This is about understanding why customer focus is strategically important, what it means to be truly customer-focused and how to create or improve customer focus in your organization. This article presents a simple business case for the strategic importance of  creating greater customer focus.  Many excerpts are taken from the book, That’s Customer Focus! We hope you find in interesting and helpful.

Most of you will probably recognize this soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Hamlet

When discussing a recent national security issue, President Obama offered a useful lesson for anyone who works with customers.

He focused his efforts on finding solutions rather than blame. And he took responsibility for moving toward a solution. Although the mistakes that happened were not his direct fault, he made it clear, national security was his responsibility.

We should all

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Never let your customer repeat themselves.

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Customers understand that often you have to hand them over to other people to help them get what they want. That’s okay, But, as you do this, don’t let the customer repeat themselves.

Logically we know when customers complain, they’re giving us useful information. But emotionally we don’t like to hear it. Especially since some customers tend to be a little rough about how they deliver their feedback. And employees get tired of being beat up by customers, all the while knowing nothing will be done to prevent future complaints of the same kind.

But Frank’s boss (above) got it

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Respect your customer’s opinion

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Our customers come to us for our knowledge. They want our help in accomplishing something. But some employees take this to mean the customer’s opinion does not matter. They go directly into “arrogant expert mode” and act like the customer has no useful information to contribute.

Yesterday I emailed the company that makes the thermostat used in our house. It’ s big company, a major player in this business.  Still I did not expect a fast response. I guess I never do (unless the company I’m emailing is called Zappos).

I was surprised to get a reply email from the company in less than 24 hours. (Consumer appliance manufacturers are not known for being exceptionally speedy with their email customer service.) So I was pleased. But my good feeling only lasted several seconds because the email they sent me said this:

Too many managers think they can plan and script and train employees how to handle every customer situation. It’s even worse with offshore call centers. As a customer you can tell when these people are forced to use scripts. It can be a painful process to participate in.  And it’s a massively ineffective way to give customers the experience they want. It does not work.

What if you met a new friend and everything they said was

Customer Loyalty Drives Revenue, Profits and Sustainability

This is a cornerstone of Amazing Service. Everything I write and talk about flows from this. But not everyone buys it. Most people say they do. But we have all experienced examples of companies that really don’t get this.

In their book Human Sigma, Fleming and Asplund cite a stunning example of this. A consumer bank had discovered a highly loyal segment of their customers. When they presented this information to the CEO his response was:

Many companies are focused on their customers. They LOVE their customers. Just ask them. They’ll tell you how wonderfully customer centric they are.  But there’s a problem.

As they tell people how much they love their customers, they also spend a lot of money lying to them.

Jim Logan writes an article at B2BRainmaker.com that illustrates this well. In it he talks about offer’s he’s gotten from various companies and how they sound or look good on the surface. But closer inspection shows they are misleading at best and outright lies at worst.

A well-known example Jim cites is

In my world customer service is a high priority. It’s easy to argue that it’s never been more important. Especially in this difficult economy, more and more businesses are finding if they improve customer service they can increase customer retention.

But it’s possible to go too far.

A recent article at ManagementToday.com points to a study done that suggests too much customer service can hurt profits. And I agree. Too much of anything can be a bad thing and that includes customer service.

That’s why we want to remember the cardinal rule of Amazing Service:

Customer Retention Tip:

Ask your customers what they want.

This is different than what they expect. What customers expect is usually less (often a lot less) than what they want. But you need to know what they want.

What do they want in general? What are they trying to accomplish (or avoid)? Why did they choose you instead of your competition? What are their priorities and preferences?

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Engage your customers by having fun

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

We’re hearing more and more about customer engagement as a way to increase customer retention. That’s good. Because if we engage our customers better then we’ll develop stronger relationships with them. We’ll know more about how we can help them. They’ll be more likely to trust us and know we’re in business to help them. It can create a win-win situation.