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Customers to the Core: Tactics for Successful Service (5 of 5)

Today the world is a very different place. Businesses must design products and services for increasingly sophisticated customers with increasingly complex lives, living in increasingly complex environments. No single department or functional group is qualified to handle this task alone. It requires the cooperation and shared expertise of many individuals, with many skill sets, experiences and resources. Of course that leaves still one organizational challenge unsolved, customer-centered leadership.

Just as the existing departments in an established organization are not qualified to manage the customer relationship alone, it is likely that no department has the skill sets, the empathy and the neutrality needed to oversee the customer relationship and all of the points of contact the organization has with its customers. For this purpose Customer-Centered Businesses must create a new position, the Chief Experience Officer (CXO). A position within the organization with fiduciary responsibilities, the CXO must be responsible for every point of contact a company has with its customers through its products, services, advertising, marketing, packaging, etc. The CXO is first and foremost the champion of the customer-centered movement. Not only must this person be well versed in the processes and methods for understanding, communicating with and responding to customer needs. This person must also have a strong working knowledge of the intricacies of the company and the domains in which it does business.

DEVELOPING A STRATEGY

It's important for companies to identify each of their customers individually and recognize them whenever and however they contact the organization. That poses some big organizational and infrastructure problems for almost any business--the bigger the business, the bigger the challenge. The technology will be a big help, but there are still some challenges there. For instance, because eCRM means that huge volumes of customer information are retrieved, stored, processed and delivered electronically, everything must be highly flexible, adaptive, and scalable. It's also important that platforms are completely dependable and secure. Similarly, there are internal challenges. For instance, corporate culture has played a significant role in stagnating or depressing customer service. Lack of empathy for customers, dispute over ownership of the customer relationship, and fear of change are just a few of the inhibitors.

Regardless of the obstacles, smart leaders in smart organizations know that a customer service strategy is key to a business' success. And it's not enough to just purchase and implement the latest technological advancements. A successful customer service and relationship management strategy requires an organization wide focus on the customer and a dedication to meet and exceed customer needs in every way possible. Cost savings are important but customer satisfaction should be used as the first measure of ROI.

A continuous dialogue with the customer combined with continuous evaluation of product and service offerings is central to the successful strategy. Companies must collect and utilize all information needed to meet customer needs, collect and disseminate the appropriate information to the customer at the appropriate place and time and finally reduce Customer Service needs by making the right products and services and making them well.

When a customer has been wronged, do something meaningful and obvious to rectify the situation. Keep in mind that customers know when they're being marginalized, lied to or cheated--and they know when they're being talked to by a machine!

Mike Eskew, vice chairman of UPS suggests that "the power of consumers to pull what they want through the supply chain" is one of the most important changes influencing the way businesses must conduct themselves in the future. Enron CEO, Jeff Skilling suggested we have only seen a very small percentage of the change that will come in the next several years. When asked about Enron's strategy he made clear they're offloading assets, don't own the gas fields, pipelines, power plants or delivery channels. As he put it, "what we do is find a customer and say, 'what do you need?' And then we figure out how to put that together."

Simply put, the future of business is not products and technologies as differentiators. For successful businesses it's Customers to the Core!

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