Customer-centric culture needs to be cultivated

Even before we begin to understand CRM or Customer Relationship Management as it's popularly known, it's a term which needs to be understood intrinsically. As enunciated, CRM is coined in the nook and corner of almost every organisational culture, be it small, medium, large, independent or an entrepreneurship entity spread horizontally and vertically to meet its most solid dimensional spread. Why?

If we begin to focus on the value quotient, monetary angle strengthens by itself which has a rather paradoxical approach, value or money or both. Thus, the customer comes into focus as value appreciates and brings the money and not the other way around. Today we live in an age, where we practice the principle of the element of money even in relationships which is why the true value enhancement or bonding in associations is missing. It has gained a wider momentum in business operations as well.

Growth begets growth, value begets value, money begets money and above all a customer begets customer potential adding value, growth & money. We need to take care of all the ingredients to balance the customer centric approach.

How do we identify great companies & what do they have in common? Great customer service. What do we understand by this? How do we treat a fellow human being reflects our treatment to our stakeholder - the customer who can be an internal or an external entity. The customer is the king; he is not doing us a favour, we are bound to benefit from him/her, so our approach has to be cordial & congenial.

Key pointers for outstanding customer service:

l Being human

l Connecting People

l Being empathetic

l Good perspectives

l Less emotional and more practical

l Genuine, Quality, Focussed

l Standards of excellence

Focusing on the customer is the key to the success of an organisation. We are neglecting this and we take our customers for granted. Whether big or small, everyone adds value to our existence. We are growing because of them and not vice versa. Let's honour our commitment, faith and go beyond the expectations of the customer. Our strength lies in all equally, no one is too important or no one is not worth looking or considered less important. Sometimes, our treasure lies in the least expected person who adds value through his/her minimalist approach.

It's very important to have a focused approach on the road ahead. This stimulates the right direction, benchmarking through milestones and having stringent corrective measures based on customer feedback which highlight any steps to be correct in delivery or business approach or operations.

Skills Communication

Communication is a crucial ingredient for our survival. Let's focus on open ended and inclusive conversations rather than close ended which have only narrow vested interests holding nogood to neither the customer nor the communicator. It has to be kept simple, connected and always looking at the perspective of the other person. Because our thoughts, experiences vary from the other person's thinking. We have to place ourselves in their shoes to have clarity.

Organisational leadership

Today, true organisational leadership as it is popularly called is missing. Why? It's a million-dollar question. Leaders have just become commodities, once in a role, they consider themselves messiahs, controlling and commanding all. But that doesn't bring out leadership calibre which the stakeholders expect time for authentic value-based leadership where the leader is one with all the stakeholders.

There shouldn't be a positional chord holding him/her back, by connecting with all on an equal footing, his problems become the leaders too, it's a leveler, in a similar way, it's just not the joys but also the sorrows which have to be shared. This enhances the connectivity, trust and faith in the leadership position. In an organisation, it's mostly the top-down approach which will not generate the results, a bottom-up approach will accelerate the various strata of leadership chord and not the other way.