Delivering growth and customer experience through service with heart
At LNER it’s the people that make the real difference and bring the brand to life, creating loyal customers every day. LNER have been working hard to articulate their purpose, values and customer promise in a truly authentic LNER way; a way that resonates with their people and customers. The aim of the ‘I am LNER’ programme is to bring this to life, sharing the vision, exchanging stories and experiences, and shaping the future of customer experience.
The challenge
The East Coast Main Line has seen four changes of train operator over the past decade. Names, brands, vision and goals have come and gone, but one thing has remained – the people and the customers.
To take their customer experience to the next level, LNER are investing in new Azuma trains, a refreshed onboard product and new technology… but to guarantee LNER’s growth, the hardware alone will not be enough. They know that their biggest opportunity lies in a differentiated customer experience delivered by their 1,850 front-line staff on trains, at stations, at service centres and online
The solution
Built around the four LNER Customer Promises, ‘I am LNER’ is a toolkit of learning, development and communications tools that has been co-created with the LNER team. When designing the solution, the first step was to bring together all of the guiding principles that would shape the customer experience – this is in the form of a compass, showing how the LNER Purpose and Values combine with the Customer Promises to provide direction. Bringing this to life is a range of activities, films, posters and digital learning, acting as the catalyst for discussion, shifting thinking and changing behaviour. ‘I am LNER’ provides clarity about what’s expected of everyone to deliver a great experience to customers each and every day.
The Creative Concept
Identity, authenticity and belonging are the three key themes that came out of our discovery findings. To communicate this visually, a mosaic of images was created showing how the individual employee builds into the collective – the LNER community. The mosaic was built of employee selfies, driven by a nationwide selfie challenge. It showcases the unique talent and personality of each individual, celebrates the different roles within LNER and shows how all are connected by a shared purpose – ‘I am LNER’.
Making it work for LNER
Designing the ‘I am LNER’ toolkit meant factoring in the operational realities of running one of the busiest train franchises in the UK, whilst balancing this with the desire to create something, unlike anything the team had seen or experienced before. The tools are designed to be active, discussion-based and driven through a digital facilitator guide and supported by digital learning resources. Everything is packaged into four 90-minute bite-sized events, to be rolled out across the network to 1,850 team members.
The result
‘I am LNER’ has successfully started to shift employee mindsets about customer experience. There has been a noticeable behavioural change, with an excited reception from employees and those delivering the programme, and feedback that the toolkit is “simple to understand and fun to deliver”. ‘I am LNER’ is being adopted throughout the company and embedded into everyday life at LNER.
