EOW Reflection: It’s good to talk

I’ve talked to a lot of businesses this week, large and small. The views are conflicting: things are getting better, we’re more confident; things are getting worse, we’re struggling. But two things have been consistent: people are exasperated with having a problem but not being able to talk to a real person about it; and what seems to be the biggest issue at the beginning of a conversation is not the reason the person really wanted to talk.

This took me back to my days in the advice world and counselling. People in need of help never started with the main point. It could take a long conversation before they eventually said: what I really wanted help with is xxx. You could have discussed several different issues, which eventually turned out to be side issues. You could be thinking ‘this conversation is drawing to a close’ only to find it opening up again on a new flank. Instinct could tell you that the conversation wasn’t getting to the heart of the matter, and you just had to wait.

People don’t open conversations with the issues they really want addressed because they don’t know you. They have to trust you before getting to the nub of the matter. They carry their problem around carefully like an egg. They won’t expose themselves and their egg to someone who can’t be trusted not to break it. The initial conversation areas are there to test whether you are trustworthy, credible, believable and authentic. If you’re found lacking, you’ll never know what was in that egg. There’s another aspect they’re testing too. Are you going to be judgemental? We may have failed or made mistakes, but we most certainly don’t want someone to judge us on our capacity, capability and actions. Once all of that’s been established the real problems come to the fore.

I’m asking myself therefore, what might we be missing out on by moving people onto technology driven communication channels? We’re looking at how to cope with an increasing number of enquiries. Our capacity for dealing with everything by phone is very limited. We know that the vast majority of people visit our website for information rather than contacting us directly. We’ve got a new form on the website for people who do need further help with their enquires and that’s working well (please do contact us if you think we may be able to help, and our service is free – spread the word please). We respond within a certain time and if the issue can be dealt with by email that’s great. If it’s more complicated conversations are had.

What we need to be careful of is not throwing babies out with bathwater. We need the insight you give us. We need to know what’s going on in the world of small businesses, particularly around payments but every aspect of business relates in some way to how customers pay their suppliers. We need you every bit as much as you might need us.

Many businesses have stopped providing any option to talk to someone. That in itself increases distrust. It causes frustration and whole email chains, when it’s possible that a single conversation with a human could have sorted the problem much quicker and to everyone’s satisfaction. We have to get the mix right. How do people want to engage with us? What channels do they want to use? How does that requirement move over time and does it come back full circle at some point. Thanks to the team members who are working hard on this. We want to hear from you, and we’ll be constantly monitoring to find out whether and when we’ve hit the sweet spot.