STEPHENHEWETTsayscurrent
economicconditionsareperfectfor
forcingustorethinkourprofitability.
Extractinggoldfrom
It’stimeforarevolutionin newway.Weneedtoput notbeabletopaythemortgage.
business.Weneedtostart
Weneedtoput
customersbackatthevery Thatbuzz,thatpassion,that
thinkinginacompletelynew
customersback
centreofwhyweareinbusiness. emotionaldevotiontocustomers,
wayaboutourcustomers. Wemaybeshootingmoreand isn’ttheresultofmerelyknowing
It’snowafullcenturysince
atthevery
morearrows,buttoomanyof thatcustomersmatter.
hotelierCésarRitzwasquoted themarenothittingthetarget. Unfortunately,inmanycases,
assaying:“Leclientn’ajamais
centreofwhy
Weneedtogenerateatornado thelargeranorganisationgrows
tort”...whichmeansthe withinourorganisations,a theworseitbecomesatdevoting
customerisneverwrong,rather
wearein
furiouswindthatblowsawaythe itselftocustomers.
than‘alwaysright’!
business.
cobwebby,lacklustrehabitof ResearchthatCharterishas
In1908,whenRitzsaidthis, payingmerelip-servicetothe carriedoutsuggeststhatin
economicconditionswerevery ideathatourcustomersarewhy manylargeorganisations,only
differentfromtoday. weareinbusiness. about20percentofactivityis
Unemploymentbenefitdidn’t devotedtocustomers’interests.
exist:ifyoufailedtowin Vitalgoal Theother80percent?Well,it
customersyouwereatserious “IsRomeworthonegoodman’s consistsofstuffthat’saboutthe
riskofstarving.Manyofuswill life?”Maximus’sformerlover organisation’sagenda–often
lamentcurrentcreditcrunch PrincessLucillaasksthesenators simplyinternalstuff.There’sthe
conditions,butthisisaholiday inthethrillingfinalsceneofthe gapbetweenwhatpeopleknow
comparedwithlifein1908. movieGladiator.“Webelievedit andwhattheyactuallydo.It’s
Perhaps–ifwearereally once,”Lucillaadds.“Makeus notasifpeoplewhodevote
goingtodevoteourselvesto believeitagain.” themselvespurelytothe
makingourorganisationsbetter LeavingAncientRomeand organisationalagendathink
atwinning,lookingafterand focusingonyou,doyouregard customersaren’timportant,but
retainingcustomers takingeverysteptomakeyour somepassionforthecustomer
–weshouldbegratefulthat organisationcompletelyfocused hasslippedaway,somecustomer
timesaretoughrightnow. arounditscustomerssomething focusthatshouldbeastautasa
Toughtimescanforceusto thatisworthyourdevotion, tightbowstringhasbecomeslack
lookharderatourselves,at ingenuityandenergy?Mostlikely andloose,somediseaseof
whatwearedoingandwhatwe youdidbelieveitonce,but indifferencetocustomershas
arethinking.Theycanbringa sometimestheinternally-focused contaminatedtheorganisation.
newfocus,anewclarification, preoccupationsofan Soit’stimeforarevolutionin
aswewillbehungrierand organisationgetintheway. howweseecustomers,andthat
keenertolearn. Well,it’stimetobelieveit reallydoesapplytoallofus.The
Beingunderpressuretohelp again,andtimetomakeyour AmericanwriterandNobel
ourorganisationsperform colleaguesbelieveit,too.Your laureateWilliamFaulkneronce
duringdifficultconditionsmay organisationneedstobecome observedthatnowritingisever
bethetimewearereallyopen trulycustomer-centric. asgoodasitcanbe,andthat’s
tonewbusinessstrategies Pursuingthevitallyimportant alsotrueoforganisationsand
–evendesperateforthem. goalofcustomercentricityis thefocustheyhaveon
Besides,weshouldwelcome infinitelymorethanjustknowing customers.Theycanalways
arevolutioninhowwesee howimportantyourcustomers dobetter.
customers.Thisstrategyisthe shouldbetoyou–justknowing Inthedayswhenyoucould
onethatmustmatterthemost. somethingdoesn’tmean starvetodeathifyouweren’t
Everythingelse-newtypesof we’llbaseouractionsaround customer-centric,thesheerneed
financialcontrol,newinitiatives thatknowledge. towinbusinesseverydaytended
inHR,newtechnological Rememberthebuzzyouused tokeepmostorganisationstruly
applications,newmanagement tohavewhenyouwenttowork? customer-focused.Also–andthis
techniques–canonlybe Theexcitementofmakingthings isapointthatTVdramas
secondarytohowwedevote happen?Howoftendidyou depictingVictorianironmasters
ourselvestocustomers. ignorethecustomer’sagendain asdictatorialsemi-psychopaths
Weneedtoorientateour thosedays?Nottoooften,I’llbet, tendtomiss–theVictorianboss
businessesaroundcustomers particularlyasyouwereonlytoo (let’scallhimTobiasHardcastle)
andtheirneedsinacompletely awarethatifyoudid,youmight tended,forallhisstubbornness
36 May2009 www.dmi-news.com
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