What Makes A Company Customer Focused?
A customer-focused company, is a type that has one eye on profits and the other eye on how best to serve its customers. This company has discovered that profits and market share are the products of listening to customers and acting upon their needs.
Qualities that characterize a customer-focused organization are
1. Recognition is earned by staff members who balance job efficiency with customer satisfaction.
2. Managers focus on supporting their staff members in doing their jobs well so that they can focus more attention on taking care of customer needs.
3. Promotion is based on good service skills and on seniority.
4. Training the staff is a high priority, focusing on technical and interpersonal skills.
5. All staff members know who their customers are (external and internal — see the “Reconsidering Who Your Customers Are” section later in this chapter) and understand how they’re part of the customer-service chain.
6. A participative management style is common throughout the company, and staff members have opportunities to offer feedback on key customer issues before decisions are made.
7. Long-term thinking is the rule rather than the exception.
A real-life customer-focused company
One of our clients, an international hotel chain has made being customer-focused a way of life. This company has put a system in place that makes it clear to all managers and staff that customer excellence is a top priority.
They do quarterly guest tracking to monitor customer satisfaction. The results are then forwarded
to the general managers at each location. Information, such as how one hotel site compares with the others in the same region and specific information on each department (front desk, check out, restaurant, and so on), is made available.
Management bonuses are based on these guest-tracking results, and a yearly achievement forum acknowledges staff members and locations whose guest-tracking scores are the highest.
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