The loss of a personal item is painful.
But, it’s even worse when the property you’ve lost your possession on doesn’t use lost & found software.
Think about that anxiety for a moment.
You lose one of your most sacred possessions – your wallet.
Something which contains a lot of important items and information.
- Your Driver’s License or ID
- Medical Cards
- Credit Cards
- Debit Cards
All of this information and access for the taking if it ever got in the wrong hands.
Agree?
Between the anxieties of losing your wallet and the fear of a not-so-honest person getting their hands on your personal information – you’re praying the property has lost and found software.
Your customers rely on your customer service all of the time, and especially when they lose their prized possessions.
Keep reading; we’re going to help you take a policy some operations already use and augment it using a lost and found system.
An Effective Credit Card Policy
A few experts we know have shared a brilliant policy with us.
It improves the mood of their customers after losing their wallets.
We think it can help yours as well.
Imagine you are attending a marquee event in your town. 65,000 customers are also at this event, so there is a lot of crowd movement.
Guests are close to one another, walking into each other, and bumping into one another over the course of several hours.
Once the event ends, you get into your car with your family.
You pull up to the parking garage pay station and try to locate your wallet.
You’ve lost your wallet!
Luckily your spouse had theirs, but your credit and debit cards are now vulnerable.
Now, what?
You park your car and start your trek to the customer service desk.
You finally find one.
Before we move on, how would you feel about now? Do you have sweaty palms? Is your heart racing?
It’s not a pleasant experience, is it?
A manager greets you.
They acknowledge that they were able to find your wallet early in the event, hours ago, but could not reach you.
However, they managed to contact each debit and credit card company for you to inform them your card had been lost during the event!
Now your accounts have been noted for safety.
How’s that for spectacular?
Not only did this property execute a form of Proactive Operations, but you also received your important possessions back.
You’re probably wondering: how did the property pull this off?
- They developed a customer-centric process geared toward improving the customer experience
It’s that simple.
You apply a simple procedure for making a significant impact on the customer experience when your property creates a customer service policy that requires staff to contact credit and debit card companies about lost cards.
They tell all their friends and family about their experience with your property, and they come back again and again.
Now you have the policy down that improves customer service.
Can you take this system to the next level, though? Can you improve upon this plan?
Yes, you can.
You can make it better!
Implement lost and found software to maximize the customer satisfaction impact of this policy.
Are you ready?
Lost and Found Software Helps Strengthen Customer Service
Your credit card customer service policy is remarkable standing on its own.
But, you want to track its use and effectiveness.
Agree?
You must be able to see that your policy is being executed, and more.
A lost and found solution is your answer.
Anyone on your team can access the system to enter information about a lost item, such as a wallet.
We know this happens often:
Your security team finds a wallet and brings it to your lost and found/customer service department.
They probably put it on a table and get back to their rotation.
Does this sound familiar?
Ten minutes pass.
Then, another ten minutes pass.
Wait, who found the wallet?
Or, was it this wallet?
Do you see the problem here?
Not having the ability to capture vital information efficiently is where your operational downfall begins.
You can change your lost item woes today.
Having and using a system not only creates accountability but also helps you to enforce it.
Efficiently capture information associated with a lost wallet:
- Property Information
- Item Found Location
- Item Description
- Found Item Date
- Found Item Time
- Photo of Item
- Notes (It’s the best location to notate that credit card companies were notified!)
One aspect of these solutions that takes your proactive operation to a new level is the very fact that your security team would not have to go to the customer service department.
They can log the item into the system, detailing that the wallet is in the security office.
If the wallet contains credit and debit cards – they can carry out your credit policy!
How is that for Proactive Operations?
Your team will populate the found item in the system based on the description given by the customer when your customer comes to claim the found wallet at customer service.
Your team will see that the item is in the security office, contact your security team, and provide them with the found item number.
A security officer will match the lost item number to the lost item with the matching printed tag on the wallet.
Bingo!
Found it!
The customer service doesn’t end there.
But you probably already knew that, didn’t you?
Your security officer returns the lost wallet with a smile.
“We took the liberty of contacting your credit card companies to inform them you lost your wallet. They noted your accounts,” says the security officer.
Use a lost and found solution coupled with your customer service policies to maximize customer service just like this.
Get more lost items back to your customers and do it in a way that exceeds their expectations.
It’s time to take customer satisfaction to new heights. Are you ready?!
Over to You
Augmenting your credit card customer service policy with lost and found software is Proactive Operations at its core. It’s a thoughtful process that shows you’ve taken the extra steps to enhance customer service.
You’re showing your customers that your interest in their happiness extends to even when they leave your property. Now that’s service.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.
