“I was once asked to run a workshop for a small group of senior executives…seeking to transform itself into a more customer-centric business.”
“During a planning call with the company’s CEO, he asked me how he would know whether the workshop was a success.”
“What do you mean? I asked.”
“Well, he said, what will my executives do differently, if we’re successful at convincing them that this is a good direction for our company?”
“It was a good question, so we brainstormed the issue…”
By Don Peppers, The Forbes article is here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2013/09/18/empowered-employees-vs-brand-standards-the-customer-experience-needs-both/
The article covers six behaviors of leaders who walk the talk and are helping to create the best customer experience.
It is slightly lofty in terms of the “what and why” with only a few hints of “how”.
However, the main reason I grabbed this article is in the last behavior:
“a leader… committed to transparency and trustability – ensuring that the organization’s official policy is always to act in the customer’s interest, even when it might not yield the same level of short-term profit.”
In my simple mind this means having business rules and procedures which allow the employees to “act” on their own. Don’t let them check their brains at the door, let them make decisions and provide them with the proper tools.
If you are curious of how this might look:
“The Ritz-Carlton has for many years given staff $2,000 of discretion (yes, this is per employee per guest) to be used to solve any customer complaint in the manner the employee feels is appropriate.”
The Forbes article is here:
At first blush, this looks very risky, which it is, unless it is built on “Smart Trust”. Trust is a two way street, but to gain trust, the manager must go first.
Read more on Smart Trust: