Operation Hi-Liter is the brainchild of those who occupy the few rungs just below the top of the corporate ladder. The same people who decided that air-conditioning and seats were a luxury(they stopped letting us sit down in 2005) have also put together this action plan for guaranteed success. I would feel remiss if I neglected to emphasize and repeat that they've actually titled it “Operation Hi-liter”...as though it equals Desert Shield, or Desert Storm or Dumbo Drop.
The goal of Operation Hi-liter is to help the customer fully understand what occurs during the sales process. The logic being that if the customer understands the transaction, they will speak highly of the company. It is the latest in a long line of strategies to increase customer satisfaction. Truth be told, these ideas rarely start at the top. Nothing does. An idea as asinine as this one started with a store manager somewhere. Someone at the top later took credit.
The way I see it happening is that every one is on a conference call. This conference call, no doubt designed to chew up every ass on the line, finally found some store with positive percentages in the area of customer satisfaction. The VP then asked that manager what they were doing differently and that manager proudly responded, as if it were their doctorate thesis, “we are highlighting every line of the customer’s transaction summary report.” They probably elaborately lie about how grateful the customer is to have someone dedicate so much time to explaining the phone and service they just bought.
Success happened here and despite the argument for correlation over causality, the actions will be copied and pasted all over the company. Never mind the fact that this store only sees 20 customers per day. Forget the notion that it is a beachfront location with a relaxed clientele. God forbid we assume these customers at this one store are perhaps just easy-going enough not to want their answers on a survey to be the reason someone gets fired!
The next week, thousands of dollars were spent and thousands of miniature Hi-liters were shipped out to every store on the west coast. Logic was the only casualty of war during Operation Hi-liter.
So now we sales reps, we soldiers of the Operation, are to don Hi-liters, suspended from lanyards, around our necks. Anytime there is a transaction with a customer, be it a new phone, a change of text-messaging plans or rate plan adjustment, a receipt prints. It is then that we are to illuminate the finer points of the transaction. They never expressly said so, but I believe the tone to use is that akin to teaching a 3 year-old how to finger paint. “Here’s what we did today--Here’s your name, your number, your plan--Here’s my cell phone number in case you need anything at all...”
What’s worse, though not surprising by now, is that the supervisors are not checking to see if anyone is using the Hi-Liters, just that we’re wearing them. Disciplinary action is to be taken if one is found not wearing their Hi-liter.
I actually stumbled upon an e-mail from a VP requesting “100% participation in Operation Hi-Liter.” No, seriously. From a grown man.
I grab my tiny, yellow, illuminating device and return to the sales floor, ducking my head into the lanyard. There are no fewer than 8 people waiting to be helped. None of them look happy. I read the next name from the list.
