Charlotte’s secret – toot your horn and listen with your heart

Charlotte Prom is a woman working in a traditionally male-dominated industry. But she says her biggest challenge has been being an American working in Britain.

Speaking on International Women’s Day (March 8 2017), she said her experience show the cultural curve ball may come from surprising directions, but it can still be hit out of the park.

Charlotte is Head of Customer Experience at Lanes Utilities, which works with Thames Water to deliver maintenance services to the water utility company’s 15 million wastewater network customers.

Continuous improvement of customer service is a key strategic objective for Thames Water. Since joining Lanes two years ago, Charlotte has driven a customer experience strategy that has seen a steady increase in customer satisfaction scores.

She also had a key role in developing innovative ways of working in the new Customer Solutions Centre, in Slough, Berkshire, where Lanes teams are working alongside Thames Water colleagues for the first time, with the aim of delivering seamless customer service.

First, though, she had to get to grips with being an American in Lanes.

Charlotte says: “I don’t know whether it’s just because it’s Lanes and the team we have here, but I have never felt out of place as a woman working in the water utility sector.

“The biggest challenge, which I didn’t foresee, was being an American working for a British company. I quickly realised that there are cultural differences that affect the way we see the world and communicate.

“It’s not bad, it’s just getting to grips with the way we interact, and get things done. It’s certainly an interesting journey.”

Which brings us to that knotty issue of British reserve. Charlotte says: “As an American, I was pretty used to being up front about what I thought and what I wanted.

“In the US, if you don’t toot your own horn, no-one else is going to toot it for you. In the UK, people are a bit more reserved and quiet. That does affect how you go about working with teams and pushing for success.”

European colleagues also had some learning to do as well, says Charlotte. As an American, people thought she would always be “loud, boisterous and hard”.

She is well known for some great American one-liners. In a recent meeting, when asked if she was ready to support a project, she replied instantly: “I was born ready.”

That was not just bravado, she says. She absolutely meant it.

But there is more to Charlotte than up-front American-style confidence. For example, her personal approach to customer service is, she says, “to listen to my heart”.

Charlotte was a senior director in the US health insurance industry, based in Jacksonville, Florida, before moving to the UK. She chose to work in the utility sector precisely because it was so different.

She says: “I think I wanted to challenge myself, and moving from healthcare to drainage and utilities was a pretty big step out of the comfort zone.

“But it’s been a great experience so far, I have a great team working with me, and what we’re creating here at Lanes for Thames Water and their customers is pretty amazing.”

Creating a customer service culture at Lanes Utilities

In the last 12 months, Lanes Utilities’ customer satisfaction rating has increased from an average of 4.38 out of 5 to 4.64. The water regulator Ofwat’s SIM score, used to measure customer experience, has also risen every quarter.

Charlotte says she is particularly happy that customer satisfaction ratings are stable and rising steadily, indicating there is a stable system in place that is properly managing the whole customer journey.

We asked her what her views are on customer service, and what Lanes is doing right to improve it.

What is your personal approach to customer service?

I listen to my heart. That sounds corny, but it’s true. Each human being is special, and I have yet to find someone who is out to do a horrible job, or be purposefully bad. And by that I mean customers and colleagues.  One just needs to take a moment to understand and listen, then you can find out how to help someone out.

What are the 3 things that make utility customers particularly upset with their wastewater maintenance service?

1. When the service is not working. All customers expect a product or service to perform as promised. The fact that we have to even clear a blockage puts us on the back foot.

2. Breaking a promise. Telling customers something, and NOT delivering. And then not acknowledging that we broke the promise. That is the nail in the coffin!

3. Being vague, or confusing the customer. Communication is the foundation for any good relationship. A big part of our job is to be the experts, and explain simply what the problem is, then how and when we are going to fix it.

What delights customers?

Customers aren’t out to be delighted. It’s a nice bonus, but there is nothing that can delight a customer who has been put out. As long as we are transparent and do as promised, and do that consistently, we can earn the respect and trust of our customers.

Being respectful and empathetic toward a customer’s situation is always appreciated.  We have worked with both office and field staff to enable them to deliver a solution, while treating each of our customers with the respect each of them deserves.

What are the 3 actions Lanes has taken that have contributed most to the improvement in customer service in the last 12 months?

Firstly, we’ve simplified our promise. Instead of having very complicated timeframes for each customer based on job type, we have a simple promise: if you call before 2pm, we will get out to see you today, call after 2pm, and we will be out within 24 hours.

Obviously, we still deal with emergencies, such as flooding and pollutions, urgently, but this simple approach has made a vast difference in our ability to make and keep promises to our customers.

Secondly, if we do need to break a promise, due to a sudden spike in service demand, or high levels of urgent jobs, we jeopardy-manage that situation. We call our customers as soon as we know we may not make the promise, and we agree a later time to respond, at a time that is convenient for them.

Thirdly, we now manage customer journeys end-to-end for each of our five regions.  Our Customer Solutions Centre has co-located Lanes and Thames Water teams to ensure collaboration and expedition of customer service.

Our teams work together toward our shared goal of delivering the best customer experience possible.  Both Thames Water and Lanes staff have worked VERY hard since May to establish our world class service centre.