Who,You,Work,For,was,ask,you,w business, insurance Who Do You Work For ?

Small offices have unique needs, and thatincludes document shredding. Designed with the smaller business inmind, the Dahle 20314 is a cross-cut shredder that offers Level 3security and brings you into compliance with federal regulations. The As we all know to live in this world we have to perform some activity by which we can earn money. There are many activities by which we can earn money and meet the standards to live in this society. And from one of them is franchise.  Franc

If I was to ask you who you’re working for, what wouldyou say?a)     Your company?b)     Your boss?c)     Yourself?d)    Your customers?Most people, when they are honest, answer a, b or evenc.  But if you answered d, are you reallyworking for your customers, or just paying lip service to it?It seems everyone is talking about“customer-focus”.  I love the phrase“customer-focus” because it recognises a fundamental truth that too many peopleseem to forget – that customers are your raison d’être – whether your companydeals with consumers, other businesses, or both.  Your customers pay your salary, not somefaceless company.Being customer-focused makes more than justinstinctive sense, the more focussed you are on customers; the more likely youare to meet and exceed their expectations, needs and wants.  And the more you meet and exceed theirexpectations, needs and wants, the more likely you are to have happy, loyalcustomers.  And the more happy and loyalyour customers are, the more likely they are to spend above the categoryaverage with you.  A win-win situation,if ever there was one.I’m not going to pretend that being customer-focusedis easy -- because it’s not.  It requiresan absolute dedication to the cause, starting from the top, right on downthroughout the organization.  But theprocess involved is relatively simple. I’ve broken it down into two lists – things you Need To Do, and thingsyou Need To Review.Need to Do1.      Listen.  To your customers, to the market, to yourstaff.  And never stop listening.  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you knoweverything you need to know about people. Through listening come insights and insights are what drive anybusiness. Take FedEx for example.  Years ago, when listening to people talkabout their delivery needs, they realised that there was a market need forovernight deliveries guaranteed to arrive at a specific time the nextday.  The likely cost of this service wassuch that it would only be used when deliveries really did have to getthere on time - so the on time guarantee meant everything.  And FedEx delivers… that’s why they’re the #1express transportation company.2.      TakeOwnership.  Own everyissue that affects your customers, even if you don’t technically ownwhat’s causing the problem.  You may nothave full control over your customers’ experiences, but if your customers aredisappointed by something while using your brand, you’d better take ownershipof the problem, and fix it.  Because it’syour brand that will take the flak… and the glory.For example,when Virgin took over the two British Rail franchises in 1997, all it ‘owned’was the right to run certain timetables on certain tracks.  The trains belonged to another company, asdid the railway infrastructure.  So, whena train was delayed as a result of a signalling problem, Virgin tookresponsibilityfor solving the problem on their customers’ behalf – apologising and payingthem compensation, while working behind the scenes with Railtrack to attempt tomake sure the problem didn’t happen again. The bottom line was that the customers were sitting in a Virgin trainwhen the delay occurred.3.     Be Consistent.  Your customers need to know what to expectfrom you – not in a boring and repetitive way, but rather in terms of thequality and type of response you’ll give them. By all means, do the unexpected, exceed their expectation – but alwaysdo it in a way that’s consistent with their needs and wants, and your brand.Southwest Airlinesis a great example of this - you don’t always know what they have in store foryou on a flight, but you do always know that it’ll be something you like.4.     Attention To Detail.  Attention to detail is all about showing yourcustomers that there is nothing you won’t do in order to give them the bestpossible Customer Experience. It’s about thatchocolate on your hotel pillow, that massage on your transatlantic flight, thatreminder text about your partner’s birthday, that unsolicited call to see ifyou’ve any problems using your new handset. It’s also about not being satisfied with anything less than perfection –about arriving exactly on time, about returning calls exactly when you say youwill, about having wait times that last no more than the time you say theywill.5.     Watch Your Language!  I’m not suggesting you’re swearing at yourcustomers…actually, it’s worse!  You’retalking about them behind their backs in a pretty disparaging way.  Hands up all of you who segment yourcustomers by value, calling some your ‘most important/valuable’ customers, and,by implication, others your ‘least important/valuable’ customers?  Many of you who segment your customers bylifestyle/lifestage, use quite unflattering names to describe certain segments?Language guidesbehaviour and attitudes.  So if you referto your ‘least important’ customers in internal discussions or briefings, thenthere’s a strong chance that your employees will treat those particularcustomers as though they don’t matter. You don’t mean for that to happen, but it does.  Likewise with the lifestyle segments.  Beware of using a single photo or personalityto characterise a particular segment – Colin Farrell/Britney Spears may seem tocharacterise your ‘fast and loose’ segment, but not everyone in that segmentwill be just like them.  Instead of ‘mostimportant/valuable’ customers, how about something innocuous like ‘highestyield/highest spending’?6.     Measure Your Results.  The only way to know if you’re reallycustomer-focused is to ask them.  Findout from your customers which particular aspects or attributes of yourproduct or service are most important to them -- whether it’s reducing waittimes in retail outlets, or arriving on time, or having mobile coveragewherever you are, or having the latest fashions in stock, or having the bestprices.  The key here is ‘from yourcustomers’ -- never presume that you know what they are.When you knowwhat to measure, set up independent monitoring systems -- usually a combinationof qualitative (to explore) and quantitative (to validate and track)research.  Establish the benchmark levelsfor the attributes, set realistic short and long term targets, and then see howyou do.NeedTo Review1.     Your Brand.  Does your brand stand for something that’s inkeeping with the various needs and wants of your customers?  If all of your employees ‘lived’ the brand’svalues, would the effect on your customers be positive?  Too often, the brand dictates what a companydoes for its customers, whereas if you really customer-focused, then theneeds/wants of customers should inform the brand.2.     Your Organization.  Your organisational structure, your policies,your processes.  Everything you dointernally affects your customers.  Doesyour structure encourage cross-functional working?  Is it clear who is responsible for what?  If your staff find it hard to manoeuvrearound your business, then that will feed through to your customers – in theform of too much red tape, poor staff attitude (disgruntled staff ¹ happy customers), inflexibility, lack of productknowledge, lack of consistency.3.     Your Products/Services.  Do your products/services meet the variousneeds and wants of your customers?  Arethey consistent with your brand?  Toooften, products/services are driven by other competencies of the company, suchas technology, or even by the Finance department.4.     Your Communication.  Is the content of interest/relevant tocustomers?  Does it demonstrate how yourcompany delivers a better customer experience? Is the tone of voice used consistent with your brand’s values?  And for communications within yourcompany, are your employees getting the information they need to do their jobsto the best of their abilities?  And arethey getting it via the most suitable channels for the jobs they do (e.g.road-based staff need different channels from office based staff)?  Are they getting it when they need it?  It’s the internal communications that aremost often neglected.  And in many ways,they’re more important than your external communications -- poorly informedstaff will not deliver the best possible customer experience.So, who are youworking for now? Do you have the right processes and tools in place to besuccessful?