1. The Message from the Top - If your executive lives and breaths customer prioritisation then the chance of the organisational culture reflecting this will be significantly greater. The most consistent service driven cultures have invariably stemmed from a leader who was crystal clear in their expectations of service.
2. Simplicity - The most consistent and successfully created cultures of service are often the most simple. We're talking about a one-pager that outlines what the company is aiming to achieve for their customers in a basic but powerful way. By keeping it simple, the entry level staff right up to the executive understand what the daily behaviour needs to look like.
3. A Focus on the Finer Aspects - It's about how your staff word their day-to-day emails, how the telephone at reception is answered and how your staff communicate with one another in front of customers. These details provide a quick but accurate indication of whether the organisation has successfully developed a culture of service.
4. A Focus on Selling Solutions not Products - Satisfying a customers needs comes from solving a solution. The fact that you are selling a product is the consequence. Once customers perceive your brand to be one able of solving their needs, you begin to build relationships and consequently, followers.
5. Emotional Intelligence - the most sort after skill for any client-facing staff member is the ability to empathise with different types of customers. The kind of individual who just gets it. Emotional intelligence in the sales, marketing and customer service is the new platinum. Those organisations that cultivate and enhance emotional intelligence within their team become the most agile, dynamic and creative brands.
Having worked with a cross section of organisations in retail and hospitality on an operational and strategic level, the difference between companies that exude and embrace a customer focus and those that do not, comes down to a few fundamental indicators.