CUSTOMER-DRIVEN

Sam Walton said decades ago “there is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

Many companies aspire to becoming customer-driven companies.

So many of them talked about commitments to their customers, in their advertisements and other communication channels. However, in reality it is not so many companies really are walking their talks.

Talking the talk only does not make a company becoming customer-driven.

As in everything else, achieving results needs a concerted effort and commitment from everyone in the organization. Without commitment, talk of customer-driven service/product will be just lips service. Customer-driven services/products can only be produced when a company has full commitment throughout the organization.

We can start with an analysis of the policy, processes and/or facilities used by our people who interact directly with customers. But in order for companies to deliver customer-driven services and/or products, other employees in various support functions who serve internal customers must also be the focus of our attention. More often than not, poor interactions between departments are the main cause of failure in having customer-driven commitment delivered.

It will not be enough to have just written slogans everywhere in the office and/or manufacturing site. It is certainly also more than just an addition to every employees job description.

The role of the CEO and top management is very crucial in developing a customer-driven culture in the organization. Real examples from the leaders and managers must be demonstrated so the employees can be motivated to learn the right attitudes and practices.

Similar to other good management practices, we can have the following 5 steps in our effort to eventually produce a customer-driven culture throughout the organization:

-      

• Have a clear definition of what high quality products and/or services mean so all employees know exactly the quality they have to produce and/or deliver 
• Set S.M.A.R.T Goals^TM so all employees will pursue their respective departments goals in supporting the overall goals of the organization
• Have performance measurement monitoring matrices that would help employees to know their results on an on-going basis. This measurement then can be used as basis of giving either reward or award or both
• From time to time regularly have review sessions to check for the understanding of the definition of customer-driven products and/or services. Refresher training would be a worthwhile investment.
• Do random reality check with some customers. A candid approach will even give us better understanding of what we said we will deliver and the actual experience that our customers received

The ultimate role of every employee, including top executives, management and to some extent the shareholders, is to get new customers and keep them satisfied with the products and/or services that they bought.

Commitment to a customer-driven strategy will not only ensure but also enhance and sustain the success of the company. 

S.M.A.R.T. Goals^TM is a registered trademark in the US held by The Meyer Resource Group^(R), Inc.

Permission to use S.M.A.R.T. Goals^TM is obtained from: Copyright (C) The Meyer Resource Group^(R), Inc.