.
That's customer service! Of course, it wasn't because of which bank I was using. It was actually in spite of the bank I was using. The only reason the right thing happened was because of a person with the right attitude. Sharon owned my issue. Sharon figured it out, and Sharon made sure it turned out right.
If you're a retailer, it's high time you think about whether your employees are empowered and engaged enough to embrace and resolve customer issues. When a customer brings a monkey into your store, your office, or onto your website, who's willing to take it? If you're not sure you know, there's a good chance there are a lot of monkeys jumping all over the place, and some confused, angry customers.
