Balancing high-tech with high-touch in a hyper-automated service environment

RE/MAX Relocation provides corporate relocation services to a diverse cross-section of industries and demographics. During the past few years RE/MAX Relocation has kept close watch on a menacing industry trend towards mandatory self-service relocation transactions and increasing autorotation in service and communications delivery.

With the growth of relocation service providers, increased automation has become necessary to control costs and manage larger numbers of transactions and transferees. But in some cases with automation comes depersonalization. Customer Relationship Management technologies have enabled more information to flow between service providers and their clients; but it does not guarantee the delivery of the right information to the right person at the right time. Unretrieved voicemails can’t help a transferee stuck in an airport without a visa. Anonymous “unreplyable” emails providing an incorrect budget report cause real stress for an HR executive who is entering a high-level budget meeting. The personal experience can fail when automated communications take over.

“Human nature revolts against inhuman technological, organisational and political patterns, which it experiences as suffocating and debilitating.”
E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful, Economics as if People Mattered

Solution

RE/MAX Relocation has proactively addressed the issue of forced and unwanted automation technology in the relocation process. Through a careful assessment of client and transferee preferences, RE/MAX Relocation has adapted their communications and transaction technology infrastructure along with its management style, to strike a balance between high-touch and high-tech communications.

We understand that relocation is the third most stressful experience, after death and divorce. Because we understand the pains of relocation our focus is on the successful and bearable relocation of each individual transferee. A gigantic relocation company has to depend on automated transactions and strict procedures to move the ever increasing number of transferees on a particular contract and keep costs in check. RE/MAX Relocation understands the frustration with impersonal automation and has chosen to lead the industry by implementing a technology system that does not cut down on personal contact but rather increases productivity of the account team, allowing them to spend time on the things that matter, like creating a relationship with each transferee.
Sara Miller,
Relocation Systems Specialist

RE/MAX Relocation implemented an online communications system that reflects the company’s approach to a high-tech, high-touch balance. JOTS- JumpStart Online Tracking System powered by ServiceEngine is an online system that has proven to be highly effective with every RE/MAX Relocation customer because it was not designed to replace existing personal communications between clients, transferees and account teams but to increase flexibility of choice in communication delivery preferences. JOTS delivers the right information to the right person at the right time which dramatically increases the user’s personal experience and perception of the technology. A client-level staff member or transferee can opt to use self-service features to the level that fits their needs. Encryption of sensitive data, language preference and currency conversion make the self-service experience secure and personal. The system is available online, anywhere, anytime. No software has to be downloaded.

JOTS offers secure, comprehensive self-service features for those who want to handle every aspect of the relocation online. The system is highly intuitive. That being said, there are also clients from smaller or less tech-savvy companies who prefer to send authorizations by fax or receive reports in hard copy. That is fine with us. The capability is there for full self-service but we don’t require or expect our clients or transferees to
use it.
Sara Miller

JOTS allows RE/MAX Relocation clients and transferees access to all pertinent information including documents, contacts, calendars, links, messaging, reports, invoices and notes. The level or amount of access is determined by the user’s role. This allows RE/MAX Relocation the ability to provide necessary information to service providers while protecting the privacy and personal information of our clients and transferees. The key to JOTS’s success has been it’s flexibility to individual preferences and access levels.

RE/MAX Relocation understands that no computer chip, software program or industry approved process can replace the human brain for listening, understanding, taking action and following through – person to person. A relocation transferee’s satisfaction and productivity must be a top priority when procuring relocation services. A single transferee failure can dramatically reverse cost-saving measures realized through automation.

Results

The high-tech, high-touch balance has resulted in distinct advantages which differentiate RE/MAX Relocation among competitors in the industry. Most relocation companies promote a single-point-of-coordination for clients and transferees but this often means a first point of contact in a series of hand-offs until the correct contact can be reached. This can be extremely frustrating to the client, the transferee and his or her family. The RE/MAX Relocation ‘hub-of-the-wheel’ model has stemmed from the company’s commitment to personalized customer service. One account executive is clearly accountable for providing information or putting a transferee in direct contact with the person who can answer questions or take action. If for some reason the contact cannot help, the account executive will step in and locate the correct contact. It will always be necessary for a transferee to speak with different third-party professionals; possibly a listing agent, an inspector or appraiser, immigration people – but if they ever wonder who to speak to or have a question the transferee can pick up the phone and speak to the account executive.

Striking a High-Tech, High-Touch Balance Inside the Company

RE/MAX Relocation has extended its high-tech, high-touch approach to internal operations as well, by focusing on teamwork, individual decision-making and personal accountability. The same tech-overload issues can arise internally when faceless, nameless email and voicemail messages bombard an internal operations associate. Account teams must have the flexibility and authority to make quick decisions and have access to key contacts in order to resolve issues. Rigid processes and bureaucracy bound by automated communication channels can inhibit issue resolution.

Account representatives must rely heavily on staff-members who do not interact with the client or transferee directly and who may not be motivated or compensated to ensure end-user service quality. If a client HR executive needs a custom report for a meeting and can not generate it through the self-service site, RE/MAX Relocation ensures that its account executives will be able to get it generated internally, delivered on time, and in the format requested. RE/MAX Relocation has never instituted an excessive command chain that could hinder a representative’s ability to make quick changes or fulfill an urgent request.

Flexible Technology

Some online self-service sites allow limited flexibility to change an interface or report format. RE/MAX Relocation’s JOTS system is fully-customizable which allows RE/MAX Relocation to design or modify workflows and processes. This ability to make changes on a large scale helps RE/MAX Relocation stay ahead of a constantly changing industry. Making custom changes at the client-level or even at the individual transferee-level is what sets JOTS apart from competitors’ systems. JOTS was created to supplement RE/MAX Relocation’s already flexible business model so clients can continue to do business, grow and change without worrying if the relocation company can keep up.

We have an ongoing challenge to adjust to the industry’s latest requirements and the changing needs of our clients’ HR, procurement, accounting and IT departments. The reports that are requested today aren’t the same reports that were requested a year ago, nor are they the same reports that will be requested a year from now. Our technology has to reflect the flexibility that is demanded in today’s market. We work directly with the different divisions within a company to prepare both their staff and ours for their specific relocation process, in an effort to minimize the repercussions it will have on their internal operations.
Sara Miller

Summary

How companies balance technology with human interaction has become the new challenge in the 21st century. In the relocation industry the low-cost/high-tech vs. high-cost/high-touch dilemma is magnified by the high level of intricate logistics, degree of emotional stress and complex global relocation issues. For relocation service procurement professionals, the greatest challenge is recognizing that automation can easily replace interpersonal communications in the name of efficiency but at the cost of human satisfaction and productivity.