Every time you leader-types make a policy question, ask yourselves first: Who does this policy serve?
If the policy serves your rank-and-file employees, it's a good one. Go for it! What's good for them is good for your company, because a company that puts its employees first attracts, keeps, and invigorates top talent, and nothing is more important to your success than that. Nothing.
If the policy serves your customers, bravo! Do it. Don't give away the store - that's not what this is about. Serve them, fairly and well. If it serves your customers, they'll not only stay for the long haul, but they'll bring their friends, and you'll build an empire on an entirely solid footing.
If the policy serves internal constituents at the expense of customer-facing staff, you really owe yourself a second look. It might be a bad idea after all.
If the policy serves management in some cosmetic way... I recommend you think long and hard before bringing it to life.
If the policy serves your stockholders in the short-term... again, think twice, I urge you.
Leaders, ask this question of policies, as I said. But don't stop there. Ask "Who does it serve?" for every decision you make and every action you take, big and small, vital and trivial, across all levels of the company.
Your call center reps should be asking it of themselves on every call, probably multiple times. Your sales pros should be asking it when they're presenting to the board of a prospective client. Your distribution-center foremen should be asking it of themselves and of their team all day long. Your security guards should be asking it. Your recruiters. Your accounts payable staff.
Everyone. All day long. "Who does it serve when we...?" fill in that blank. And watch your culture gravitate toward profits driven organically from within the entire organization, rather than squeezed out from the Executive Committee.
Let me know how it goes.
*****
Two posts ago, I wrote about the only survey question you'll ever need (http://tinyurl.com/26bhpcv). I think you'll enjoy the post, and I highly recommend you read the comments - a number of customer service experts weighed in, adding great depth to the piece.
The survey question I share in that post is customer-facing, which is to say it is something for your company to ask each and every customer.
More on both questions later.
Well said!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post Ted.
ReplyDeleteAs a general rule we should always question what we do. Not to the point of freezing up mind you.
This is definitely one question we should ask ourselves. Another one would simply be "Why?" We do so many things that bring no value to the customer or the organisation.
Cheers
Eric
Your insight is so simple yet profound. Interesting question I heard from the Goldman Sachs hearings a few weeks ago related to your advice.
ReplyDeleteA senator asked the Goldman execs who do they believe they had ultimate responsibility to serve? Customers or Shareholders? Because clearly, in their case the two are mutually exclusive. (a whole other topic. Is there really any other industry, beyond those that where a monopoly exists, where customers' wallets are just a means to serving internal objectives? Convoluted) The curious thing was that none of them could/would answer that question.
When we are generous of nature we will never have to worry about these sort of things. Others will be attracted to us whether employers or customers, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteTed, you make point that is all too obvious - but rarely pursued. If I may, I'd like add a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteRather than using the term 'policy,' use the term 'guideline' ... and with that empower your workforce to make decisions according to the needs of the situation.
The company directive could be to "make decisions to the best interest of our customers in mind," within certain guidelines. This would serve two purposes: 1) It would be in the best interest of the customer, and 2) By empowering the rank and file workforce, it would add job satisfaction therefore be in their interests.