{"id":32426,"date":"2021-09-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/the-culture-challenge\/"},"modified":"2024-01-17T08:10:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T08:10:46","slug":"customer-centric-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/customer-centric-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"The Culture Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\u00a0six<\/span>\r\n\r\nCulture is one of the most important parts of customer service and customer experience. I\u2019ve written numerous articles about this and have included a chapter on this topic in my latest book,\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019ll Be Back: How to Get Customers to Come Back Again and Again<\/span><\/i><\/a>, which by the way, is finally out. (Shameless plug: Get it today!)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s always been my philosophy that customer service is not a department. It’s a philosophy to be embraced by everyone in an organization. It\u2019s part of the company\u2019s culture.\u202f <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn the past, I covered\u00a0<\/span>six steps to creating a customer-centric culture<\/span><\/a>. These are still the right steps. But, I\u2019d like to add some ideas from the new book to supplement this powerful process. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n

Six steps to creating a customer-centric culture<\/h3>\r\n
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  • Principle One: Everyone\u00a0has to\u00a0be in it to win it \u2013<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0As I mentioned above, customer service is a philosophy to be embraced by everyone. Everyone must be in alignment with leadership\u2019s vision and definition of the organization\u2019s culture.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
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    • Principle Two: Follow the \u201cEmployee Golden Rule\u201d \u2013<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0This is one of my favorite concepts, which is to do unto your employees as you want done unto the customer. The way leaders and managers treat employees is how employees are going to treat others, including the customer.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
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      • Principle Three: Empower people \u2013<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0We hire people for their talent, so it stands to reason that we should let them use that talent to take care of their customers, both internal and external.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
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        • Principle Four: Put it in writing \u2013<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>This ties\u00a0in with Principle One. Create a simple and easily remembered definition of what customer service looks like in your organization. It should be one sentence or less. Here at Shepard Presentations, we live by three words: Always Be Amazing! We want to be amazing for our clients and teach them to be amazing for their customers, clients, guests, etc.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
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          • Principle Five: Culture starts at the top \u2013<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0Leaders not only define the culture, but also serve as the role models for the rest of the company. They must live their vision for how employees and customers are treated.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
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            • Principle Six: Hire and assign for amazement \u2013<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0If you want the right culture, you must hire the right people for that culture. Once hired, they must understand their roles and how they impact the amazing customer experience you want to provide.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
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              • Principle Seven: Make sure there is a good coach \u2013\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>When I look at the best teams in business, whether they are customer service teams, sales teams, finance teams, etc., I recognize that they all have good leadership. The leader of a truly effective team is like the coach of a professional sports team. They motivate,\u00a0mentor\u00a0and nurture their teams toward success.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nSo there you have it. A summary of the seven principles that will help your organization become even more customer-focused. And, have your customers saying, \u201cI\u2019ll be back!\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n