Post Office

Challenge

Government requirements to become profitable had increased the pressure on senior management to expand the range of financial services products. This was part of a broader strategy to build on traditional strengths and sell new products to a customer base that trusted the Post Office more than they any other institution, including the Church of England! Recent new product launches and related training had begun to move the sales needle in the right direction but not fast enough.

Most organisations believe they have unique challenges. The Post Office is one business where this claim is indisputable. A network of 15,000 branches and a work force consisting of mainly (> 90%) franchisees meant that lessons from other financial services businesses were only partly relevant. Senior management needed objective, expert eyes to diagnose the key blockages and come up with specific plans to drive faster growth. As the organisation was already going through a series of major changes, it was important to develop practical, value adding recommendations that could deliver significant progress quickly.

Solution

(Editorial comment; the PO Powerpoint proposal has a circular diagram that may be a useful graphic in the section.)
Our Sales Effectiveness Diagnosis methodology means we start with customer needs and work "outside in" and "bottom to top". We started "on the street" examining service and sales processes from the customers' perspective, looking at existing purchasing habits and what they might buy. Our consultants then went behind the counter to see the customer experience from the staff viewpoint. At the same time service quality (delivered by staff to customers and by the back shop to the staff) was a major consideration, as the Post Office's reputation for trust worthiness could not be compromised.

Next we did "day in the life" visits with field managers at all levels, looking at the effectiveness of their activities. Finally we arrived at the centre and examined marketing, fulfilment and other key support processes.

Working collaboratively with key Post Office managers on the analysis phase, we then looked at strategic aims, sales productivity and the effectiveness of key processes. The combination of Setanta's broad experience and internal managers deep understanding was a powerful force for critical diagnosis and innovative prescription. Within eight weeks of starting the project we had developed a set of five far-reaching but practical plans for improvement.

Result

Our recommendations focused on segmentation, the franchisees, goal setting, separating sales management from service delivery and changes to the strategic vision. Each contained detailed proposals about how they could be implemented quickly and effectively. The CEO and his team considered each one carefully and accepted them all. Project teams were given responsibility for immediate implementation and work was combined with on going initiatives. The CEO commented, "I'm not used to consultants who are able to understand the complexity of our organisation so quickly and then come up with such practical and specific recommendations." This was truly a situation where objective, experienced consultants were able to see through the everyday complexity of a large business to the underlying issues and help senior adjust focus.

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