Earlier in the year my human Steve told you on LinkedIn about a programme Alisar devised in Japan called ‘Coming Home’ for a blue chip retail company. He’d been working with High Side Co Ltd in Minami, Osaka and the retailer principal, Keiji-San and his daughter Yukimi-San.
‘Coming Home’ involves developing a programme with the regional teams to create long lasting customer loyalty and bring ‘lost customers’ back into stores by implementing a variety of initiatives. I wonder why customers don’t wear name tags like I have to in case I get lost?
Anyway, Steve says these initiatives will ultimately mean enhanced customer experience and customer service across the retailer network.
Well, this month the programme has nearly reached its 1st anniversary (that makes me about 4 years older in human years) and it’s continuing to be a success.
Steve has been working with Hiroki-San and Ushio-San whose hard work and focus, much like Keiji and Yukimi, have helped to make ‘Coming Home’ such a success and every day Hiroki and Ushio’s efforts are being rewarded.
Each store has had different challenges so Steve has been using what he calls a “pick and mix” of Alisar’s Tools of the Trade including the 5 Whys, the Fish Diagram and Review. Learn. Improve (RLI).
They’ve also been looking at previous sales and aftersales campaigns, what worked and what didn’t work. Then using everything they’ve learnt from this work planning:
- an annual campaign diary
- marketing planner
- staff skill training, to support the future events.
Some stores have even been losing money, so Steve has applied RLI techniques and is investigating all areas of process and team skillset. As a result of all this work he’s introducing a more structured approach to marketing, new management techniques and resetting budgets.
Steve will be leaving me in my new garden in Dorset (did I tell you we’ve moved to the West Country? I’ll tell you more about my new garden exploits another time) twice more this year to develop more continuous improvement methods in the ‘Coming Home’ programme for the businesses in Japan.
He tells me this not only helps the businesses but also ensures that the programme keeps going well after Steve’s support ends.
I asked Steve if I could help out in Japan especially as I’m getting a name as a Canine Customer Services Champion and now have over 300 followers on my Twitter account @MaiziMutt.
But Steve says its better if I’m tweeting about Alisar’s works and good practice in customer service in the UK or blogging to tell you all how proud Alisar is to assist Japanese businesses using our tools, and supporting yet another successful programme ‘Coming Home’.
Pretty ironic that to develop ‘Coming Home’ Steve’s constantly ‘Leaving Home’. Often I feel like the famous Japanese dog, Hachi, who waited and waited for his master to return home…