My wife was in tears. Again.
I was at the point of frustration and impotent rage that keeping a civil tongue in my head was almost impossible.
This was the second unsuccessful attempt at delivering new appliances to our home.
The second time that operational efficiency and KPI’s around net-number-of-deliveries-executed was deemed more important than customer empathy and KPI’s like NPS.
Channeling my 2020 Digital Marketer ethos and connections I immediately took to LinkedIn and Twitter and began an email tsunami to the CMO directly.
The former quickly became a growing commentary of sympathy and ridicule . The latter was met with a deafening silence.
Today was Attempt #3.
There was another SNAFU and hiccup which had me (and the delivery driver) questioning what I’d done to displease every religious deity in existence.
However, there was a difference this time.
The driver responded with empathy. He took 10 minutes to let me resolve the situation. He took a moment to think “what can I do to make this a great, not harrowing, customer experience?”
He exhibited humanity, empathy and the consideration needed…at the point of customer contact.
He, unlike his predecessors, did not default to “policy” and “rules” and “contract sub-clause 22b, sub-section 13”
Rules contrived in a boardroom during an “Operational Effectiveness” Brainstorm a hundred miles physically and emotionally from the point of contact with the customer.
I appreciate that I have an annoying habit of seeing everything an organization does through the lens of culture…however…
How organizations behave toward their people - and toward their customers - is a manifestation of a deliberate and conscious choice made inside their culture.
As Peter Drucker reminds us “business has but one task – to create a customer.” Which means everyone reading this post has to decide how they will create (or destroy) a customer based on the conscious decisions they choose to make inside their organization.
While this article might be two years old, the staggering numbers quoted of customers who will switch, abandon or call-out in social media any organization that provides poor customer service should concern any Executive or Employee with either “Customer” or “Experience” in their titles.
Then there are organizations who understand what happens when you unlock the potential and the possibility of their people.
Izzy Sharpe, the legendary Canadian hotelier, recognized this truth when nurturing the Four Seasons business and the recognition that culture was going to be the foundation of their global success.
Zappos has built an entire organization around a culture of WOW with customers. And if you think that Culture doesn’t have a business impact, I’d ask Tony Hseih (now former) CEO of Zappos if the $1 BILLION paid by Amazon to acquire Zappos isn’t proof that Culture is an economic driver.
Stock-market darling NetFlix is another classic example. The original NetFlix Culture deck created by Patty McCord has been described as the most downloaded presentation in Silicon Valley. However, look no further that the NetFlix website and the clear unambiguous language surrounding the talent that will thrive at NetFlix.
The organization talks often about “The Rare & Responsible Person” as the archetype they seek. Put more plainly, I’d say NetFlix looks to hire adults and treats them…like adults.
With a global pandemic buffeting every industry and country, organizations face some very stark choices. Choices that will determine if they will flourish or become a business footnote.
Will they continue to operate around rigid, inflexible policies that hamstring their people, thwart the best intentions of their talent and frustrate the very customers they seek and need to survive.
Or will they create a culture where the passion, ingenuity and potential of their people can truly be unlocked and unleashed? Unleashed to consider new business models as traditional models collapse. Unleashed to try, and likely fail a few times, while developing new innovations to capture new customers. Unleashed to bring empathy and compassion to the critical point of contact with the customer.
Which one do you think will attract the passionate talent you need to survive?
Which one will retain the customers you need to thrive?
Will policy beat possibility? Or, just maybe, will possibility win over policy in these turbulent times?
Which one will you choose?
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I recently had the opportunity to discuss Culture and its ability to accelerate or impede your business success with Bashir Fancy at BizTek in Canada.
If you’ve got an hour, you can find our discussion below.