The customer-centered company, part 2

May 31, 2014 at 12:00 AM
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Some companies genuinely understand customer service—the customer is at the center of all they do. Others are operations-minded, and their over-reliance on rules and policies results in average customer service. Here are 3 more of the main differences between the customer-centered company and the operations-centered one:

1.    Leadership. The leaders of the customer-centered company have a vision for customer service and lead by example. Leaders of an operations-centered company either have no vision or adopt a "do as I say, not as I do" approach. This can confuse employees and leave them unmotivated to deliver exception customer service.

2.    People first. The customer-centered company puts people first—especially employees. The happy, engaged employees of customer-centered companies deliver the type of experience customers crave. The operations-centered company cares only about procedures and the bottom line.

3.    Customer service. The customer-centered company considers excellent customer service to be everyone's job. Every employee is responsible for tending to the customer's needs. The operations-centered company calls customer service a "department." Serving the customer is someone else's job.

If you aspire to the heights of customer service, you must develop a culture where excellent service can thrive. Otherwise, you'll end up just another average company.

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Shep Hyken is a professional speaker and best-selling author. For more information on Shep's speaking presentations, call 314-692-2200, email [email protected] or go to www.hyken.com.

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