Put the customer first

I recently became a victim of exceptionally poor customer service and the lessons of the experience are pertinent for all us, whatever organizations we manage. The details of the experience are largely irrelevant, we all have our particular ‘war stories’ and most of us will admit that our own organizations are not always blameless. The learning from the experience certainly does re-emphasize ‘red threads’ that link many elements of the EFQM (the European Foundation for Quality Management) Excellence Model.

On the surface it was a simple case of not delivering the complete goods on time but the customer experience highlighted a whole catalogue of organizational deficiencies, all of which could be addressed if the customer is put at the forefront of an organizational strategy.

In trying to rectify the situation I was able to discover a whole host of features of the company. Suppliers it seems are the biggest determinant of customer satisfaction and were out of control. Staff was adequately trained but totally un-empowered to solve problems for customers. IT systems were inflexible and couldn’t offer any route to improve the situation. Managers were sadly invisible in the process and internal communication problems were self-evident. As if this is not enough then without doubt the organization lost money through the whole process; they certainly lost a customer.

The whole experience reminded me of the need to look at all aspects of the organization through customer eyes and be prepared to challenge and keep challenging. Process design, IT systems, staff development, leadership behaviours, finance systems must all reflect the very real needs of external customers. All my experience indicates that if this is done, processes become leaner, staff more satisfied and leaders more effective resulting in an all round improvement in business results. And of course customers become more satisfied.

Barnsley Geoff - Managing Director of TQMI *