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TOUCH Assessment

To start, it’s helpful to get a sense of your organization’s overall humanity — this quick assessment tool will give you your TOUCH score.

Technology

Do you invest in technology that makes things easier for your customers or easier for your staff?

Too many organizations use tools that help achieve internal goals (such as aiming for shorter time on client-support calls) rather than helping your clients and stakeholders with their goals. Think of the difference between Microsoft’s software (designed primarily by computer programmers and loaded with features that most people don’t use) and Apple’s software (designed primarily by human interface specialists, sacrificing some functionality for ease of use).

  Our tools primarily benefit us. (0 points)

  We don’t use much technology. We are customer-centric. (1 point)

  Our tools benefit us and our clients. (2 points)

How many layers of technology do your customers have to go through to reach a human being with front-line decision-making ability?

Web forms, phone trees, and automated marketing certainly make the process of doing business easier, but these technologies often have the “benefit” of keeping your customers and stakeholders further away from real people who can solve problems or handle direct issues. How easy is it for your customers to navigate this technology to get to a real person?

  We actively use technologies to reduce opportunities for customers to directly reach a person in our organization. (0 points)

  Our processes or technologies permit contact with a staff person though only after first passing through any kind of gate (requiring a call back, entering data into a web form, prescreening on a web chat, etc.). (1 point)

  Our customers can reach a real human within one contact point on their first attempt (e.g., during the same call). (2 points)

Do you write a “job description” for the technology you select and conduct annual performance reviews of it?

Smart, human organizations treat their technology reviews the same way they’d review their staff — with annual performance reviews and “bonuses” (more investment in the technology) for tools that perform exceptionally well. This annual review process helps ensure you don’t get caught with outdated technology while your competitors race ahead.

  We simply don’t review our existing technologies on any kind of scheduled basis. We review them only when things go wrong. (0 points)

  We do periodically or informally check to make sure the technology is working. (1 point)

  We regularly review our business technology to make sure it’s still meeting the job description we have for it. (2 points)

Outcomes

Adaptability: How do you handle outcomes that weren’t part of an original goal?

3M accidentally created their famous Post-it pads when a run of glue didn’t hold perfectly well. A staffer started using this “defective” glue on small pieces of paper to attach them to reports. How well does your organization consider these happy accidents as opportunities for new products or customer service channels?

  There’s no process for discovering and considering new applications that emerge. (0 points)

  We have infrequently stumbled upon discoveries that have led to improved processes or new products. (1 point)

  We’ve developed a regular process to escalate potential discoveries for further research. (2 points)

To what degree can each person in your organization explain the real-world human benefits you provide to your customers?

Senior executives are usually proficient at the elevator-pitch — a short description of how your organization’s outcomes benefit your customers and stakeholders. But how good are your staff at communicating this value outside your firm?

  Most of our people just do their job and leave others to explain the benefits. (0 points)

  Some keeners are good at communicating how we serve our customer base. Most don’t. (1 point)

  We train our team members on how to explain to people outside the firm the value we provide. Any of our staff can do this effectively. (2 points)

Does your organization have a simple mantra that clearly articulates your values?

Most organizations have mission statements — unfortunately, they’re usually lengthy diatribes that wax eloquent about wanting to be “the leader in innovative products and services” or other such meaningless text. Does your organization have short external-facing text that clearly explains what the outcome of hiring your firm will bring your customers?

  We don’t have any kind of mission statement, or if we do, our average employee can’t tell you what it is. (0 points)

  Our mission statement is public, lengthy, and tries to be all things to all people. (1 point)

  We have a simple, clear, and short mantra that articulates the value we provide to customers. (2 points)

Uniqueness

Can each of your people articulate what legitimately distinguishes you from your competition?

Many businesses believe they distinguish themselves by declaring they “have a superior product.” Others have a product so good, they can identify themselves by values and the product sells itself. Some, like Starbucks, have a program that offers a college education to its employees. If your people can’t articulate what sets you apart from the competition, you’re sunk before you even start.

  We’re not sure if we’re different/better than our competition. (0 points)

  We can add value that our competitors can’t, though many people on our team have a hard time articulating this difference. (1 point)

  Part of our staff onboarding and continued training includes a detailed explanation of why we excel over our competition. (2 points)

To what extent is your employee benefits program customizable for each employee’s unique personal needs?

It’s a truism that organizations trying to attract top employees can’t rely on salary and a basic benefits package. Employees lead complex lives outside of the office, and to get the best people you’ll need to offer a more human approach to benefits — one that is customizable to their specific lifestyle and needs.

  We offer a single, standard benefits package for all employees. (0 points)

  We can make small adjustments to our benefits offerings depending on each employee’s situation. It’s not an easy process so it happens infrequently. (1 point)

  Each employee has their own unique benefits package, negotiated with them on hiring, that suits their own unique life requirements. (2 points)

Does your organization have a unique and distinct voice in the market?

You can tell a Nike ad without seeing the logo. You can identify an Apple commercial without watching to the end. Does your brand have its own unique identity that doesn’t require a visual or auditory clue?

  We don’t have, or avoid having, any kind of unique personality in our branding and advertising. (0 points)

  We consider our brand to have a personality, with no clear guidelines of how it is to be communicated in our marketing. (1 point)

  We have a distinct personality which any prospective client should be able to identify even without seeing our company name or logo. (2 points)

Clarity

Does your intranet’s page about benefits use simple language about how to qualify for and use benefits?

Often, one of the most poorly communicated aspects of business is the most important — communications with your internal staff. One bellwether of clarity is how well you communicate what you offer to your own employees (after all, if you can’t speak properly with your own team, you’ll have a hard time speaking externally).

  We don’t have any information about benefits on our internal web server. (0 points)

  Our benefits plan is detailed somewhere internally, though it’s not easy to find and/or is just a copy-and-paste from our benefits provider’s boilerplate. (1 point)

  Our benefits packages and how to use them are clearly spelled out internally, exploiting the same personality and voice we use to communicate externally. (2 points)

Are your legal letters friendly in tone?

Writing legal letters (regarding trademark violations, human resources terminations, etc.) is a necessary part of business. But that doesn’t mean yours have to sound like a mean-spirited robot wrote them. You’ll always get better results when you communicate with human empathy.

  We use standard boilerplate legal text, written only to extract results for our organization. (0 points)

  We try to use less “legalese” in our letters though we’re more comfortable keeping everything in a standard legal form. (1 point)

  We always try first to resolve legal issues informally — with a friendly phone call and follow-up email when appropriate. (2 points)

Are your news releases devoid of jargon and over-excited announcements?

Review your last four news releases. If any contain an executive quote about how “excited” you are to be “announcing” something, you’re failing to communicate in a human manner. Too many news releases read more like long ads than media missives. How well do you fare?

  Our news releases follow a standard form that hasn’t changed much in years. (0 points)

  We try to avoid jargon and awkwardly inserted expressions of executive excitement but still distribute news releases through traditional channels. (1 point)

  We write different versions of our news for different platforms — a short version for employees to post on social channels, longer explainers for the media, and so on. (2 points)

Humanity

To what extent do you permit your employees to factor their gut feelings into your RFP evaluations?

Vendor responses to RFPs are usually evaluated based on price, ability to do the work, and reputation in the market. Sadly, many organizations don’t have a way to factor a “gut feel” into the evaluator’s final decision. Did they get a bad vibe from the vendor’s account manager? Often, that’s as important as the numbers.

  There’s no mechanism for considering intuition in our vendor review process. (0 points)

  Our staff consider their intuition informally. (1 point)

  Intuition is a part of our review process; our team members are encouraged to factor their gut feel into decision making. (2 points)

Does your marketing team have a clear personality profile of each audience segment?

It’s hard to identify with humans as customers if you’re viewing them only as companies you serve. Companies don’t make purchase decisions — people do. How well does your staff know the type of person likely to be a customer?

  We think in terms of selling to companies, not to humans. (0 points)

  Our team has the mindset that people, not companies, buy what we sell. (1 point)

  We have distinct personality profiles of the customers we are trying to attract and understand those customers beyond their professional life. (2 points)

Is the language you use in your written communications the same as you might hear in a conversation?

Too much business communication uses an outdated formality that removes the humanity from the text. How well do you use human language?

  We write in a purely formal business fashion (i.e., long sentences, no contractions, etc.). (0 points)

  We try to write less formally, though we do so in an inconsistent manner. (1 point)

  Our writing uses human language, short sentences, and contractions across all our materials, both external and internal. (2 points)

TOUCH Assessment Scorecard

0 to 8.5

Your business is operating in very dangerous territory. Your organizational humanity is barely registering with your stakeholders and you could be losing many customers and employees without even realizing it. You need to make building TOUCH into your business a top priority.

9 to 15

You’re good in some areas and lacking in others. It’s very likely your customers are frustrated at certain points dealing with your organization. Initiating a review of all places where you deal with stakeholders, and gauging the level of humanity would be a worthwhile exercise.

15.5 to 22.5

The people who deal with your organization may feel like your organization has a split-personality. In some areas, you’re exceptional — dealing with people as people and keeping a high TOUCH relationship. In others, your stakeholders are feeling like you’re dropping the ball and they’re not valued. You need to shore up those areas where you’re failing and further invest in those where you’re doing well.

23 to 26.5

You’re in a strong human position though a few gaps exist in your organization’s humanity. It’s worth doing a quick check into each aspect of your business and asking your stakeholders how you can do even better. While not an urgent priority, this work will serve your organization very well in the long-term.

27 to 30

You’re part of a very human organization — kudos! Look for opportunities to further establish TOUCH inside your organization and in the public eye. You can be a trend-setter.