Customer Focus
By Ken Middleton
Patricia was more than a receptionist. Before her retirement, she was the front-line Chief Marketing and Customer Service Officer. That wasn’t really her title, but it might as well have been. To her, telephone calls were not interruptions - they were opportunities. To her, visitors were not strangers - they were friends to be made. She once spotted two people in the hallway of her office tower who seemed to be lost. She went out and introduced herself. After learning who they worked for, she introduced them to the director of development. That encounter became an opportunity, and the result was a grant to Patricia’s organization from the visitors’ company.
Yes, Patricia worked for a nonprofit. And yes, nonprofit employees often have a lot of passion for their cause. But Patricia had the traits we should want in every employee who is in contact with our customers and the public – knowledge, commitment, and caring:
- She thoroughly understood the organization’s business or knew how to find out what she didn’t know.
- She believed in the objectives of the organization, so she looked for opportunities to further its success.
- And she enjoyed interacting with people.
In other words, Patricia treated every “customer” as a friend and every caller as a potential customer.
Too often, the responsibility for establishing and nurturing the relationship with our customers and the public is delegated to the sales and marketing staff.
Yet, we really should expect it of every employee, especially those who have contact with our customers and with those who could become our customers. Think about those other “contact points” such as finance, purchasing, delivery, security, administrative assistants, and absolutely the receptionist.
Here’s what we should be asking about those employees:
- Do they really understand our business and our business objectives?
- Do they really understand how their work -- and just as importantly their dealings with customers -- affect the bottom line?
- Do they really understand the power of a smile – even over the telephone – and the impact of a genuine interest in being helpful?
- And, do they really have passion for their work?
Is this kind of customer focus easy to achieve? Not really. But is it important? You bet it is!
So, what does it take?
First of all, leadership!
The standards and expectations for employee performance are set at the top of the organization. Absolutely and unequivocally, the CEO must truly believe that customer relationships are important to the success of the business. And the CEO must “walk the talk.”
Second, culture! “Customer focus” should be integral to corporate culture. Every employee who deals with the public or with customers should understand how their interactions can affect the company’s success. And they should be held accountable through performance evaluations. Oh, and don’t forget to hire people in he first place who understand how to focus on the customer.
Third, data!
As important as leadership and culture are, if that’s all we have, it’s still not enough. There’s a wealth of information that can be gleaned from customer interactions.
- Quantitative: We need to measure the customer experience against whatever we define as the ideal. It could be customer satisfaction. It could be the speed with which we resolve problems. Whatever it is, the data tells us how we’re doing.
- Qualitative: Are we really listening to what potential and existing customers are telling us in every contact, not just in sales and customer service, but also in those other areas of purchasing, finance, at the reception desk, as well as in informal personal contacts?
And just as importantly, are we capturing, analyzing, sharing, and acting on what we learn?
For example:
- What do customers complain about?
We probably pay more attention to this since we want to fix the things that threaten our business and customer relationships. But how much attention? This information can help us identify processes, products and even employees who are jeopardizing our business.
- What do customers want that we don’t have?
Are they identifying products or services we need to add, new products we can develop, or product improvements we can make? Do we keep a record on every order we can’t fill because we don’t have the item in stock or can’t deliver it when it’s needed? Do we record comments made about our competitors?
- On the positive side, what especially pleases our customers?
Do they see the same strengths and benefits we see? Are there “ah ha” moments that reaffirm our marketing strategy or help us adjust it?
In summary, let’s really focus on our customers, listen to what they’re saying, and do something about it!
And let’s have more employees like Patricia.
Ken Middleton is Principal of Zing Sales Solutions in Louisville. He can be reached at http://zing-solutions.com