Create alignment. It starts at the
core and at the perimeter —
simultaneously.
At the perimeter, the customers are outside, and the first
thing you have to determine is,
do we have a clear understanding of who our customers are
and what we’re trying to do for
them and whether we are effective in doing that?
At the core, look internally
and say, ‘What are our processes, and what processes do we
have that are consistent and
work and can be replicated and
can help us be effective in producing what we want to produce and that can be profitable?’
Then trace those toward each
other and make sure the two
things meet. A lot of times, companies don’t meet halfway. They
have a good understanding of
who the customers are and the
processes they use, but in the
long trip that occurs between
business processes and the
experience the customer has,
sometimes it just never gets
linked up.
Communicate with customers. The
relationship between the customer and the person they do
business with in the company
should be the single most honest and consistent relationship.
It’s asking each of the people
out in the business who are talking to customers to be responsive when the customer is giving them feedback, and it’s also
measuring. We do that by tracking the phone calls we generate,
the e-mails we generate, the
people who print a map off a
Web site so they can go visit an
establishment, and then we
engage the customers in a conversation about that business
activity.
Customers have to make
money first, salespeople have to
make money second, and then
the company will make money
third. If that gets out of
sequence, then we’re not going
to have a good long-term business.
If customers aren’t making
money, they’re not going to have
more money to give us later,
and if my salesperson doesn’t
see they’re making money,
they’re not going to be motivated to go out and talk to the customer to get more money, and
those two processes have to
happen before the company can
make money.
HOW TO REACH: Network Communications Inc., (770) 962-7220 or www.nci.com
