Darren C
Operations Cluster Manager for Supply Chain & Logistics at Schneider Electric
Is your organisation highly Customer Centric?
If you consider your organisation to be highly “Customer Centric” can you share what you believe are some of the factors that contribute to its success in achieving this status?
Is it built into the processes? Is it part of the culture?
Clarification added 11 months ago:
(Example: One major car rental company does not allow ANY manager to be promoted to VP level unless they have served six months on the front desk – meaning handing out cars and keys. This ensures leadership alignment with customers)
Good Answers (2)
Not at all. The organisation has thrown up several barriers to providing good customer service. The introduction of a call center has stopped relationships forming between frontline staff and customers as they can no longer be called directly. The lack of cultural diversity is another problem as many of our customers do not speak English as their first language.
To become customer centric would be a process change. A customer satisfaction strategy needs to be developed with three main areas to be planned around i.e Strategies (who are our customers),Staff (right cultural mix and attitudes to match our customers) and systems (how do we make it easier to do business with our customers).
Hey Darren,
As i missed the deadline for your previous question, here is my answer on this:
I don't really think that any big multinational company nowadays has the luxury to NOT be Customer Centric.
Especially in the retail goods sector, and given the highly competitive environment, it is essential to respond to your customer's needs in a proactive way and not so much as a "firefighter"
Concerning my case, as i am involved with our top customer, i can say the following: Although there are cases in which i feel like a "firefighter", i really think that there are several processes in the company to ensure the focus is on the customer needs. But, most significantly, the culture is also very customer-centric.
You can see this on people with 15-20 years of experience, acting like this:
"oh come on the @#$$ customer wants this and that and blah blah"
- yet in the end of the day, the customer will get what he needs, no matter what.
Regards,
Giorgos
More Answers (8)
JOSH D
Energy Consultant at Ambit Energy
Best Answers in: Economics (1), Writing and Editing (1), Small Business (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
Yes, we are a small company that does online marketing through the use of Video, so we need to work closely we each client to create a custom product that they are proud of and like.
Josh Darville - JoshD@TheMediaZoo.com
Phone 954-547-3751
Fax 954-229-1858
www.TheMediaZoo.com
Links:
James H
Owner of Friends of Ireland group
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Well i make each customer feel like he is the only one in the world, why because for buying one of my books he becomes a friend who can email me at any time through my website.
james hayes
Links:
Murli Menon 2600+ T
Author- "ZeNLP-the power to relax" (LION/Mylink500) "Stress management through ZeNLP meditation" Zen+NLP=ZeNLP
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yes
Links:
Mathieu B
(Broens_mat@hotmail.com) - Sales process & methodology consultant / Recruitment Consultant
Hi Darren,
maybe it's of value to you to have a look at:
www.ccs-benelux.com
www.customercentric.com
Feel free to come back to me should this be of interest to Schneider.
Mathieu
We work in the Air Transport Industry (ATI) where our Customers often talk to one another about the IT Systems and Communications Services we supply. As part of our Corporate and Business Unit Objectives we have targetted MPP Scores (Don't know what MPP Stands for) however, I do know it is calculated after a detailed Customer Satisfaction Survey is completed. Bonus, both at the BU Level as well as the Corporate Level are tied in part to meeting or exceeding the MPP Scores. Year on year this focus has led to an overall improvement in Customer Satisfaction across the board.
Best Regards,
Chrsi
Richard Z
President at ZULTNER & COMPANY
Best Answers in: Project Management (8), Software Development (3), Planning (2), Quality Management and Standards (2), Organizational Development (1), Manufacturing (1), Market Research and Definition (1), Engineering (1), Product Design (1), Computers and Software (1)
To be genuinely customer-centric, you need multiple ways to listen to customers and analyze what they tell you.
Then you need mechanisms to act on what you learn.
Mere exposure to customer is useful, but not sufficient. There must be multiple processes in place to discover, analyze, and act on customer needs.
Links:
Everything in my job is based around the customer. the paper, the card, the schedule of events and even the "thank you" card or the delivery of the "happy birthday" if the client so desires.
Sometimes going out of your way to improve that relationship with the client, even if it is against company policy, is a good thing. It is my belief that "you reap what you sow" tends to win out in the end. When I stop working for the companies I work for and go completely on my own I believe this extra time for relationship building will pay me back.
Hello Darren,
I have read some answers to your question suggesting that customer satisfaction should be measured by survey. We could not agree more, an Online survey bringing back a customer feedback is worth gold to any business. And it is the best and ultimate way to measure the work quality of the customer-facing employee. Our company developed an online-survey software, and we have been helping companies with similar needs as yours. You can find it at www.VorexSurvey.com , it was designed not just to be powerful, but also to be very easy to use. With all the features and options in it, you can have your survey up and running in very short minutes.
Give it a try; I think it will boost your workers productivity and customer satisfaction. It worked very well for our clients.
Best of luck!
