Finding Answers

Want to beat the competition?  Put your customers at the center of your organization.  Make them the CEO of your business.  Doing so will help you respond faster, launch innovative products/services, and build win-win relationships.

Every company has an organizational chart, whether it is formal or informal, that depicts the hierarchy and the roles responsible for decision-making.  In some cases, depending on the size of your company, this can mean layers upon layers of differing levels within the business.  Typically the more layers there are, the longer the decision times become.  Nothing new… right?

It Is More Than Just The Slogans!

If you answered yes, who can blame you?  That is how most companies operate because the customer is removed from the entire organizational compass.  The customer is forced to speak with automated call centers or contracted service representatives.  Rarely does the customer speak with anyone who is part of the “Org Chart.”  The customer is there to serve not be served.

Disagree with me?  Look at your own company.  Where does your customer fit in when it comes to your organization?

The old silo structure was meant to respond to twentieth century production and distribution problems.  Sure those marketing people would run surveys etc. but that was to make sure the delivery of the products and services created from the R&D department got purchased and delivered.  Customer feedback was really based around messaging, quality, and satisfaction.  Rarely was it about product input, store design, and/or strategic decision making for the company.

That way of thinking means that there are a lot assumptions being made.  Even with all the research done by mining the abundant amount of data out there, decisions under the old organizational structure are made with assumptions.  Input by the customer is subjected to results from surveys and focus groups.

You can remove the assumptions from the equation by placing your customer at the center of your organization.  Doing this means that decisions are made with one purpose in mind: does it meet my customers’ needs?

How To Meet The Mission? Keep it SLIM!

Stay in business.

You must be in business to service your customers’ needs.  So if a decision makes it difficult for you to stay in business… it violates the purpose of why you are in business and should not be made.

Listen to your customers.

There is a lot of information from a ton of people about listening to your customers.  So much so that you do not want to listen to it any more yourself!  What I am talking about here is bringing them into the decision making process and removing assumptions.  Which makes sense if you are placing the customer at the center of your organization.  It is no longer what is in the best interest for the company… it is what is in the best interest for the customer.

A great example of doing exactly this is Best Buy.  They discovered that their stores were mostly frequented by women instead of men, that their customers wanted friendly and helpful staff that were not compensated by commission (read pushy sales people), and help setting up the complicated electronics.  This lead to store redesigns, the Geek Squad, and staff that is knowledgeable in multiple departments of their stores.  Don’t think it works? Have fun shopping at Circuit City!

Integrate your customers into your organization.

Placing your customer at the center of your organization means that everyone who is part of your company, from the CEO to the lowest paid employee, answers to them.  Every department works for the customer.  While you maybe nodding your head reading this, if your company is still operating in silos then your customer is not part of your organization at all.

Integration is about building a business around your customers and their needs.  Business that are built like this survive economic downturns, are faster in launching innovative products/services, and have greater loyalty.  Apple and Wal-Mart come to mind as two companies that integrate the customer into their organizations.  Both deliver vastly different products/services that fulfill their customers’ needs.  You cannot deny that both are tremendously successful.

Make customer communication easy.

Social media makes it easier to communicate and learn more from your customers.  It is more than reacting to bad public relations, a la Southwest Airlines, or jumping on a customer request, a la Best Buy.  It is about participating in a conversation that can give you valuable insight into how your products and services are being used:

• Are they being used for their intended purpose?
• Is there an innovative way never considered before in using the products?
• What needs are not being met?

All of that information can be found for free on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Yet, to get all of that information you have to make it easy to communicate with your customer.  We all hate the voicemail hell that one must go through to interact with a human being hidden somewhere in a non-disclosed bunker.  Why make your customer go through the same thing when it comes to social media?

Easy communication means that you are going to get the good with the bad, but in the end it means that you are going to build a long-lasting flow of valuable information.  Besides, it makes sense to listen to your boss and we are talking about making the customer your boss!

Customers Need To Be Part Of The Equation

This is the twenty-first century.  Although the way most businesses run, you would not know it.  You can capitalize on that weakness by making your customer the centerpiece of your business.  You do not make _____, you help customers overcome ______, meet _________, or build _______.  Your boss in the end is your customer.  Without customers your paycheck does not get paid.

Where are your customers in your organization?

About the author:

Erroin A. Martin is a Business Advocate with the Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC, a business coaching and consultancy provider for business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs. He has fifteen years experience working within the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, natural resources, medical devices, software, technology, business services, and agriculture industries in various levels of leadership across six continents. He has led diverse teams in sales, marketing, planning, and in the Army.  He currently coaches business leaders and physicians in the tools needed to plan for their success. Learn more about the Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC at www.vongehrconsulting.com or call +1 203 433 8079.  You can follow him on Twitter at @Erroin

The Von Gehr Consulting Group, LLC, was founded by Erroin A. Martin to provide business coaching, business consulting, and other services to companies both large and small.  The primary goal is to have his clients be passionate about their business and reach the unachievable.