Why Customer Efforts Fail – Eight Signs to Look For and Avoid

Most companies jump in to the CX work without evaluating how the organization works together, whether the CEO is truly committed and if the patience exists for the long road ahead.

Here are the eight key issues that usually get in the way of making progress in your focus on customers inside your organization. See if you recognize any of them in your organization.

1.  CEO’s aren’t clear about where they want to take the company for customers. (Lack of clarity of  “one company” customer experience)

When the CEO says ‘go focus on the customer,’ every one takes it differently. The shot gets fired into the air and a proliferation of tactics, vendor proposals and actions get going.  But they often don’t aggregate up to something meaningful for customers.

 2.  The ‘commitment’ doesn’t frame and modify actions for leaders and the organization. (Lack of alignment of “one company” customer experience)

 What we have now is a frenzied awareness of a problem that often leads to an even more frenzied approach to a “solution.”  When CEO’s say they’re committed to the customer mission, ask these questions to gain more clarity about their commitment to the customer and the mission.

• Are you clear in your mind about what you want to accomplish?
• Do you understand the sweeping scope of the work?
• Will you develop the new skills required for the company to thrive with customers?
• Are you willing to commit company time and resources to make this happen?
• As the CEO, do you sign up to be a true partner?
• Will you insist on corporate patience?
• Are you ready to push hard for strategic customer metrics?
• Do you have the guts to drive reliability in company operations?
• Do you have the focus to define the differentiated value you want to deliver to customers?

 3.  The ‘customer’ still isn’t elevated as the major asset of the corporation. (Customers aren’t an asset)

Organic customer growth drives long-term profitability.  So why isn’t it as important to CEOs as quarterly sales goals?

Understanding the state of customer relationships and even something as simple as customer counts still pale in comparison to quarterly sales goals in the rate at which they are understood, managed and held up as a success factor of the business.   No one knows the goal-line for customers.  Most CEOs haven’t told their company what it is.

4.  The metrics and motivation don’t line up with the commitment.  

CEOs say they’re committed to customers but don’t make any modifications for how success is defined and what people are compensated and rewarded for.  Or if modifications are made, it’s at such a high level such as attaching bonus to customer satisfaction survey score increases – that people don’t really know how to change their behavior.  The metrics aren’t attached down to relevant operational changes.  There are even times that satisfaction score goals can be negotiated out of relevance if a high sales performer doesn’t make the grade on customer satisfaction but hit the ball out of park bringing in new business.   Tilt.  The company takes a queue from where people are rewarded and what the company really cares about and will act accordingly.

5.  There is inconsistency for driving accountability.  

Companies who do this right spend the time to lay out what the new metrics are down to the operational level.  And they establish meaningful forums and methods to hold people accountable.  The ‘customer stuff’’ is not wedged into an over-crowded meeting agenda and potentially pushed completely off when time falls short.  The work is done to clearly identify how the different sections of the customer experience are accountable by individual areas and through collaboration.  And accountability is clearly attached to each.

6.  It’s not natural for the company to work together. 

Each faction of the company continues to establish their own plans, budgets and goals.  The challenge of this work is that it cuts across the entire organization and orchestrating that new behavior isn’t often factored in.  This won’t happen naturally and the CEO must be a major player in a) identifying that this new skill is necessary, b) finding someone to bring the pieces together to work on common efforts, and c) reinforce through accountability, metrics and motivation that these are the necessary behaviors in the new customer-focused world.

7.  Fleeting corporate patience exists to drive sustainable change. 

This work is not for the mild-hearted or quarterly inclined.  Becoming a ‘customer’ company is a multi-year endeavor.  When things seem to waver (and they will), people will need to hear that the corporate patience exists to stay the course.

If the CEO doesn’t personally commit to corporate patience, people will see right through it. They’ll abandon efforts when their performance rating is at risk for staying focused on the “customer thing” that’s not yielding results quickly enough for the impatient corporate machine.

8.  There is a lack of understanding and commitment to the scale of work required. 

For the customer work to take-hold it must be seen for what it is and understood for the challenge that it will be to the ‘normal’ workings of the corporate machine.  The CEO needs to be realistic about what accomplishments are requested and support it accordingly.  I’ve been in more situations than I care to remember where the ‘commitment’ was there but not much more.  People will see right through this and the corporate ‘Nay-Sayers’ will be quick to point out that this is yet one more empty promise about customers. CEOs on a realistic path for this work recognize its scale and understand that many people may need to be assembled to bring about the level of wholesale change required.

Take Action: Download “Where Are We NOW?”