The surprising truth

All organizations, profit or nonprofit, large or small, exist for only one reason: to serve their customers (you can call them clients or beneficiaries). Only by serving your customers will you get an appropriate compensation and fulfill your mission. 

Does that sound too simple?

Then, why do so many leaders and managers (or those who think they are) ignore this simple fact in their jobs and their decisions on a daily basis?

Why do most organizations NOT focus on their customers – and, as a result, struggle with their businesses and blame other forces for their failure?

The list of poor practices is endless and includes many hotels, banks, telecommunication service providers, airlines, governments, and so on.

There are two key reasons:

1. A conscious decision to ignore customer needs to maximize short-term profit or to go after some political reasons. This can only work for a short while and in a monopoly situation.
2. Amateurism, uncertainty, arrogance, or all combined. This applies to most organizations. The underlying issue is that too many leaders are afraid to hear the answers when asking their customers about expectations, and have no idea what they will do with all the good ideas for improvement that they might receive. Isn’t it much easier to bury oneself in operational stuff and pass most of one’s time in internal meetings?

If you are really serious about the long-term success of your organization, then:

• Ask your customers systematically if and why they would buy again from you.
• Ask your staff regularly what they would do differently to serve the customers better.
• Each day, pick up the phone or write a personal (!) email to one of your customers and thank him or her for having used your services or products. Ask all leaders and managers in your organization to do the same.

The good news: It is never too late. Start next Monday.

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This post is from our Friday noon memo #111. Interested in regular updates? Sign up here.
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