See why you will need to change your Lost and Found process and improve Customer Experience!
Picture this: Your customer, Gisele has been working all month which is fine because she loves what she does. But even so, she still needs some time to herself to recharge, to get back in touch with her star player, herself!
Luckily enough for her, a long weekend presents itself, and she decides to take a city trip to London. Masks, hand sanitizers, wet wipes amongst others made up her belongings.
Her trip has been fun. She finally had that drink with that one friend (honestly, it’s been a long time coming), she visited all the attractive and touristic sites the city has to offer including riding the sophisticated metro system. She is proud of herself; she could get around the city without getting lost and most importantly, she feels energized and fresh like a new-born.
Gisele gets back home only to realize she’s lost your camera. She probably left it behind on the metro or train. What to do?
Searching online for the website of the organisation is the first step and maybe finding an email address or a phone number to call. Some even have forms for you to fill. That sounds all too complicated and strenuous, doesn’t it? Especially when she is anxious about getting her stuff back!
Well, what if I told you there is an even easier way for Gisele to get reunited with her camera and for organisations to make their lives easier in just 4 steps?
Yes, that’s right! You as an organisation are just four steps away — well, actually five steps away, because, by the end of step four, you will be begging me for a last and final step; which is how to get in contact with a company that specializes in turning ‘hassle into happiness!’
You will not believe how easy and simple it actually is for your organisation to transform their boring (pardon my language) out of date system of managing lost property. I bet most of you reading this article, still use the old-fashioned way of filing lost property namely; handwritten ledgers, excel forms, boxes, phone calls and sending emails back and forth! Or you might already be using some SaaS solutions provider which would be a good thing.
However, imagine the level of internal efficiency, how much time, stress, and employee breakdowns you could avoid by just making things easier for your organisation, yourself and above all your colleagues. They are the ones on the frontline here. In 100 percent of the cases, they are the ones who have to withstand and bear the frustrated yell of a passenger because it is his third call, his property hasn’t been located, and he has to hold the line — yet again.
Before I get into these steps here is a fact, as you are already aware of: The internet is becoming more and more everyone’s go-to place in case of any slight inconvenience!
You have a headache, check online for symptoms of malaria. There is a huge possibility that headache and malaria are not related but who cares, the information is available free of charge online, on the internet.
Do you have wanderlust? Check online for cheap plane tickets. Did you lose your keys, bag or iPhone during a trip to the city? Check online for the lost and found page of the organization with email addresses or a phone number. You get where I am going with this right?
Now try to picture how frustrated your customers would be to go online only to realise that you do not have a dedicated lost and found page. Or you do have a page but there is a form to fill. (I mean, if I lost something, my priority will be to find and get my stuff back and not filling out some forms! I already do that enough when filing my tax returns.)
Other organisations have email addresses and phone numbers dedicated to lost property which is fine. But here is the problem, especially now during this Covid-19 crisis, it takes forever to get replies on your enquiries per phone or mail. Maybe because the organisation is short on manpower since they had to let people go at the beginning of this pandemic or employees are sick, on maternity leave or just too busy. Whatever the case, it can be very frustrating for the customer.
The uncertainty, not knowing if the organisation received your email, or they are not responding for the reason that they haven’t found your stuff can cut deep like a blade especially for someone who has zero chill like me. I would probably pass out from an anxiety attack.
My point is, nowadays, you can find (almost) everything on the internet. From cute little monkeys playing the clarinet to being able to find out the top 3 most found items in the London Underground which are mobile phones, single debit cards / credit cards, and travel card wallets so why not every found property?
There are a few companies out there that offer lost and found cloud management solutions.
We are living in the digital age and these companies are changing the way lost property is being handled. They offer SaaS solutions to organisations with the aim of assisting them in managing their lost property. They act as middlemen between you as an organisation and your customers. You have companies in the likes of iLost, MissingX, Have it back. Amongst all, iLost really got me hooked with their candor, modesty, and time efficiency.
Originally founded in the Netherlands, they are disrupting and reinventing the lost and found industry. Handling lost property has never been easier with the help of iLost. They assist you from the moment you find an item right up to the moment it is being returned to the rightful owner. Many organisations in Europe such as ARRIVA (Deutsche Bahn), Transdev and Keolis are already using iLost which is why I think they’d not only be a great addition to your organisation, but they will also create value for your customers by pimping-up your lost property process. Also, if this doesn’t boost your customer experience and satisfaction level, then I do not know what will.
At this moment you might be thinking it is probably a complicated system and what not…
But no! Four steps are all it takes. Only four steps from finding the item to putting a smile on the fortunate customer’s face.
I came across this beautifully illustrated infographic of iLost which describes every step individually. Take a look for yourself.
So, if you as an organisation aren’t already thinking of ways to optimise your lost property process, then I am sorry to say this: you are missing out! This might be the last touchpoint with your customers. This is as important as wanting to generate sales or profit. ‘Little things’ like this are those that make all the difference!
Do you already have systems like this in place or are you still thinking of switching?
Do not miss out! Put your lost and found processes in the clouds! Get in contact with iLost today!
