Becoming more customer-centric has moved from the “whether” column to the “when” column.
# I really wish this was true all over. Most companies & executives have read / heard about the need to be customer centric – they may concur too – but most, I believe, are waiting for some external event to nudge them into action & necessary investment (time, effort & focus).
As pointed out in the article, smart companies ought not to wait. Instead they have to the take the initiatives to changes themselves if they intend to be ahead.
As pointed out in the article, smart companies ought not to wait. Instead they have to the take the initiatives to changes themselves if they intend to be ahead.
The author identifies six critical parameters that determine the degree of customer alignment for most companies. These six factors provide a good starting point for honest inquiry:
- Customer relationships – management’s level of customer contact & empowerment of contact personnel to deal with customers
- Strategy – They’re directional, not operational.
- Marketing
- Sales and service
- Process design
- Capacity to change – Most customer aligned companies endured some measure of organizational upheaval—often considerable upheaval to become customer aligned.
The author also lists questions that need to be asked for each of these areas to ascertain how aligned you are. Just asking these questions will help point companies wanting to “hit the road” and head down the right path towards customer-alignment.
# As with most surveys, rather than the result & the evaluation of the results, the process of going through the questions provide more value. They are pointers to the rights & wrongs in becoming customer aligned.
