Who ‘owns’ the death notification process within customer-led organisations and why are competing tensions threatening the evolution of new digital solutions?
By Luke Cheadle, Head of UK Operations for The Estate Registry
Death is a difficult subject, not just for those going through the bereavement process, but also for those who are managing it. Most customer-led organisations will face a similar challenge when it comes to requests to close deceased accounts. Utilities companies, banks, building societies, credit card companies, and subscription service providers all share many hundreds of thousands of customers, and when one of those customers dies, their relative or executor needs a process to ensure the death can be quickly and easily notified.
Calls through to an organisation’s customer service centre need to be handled with empathy and tact and dealt with in the quickest and most convenient way both for those notifying them of a death, and for the organisation itself. That’s where digital death notification services are an advantage.
Digital notification services such as Settld and NotifNOW put the customer in control, enabling the bereaved to inform an organisation of a death on-line, and without having to speak to an operator unless they particularly want to. It usually means less stress for the deceased customer’s representative, but it is not an entirely selfless act; dealing with a death efficiently frees an organisation’s staff to focus on other activities where they can arguably add more value.
Who ‘owns’ the death notification process is therefore an interesting point. In an increasingly competitive commercial world, customer service is a key differentiator. Speak to a Customer Services Director, and they will quickly tell you the value of doing the right thing by the customer and their customers’ relatives. They will see the positive that can come from such a difficult time. They will see how it also conforms to their stated core values, which invariably list ‘customer focus’, ‘integrity’, and ‘innovation’ as being at the heart of what they are about. (If in doubt, have a quick look at any utility company’s annual report!)
Speak to a Commercial Director or the Chief Finance Officer and they may have a slightly different view. ‘Customer Centricity’ comes with a cost attached, and they need to be convinced that an investment in a digital platform is not only going to enhance the customer experience, but also drive greater efficiencies to offset the cost. Which means there is the potential for something of an impasse.
Innovation, by its very nature, requires a leap of faith. New ideas always need to be refined to make them perfect. Real efficiencies are gained, and true leadership, when new platforms are developed collaboratively, in a genuine partnership, with a share of risk and reward.
Which brings me back to the point of who really ‘owns’ the process? With such an emphasis currently on an organisation’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance, death notifications straddle both ‘S’ and ‘G’. There should be a social responsibility for organisations to do right by their customers, even after death, and it should be considered an integral part of good governance. It’s not an easy conversation but it’s one that we need to have.
As we have seen in other industries, when organisations collaborate with their technology providers, they create solutions that can have a transformative effect. And what better way for organisations to demonstrate what they mean by ‘customer focus’, ‘integrity’, and ‘innovation’ than by investing in digital death notifications.
This article was submitted to be published by The Estate Registry as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.
