Are U FANATIC about Customer Experience??

While studying a report on customer experience at one of the UK based banks, I came across the term "bank puts much of its success in recent years down to its
fanatical focus on customer experience (service) . "

I wonder how many CEOs are FANATIC about the Customer Experience their company creates!! Forget FANATIC, are aware and care about it ?? Its the role of CEO to create WOW!! and Delightful Customer Experience for their all stake holders and more precisely CUSTOMERS.  

Every business is under going challenging phase ( low margins, tough competition, difficult to retain real talent , china threat ) , technology is changing rapidly ( mobile, to tab to smart TV to smart machines, innovative products and execution capabilities ) new ways of of doing business ( online, franchise, outsource, collaborate )  new age entrepreneurs ( young , energetic  with no legacy baggage, ready to challenge convention ) , govt policy paralysis ( slow to No - tax or procedural reforms forget FDI ) , high sales but low cash flow & profitability, fudging of accounts not only to manage shareholders and analysts but also to have elusive sense of self belief.  

In this grave situation only hope for survival is severe Customer Focus & creating Stupendous Customer Experience.  Yes its to the extent of Fanatical about it.

How many business plans talk about this?  How many strategy /board or owners meets have this on agenda? Wonder many businesses today struggle to survive and crying of recession!!! If customer is not your competitive advantage , what else can be??

Customer Service Is Not a Department, Its your Company

Why Surprised !!!!. As an entrepreneur you started d company to offer some solution to the CUSTOMER. Isn't it true ???

Unfortunately as the company grows, it develops silos and other than CEO, everyone else is responsible to their limited area of operations. This is how companies are managed. But the problem with this way of working is NO one cares about the customers other than customer care and sales department. 

But difference between core competency and competitive advantage could be  - Excellent Customer Focus & offering Delightful & Memorable Xperience.

Core Competency will keep you in business , competitive advantage will give you an edge by allowing some extra profit , low marketing efforts, quicker sales cycle & more repeat/referred customers. 

One of my young followers mailed me that Kingfisher Airlines is offering wow customer experience & now they are almost on the verge of collapse & other non wowers are surviving thereby questioning entire wow experience strategy.   

I have read tweets of many of whom I follow. There are two views on govt bailout or support to private sector Company in trouble but everyone unequivocally agree that company is offering great customer experience.  All of them are brand loyal , brand referrers, opponents of financial package also cant stop but admire for what kind of experience company is creating for their customers. These loyalty and wow!! experience perhaps will be instrumental in helping the company in times of crisis. Financial Troubles are and can be due to various structural and financing issues, but WOW !!! factor they could create is the key not only for voice of customers to support the company but loyal and repeat customers will remain loyal to the company  for revenue to keep coming. 

Even in the case of Satyam Scam, one of the independent directors acknowledged that their customers' loyalty was the reason they could revive so beautifully even in times of severe survival crisis. 

Wowed Customers = Happy Customers = Loyal Customers = Brand Promoters 

Therefore keep wowing customers, they will go to any extent to support you in times of crisis. Is Wowing Customers, your competitive advantage????

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1,2,3,4,5,6,7 & 8 Reasons to  { must } WOW !!!!! [  Delight  ] Internal Customers 

I was thinking about what to write on my 100th Blog today. ( in 10 months , First Blog on 11th Oct 2010 & this one was planned for Independence Day i.e. 15th Aug ).

I had to sent one project report to someone who wud depend on the same and would work on the same further.  Therefore today morning I started working on the same. While working I thought I shud do the work in such a fashion that the other guy need not have to do anything better and just take the process further. That will make me feel happy , make me dependable and saves his time (i.e project execution time)

This made me thinking of Customer Experience of Internal Customers. Most of my 99 blogs were on customer  { external } experience and how to WOW!!!! our customers. Most people in the organisation thinks that I am not in direct touch with the final customer how can I WOW !!! my customer??? They think I am sitting at the corner of the office in  of accounts or purchase department. I even don't see my customers. WOW !!! is not for me. 

As an accountant if I make a mistake on tallying accounts or adjusting customer payment to his account I am impacting customer experience. As a purchase manager if I am not buying right quality products , right time I am impacting customer experience. Everyone therefore can influence ( is influencing ) customer {external} experience. 

However my point here is about impacting internal customers. Internal customers i.e person who is dependent on our work to take it forward.

- Auditors are dependent on Accountants work

- Production Team is dependent on Purchase Team

- Sales Team is dependent on Marketing Team

- Project Team is dependent on Finance Team

- Sales Team is dependent on Logistics Team

- Everyone dependent on IT Team & even Security 

   Personnel

- & PM is dependent on PMO !!! 

     { One can add many more dependencies }

Even within the department person is dependent on other person's work. If we wish to WOW !!! our customer, WOW!! person dependent on your work by giving not only best of you but more than what is expected. { going out of the way to make his work easier , faster and even beautiful }

Advantage:

1 -  You r happy { doing something great plus you also will get dependable work from colleague on whose work u r dependent }

2 - Fellow Employee is Happy

3 - Every one in the org Happy

4 - Customer { External } Happy

5 - Time of rework or recheck saved

6 - Culture of WOW !!!! percolates

7 - Everyone work to WOW !!! daily , on every assignments

Bottomline : 

Blue Ocean creation for the company. 

{ unbeatable competitive advantage }