Finding solutions that would otherwise confuse organizations

Organizations believe that they provide exactly what customers want. Ask any firm and the Pareto Principle will prevail. 80 percent of most organizations believe they provide exemplary customer service. Ironically, less than 20 percent do. According to research by consulting firm Bain and Company, only 8 percent of companies actually provide customer service.

Our current environment exists with a gap in service delivery. There are numerous reasons for the gap, however we believe two issues contribute to this gap, a) greed and b) the inability of customer relationships.

Greed Many statements by management consultant Peter Drucker are famous. However, in the book The Practice of Management, Drucker clearly states: “There is only one valid definition of business purpose: creating a customer.” Organizations today are overwhelmed by two fundamental issues: competition and productivity. The focus is so sharp that increased revenue, higher profits, and increased productivity ignore the necessary myopia of customer focus.

Examples of greed include Starbucks, the airline industry, and retail establishments. Every time an organization thinks they can achieve further growth, raise fees, not a CEO or analyst stops to ask what the customer impact is. Before the higher fares, the customer stays for two reasons: 1) first-mover advantage in the case of Starbucks or 2) value, like American Airlines. However, when rates rise, customers tend to jump ship in search of cheaper and more attractive alternatives.

The solution for any business is to perform a thorough impact analysis to determine potential market losses. New revenue means nothing when you lose a core customer base. Client dissonance cannot be taken for granted.

Customer Relations Customer connections are very hard to build, that is unless you focus on your core asset. First, as mentioned above, an organization’s entire strategy must exist for the customer. Strategic questions to ask are: “Who is the customer? Why is the customer buying? What is the value of our business? How do we get products, services, and advertisements to our customers?” All of these questions are they focus on all the beliefs, all the values ​​and all the attitudes for the asset of the company. In addition, it is imperative to treat the customer as such – an asset. Nothing happens, nobody charges and electricity does not provide energy to the plants unless that a client is involved.

Here are several techniques to align with your customers:

CRM Chorus. We don’t challenge the power and functionality of customer relationship management. However, too many resources are placed on these trivial software systems. Stop trying to increase human interaction with software. Just like a political candidate, if you want to push meat, do so, don’t leave an email to chance.

Interaction. The proliferation of the Internet and technology has taken away the most precious asset of any relationship-interaction. Avatars like Proctor and Gamble and Southwest Airlines discovered long ago that the best part of customer service is being there. Get off your channel and stop managing start talking. Make a plan to meet with your clients as often as possible.

enculturation. The entire organization must be holistically focused on customer service. Everyone needs to focus on one thing, why they’re in business. Examples here are FedEx, where the culture suggests everyone’s employment is based on guaranteed next day delivery.

Value and Brand. There is no doubt that a housewife buys household appliances for the service. She buys because of the experience that others have had. Speed, cost, and service become part of the customer experience relative to value. Cadillac and Coca-Cola have become industry standards due to this success. Not many claim to be the Taurus of the business.

Avatars and Advertising. When the service you provide is this strong, your established customer base does the talking. When the time comes when potential customers speak louder than your advertising creating new customer arrivals, your customer gap narrows immensely. Crocs, the clothing company, created a billion-dollar entity with little publicity.

Value Again is so important. What does the customer consider value? The default value is the price, but this is not true. The price is only part of the value. The concept of value is complicated and more than conjecture, the only person who answers is the client himself. Management should refrain from board meetings and speculation, if your organization wants the answer, ask the customer.

Feedback circuits. In addition to client visits, ensure success with client briefings, focus groups, interviews, 360 feedback, and other imperative mechanisms. Customer service is not one-dimensional and requires organizations to connect the dots between what they learn about customers and what they currently offer customers. This also includes organizational functions and customer response times.

The paths to customer service and customer loyalty are rocky, unfamiliar, and complex. And today’s competitive matrix further complicates the issues. There are numerous roads to go and numerous bridges that need to be built to bridge the gaps. However, the most imperative thing is not to discuss matters in the boardroom and to leave the issues quiet. Broken promises are the missing pieces of the puzzle as they become the keys to future growth. Customer gaps are filled when the culture of the top-down organization admiringly and energetically exemplifies an emphasis on a key corporate asset: the customer.

Copyright (c) 2008 Drew Stevens PhD