Moments of Truth
From IPAPI
Moments of Truth can be moments of magic... or moments of misery for our customers. Far too often they are moments of misery, and that is what customers remember more than anything else!
Contents |
IPAPI Definition
Moment of Truth – A Moment of Truth is any contact with the customer whether initiated by the customer or not. Any Interaction with the Customer – any interaction – is a Moment of Truth.
Examples
Examples of Moments of Truth include:
- talking to the customer in person or on the phone
- sending an email or letter
- faxing or text messaging
Moments of Truth also include interactions with products.
Variants
Moment of Truth, MOT
Overview
Moments of Truth first became popularized after being a core part of Jan Carlzon’s turnaround of SAS airlines in the mid ‘80s. The fundamental idea of Moments of Truth is attributed to the often revered management thinker Richard Normann (who died in 2003 at the age of 60). In the late 1970's Richard Normann introduced the metaphor of "the moment of truth" as part of his extensive development of management theory in service management.
There are two fundamental ideas behind the use of Moments of Truth in management practices.
1) The elimination of ALL unnecessary Moments of Truth – everywhere.
2) The repeatable delivery of Moments of Magic for each Moment of Truth that cannot otherwise be eliminated.
Jan Carlzon also authored the book Moments of Truth published in 1989 and it is still a popular management book today (and is on the IPAPI recommended reading list).
Moments of Truth by Jan Carlzon [1]
Service Management : Strategy and Leadership in Service Business by Richard Normann [2]
What are Moments of Truth in Process?
From the process perspective, Moments of Truth exist anywhere the customer touches the process or the process touches the customer. Any contact with the customer – any contact – is a Moment of Truth.
Identifying, eliminating and improving Moments of Truth can be a daunting task for many organizations. It requires an organization to move away from the ingrained internal perspective to the external perspective – the Outside-In perspective of the customer.
Identifying Moments of Truth will – without a doubt – lead to the discovery that many of our processes are fundamentally flawed. The elimination of unnecessary Moments of Truth will impose change on the organization, although the good news is that the resistance to this change will not come from the front lines. They are already living with the flaws in our processes so removing those flaws will typically be well received and often has knock-on effects of improved morale, loyalty and job satisfaction.
For many managers the story is much different. The change that identifying Moments of Truth (then challenging them) brings to them will often require a fundamental shift in how they perceive the purpose of the organization, their job function, and their entire way of directing, overseeing and supporting their staff. While for some managers and executive managers this is a much needed breath of fresh air, for many it is simply one more thing to be discounted, ignored, and tacitly resisted.
