Having Problems with Customer Satisfaction? It Stems from your Leadership

Customer satisfaction is almost everything these days. I say “almost” because your profitability, businesses growth, and career all depend on how you answer the next question:

Who is more important? Shareholders, employees or customers?

Ok, in all honesty, in today’s environment this is a trick question. I used to think that in the future, the biggest problem that businesses are going to have is not a fight for customers but a fight for employees. That future has arrived. Across virtually every sector in business, we all have the same problem. How do we find employees (I prefer to think of employees as team members) that bring the right attitude, skills, values alignment and purpose that we need to succeed? And, they are loyal enough to stay beyond a year or two?

Team members that take care of our customers because they feel leadership is taking care of them? This is your BIGGEST challenge today!

I’m blessed in so far as I get to see a lot of businesses in various stages of greatness and disrepair or despair. Some of the ones in disrepair still don’t get it. They routinely:

1. Treat employees as consumable assets instead of assets that appreciate. They cut costs on anything that’s easy – travel, training and development, and compensation.  Invest in systems, procedures, and policies – all things that are trumped by a strong team and culture (look at Zappos).
2. Think that customer service, customer satisfaction, and customer retention are just taglines. If you promote great customer service, then people will actually believe it instead of actually embedding it throughout the organization (the way Disney does).
3. Believe that customers are naïve – at least through their actions. And that customers are stupid enough to think that some splashy ad campaign with happy, smiling people is what they are all about (the list of these organizations is very long).

Peter Drucker once said: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” He was partially right. I believe that culture eats everything for breakfast.

If your organization has not embraced the following, you’re in trouble:

1. Culture is everything.
2. Today’s team members are looking for alignment with a company on values, purpose, appreciation of their skills and leaders that provide them with opportunities to grow.
3. Team members want to serve.
4. Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Retention are more than catch phrases and they need to be embedded in the entire organization (yes, even Finance, Engineering and Operations).
5. Customers vote with their wallet and their feet.

If you aren’t embracing all of the above, then designate someone to stay behind to turn off the lights and forward the mail to creditors.

Robert Murray is a Vancouver, BC based Business Strategy Consultant, #1 Best Selling Author, and International Keynote Speaker. For further advice, insight and inspiration on how to unlock your inner leader, follow Robert on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

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