Principle 3: Customer Perception of Value (Item 7)

Providing what your customers value – now and in the future – must be a key influence in your organization's direction, strategy and action.

Why this question is important

Your customer contact staff need to be enabled to handle any problem that is thrown to them by your customers. By enabled, we mean given the skills, knowledge, authority, power and resources to solve the customer's problem. You need to take this enabling process seriously. Your customer contact staff should not always have to run back to a supervisor or manager to get permission to do something for your customers. That is very bad both for customer relations and staff morale. It infuriates your customers and tells them and your staff that the staff are not to trusted.

In his excellent book `Moments of Truth`, Jan Carlzon introduced the concept of the `15 golden seconds' during which front-line people in problem situations have the opportunity to respond proactively and earn the loyalty of customers. Moments of truth are opportunities to build sustainable business relationships by addressing the human need for trust and credibility – which, whether you like it or not, is part of your product and service.

Carlzon`s book has many examples of employees enabled (by skills, knowledge, power and authority) to solve customer's problems. This means that they can and do solve customer's problems without having to run to a manager to get approval. This means they are trusted. Customers respond to that level of trust by giving their trust in return. This leads to loyal customers. It also leads to very happy staff, who blossom with the trust given to them.

For example consider the differences you see in hotel staff. At one extreme, you find staff who appear to hide when they see a guest with a problem. At the other end you find staff whose body language appears to shout, "I can tell you have a problem. Please make it my problem so I can help you".

Selecting customer contact staff

You need very good selection criteria for your customer contact staff. These people will be the window through which your customers will see your business. They must have the right attitude, the right personality, the right values, appropriate pre-existing skills and knowledge, and be able to respond adequately to the level of trust you will place with them when they are fully enabled.

Having selected them, you will need to conduct full induction so that they

1. know the company's values and objectives and where they fit in
2. have a full description of what is expected of them
3. have the skill, knowledge, authority and power to respond to and solve your customers' problems
4. will not injure themselves or others.

In businesses where the level of skill and knowledge needed is high, induction, including education and training, can take weeks or months before the new customer contact staff member is in unsupervised contact with customers.

The boss is not a customer

Many people think their only customer is their boss. This is definitely old thinking. It is still very prevalent in government departments.

Bosses are suppliers. They provide support and resources, make certain you and your team are enabled (have the skills, knowledge, resources, power and authority to do your work), champion your cause, coordinate relationships with other suppliers.

Bosses are seldom customers. Unfortunately, most bosses do not understand that fact. Most bosses tend to forget who the customer is and what the purpose of the business is. This is not useful. Instead of demanding that staff work for them, bosses need to see their role as that of a supplier.

According to Principle 3, what customers value gives direction and design to the organization. Not what the boss perceives is of value. The boss cannot ever say, "I am important. The sort of service you provide to external customers, you must provide to me."

Are there any instances when the boss is a customer? It is difficult to think of any. When your boss asks you to do something, is it for them or for a customer? Is it to benefit the business?

Where does the manager fit in as a customer? The manager, like all employees, is a "customer of the process". We will discuss processes and their relationships in Principle 4 (`To Improve the Outcome, Improve the System'). As one of many customers of the process, the manager does not have any special rights. And should not have any special power. Nor receive special treatment. Bosses who think they are special often divert processes to look after their (and not the customers') interests. This might help the boss in the short term. In the long term, it will not help the business.

40% with customers

We often come across organizations that tell us their CEO and all senior managers spend 40% of their time with customers. This appears a very good idea. It demonstrates by role modeling (Principle 1) that customers are important. The time spent with customers should be spent in identifying those things in your offering that the customers do not like. And then going through a process of mutual problem solving with the customer and the senior leader equal members of the problem solving team. This can be especially at the senior managers level because as we shall see later, the senior managers can effect most change because they have authority to control the most processes.

This 40% rule could be cascaded throughout the organization. This will bring your customers into close relationships at all levels of your organization – solving problems for mutual benefit. A high value adding process.

If it is done as a slogan or imposition or as something we measure (with no substance, understanding, or concept of mutual benefit), then forget it.

If it is done with the intent of modifying processes and systems in the organization so that more of what the customer perceives to be of value is delivered to the customer, it might work.