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1-Page Summary of Chief Customer Officer
Seeing the Customers’ Perspective
Chief customer officers (CCOs) advocate for customers and argue with management about policies that affect them. They have a tough job because it is hard to convince managers to prioritize customers, even though they are the source of revenue. To make changes in favor of customers, managers must see things from their perspective.
Most companies have a bad experience with one department and then blame the company as a whole. Most of these customers leave, which means that two out of every three people who stop doing business with you do so because they had an unsatisfactory experience. Studies show that it is up to the customer to decide whether or not to stay, and most times they choose not to. The average company in America loses half its customers every five years because of poor service, according to a 2005 Conference Board study. CEOs consider customer loyalty their third biggest challenge after growth and consistent strategy execution.
The Power Core: Silos of Authority
Most companies claim that they are customer-centric, but few actually focus on creating an optimal experience for their customers. They wait until something goes wrong to fix it and then form a task force or study group to address the issue. These groups usually fail because they don’t have the support of key departments or upper management who dictate what happens within the company.
When a customer service officer (CSO) starts a loyalty program, he or she must understand the power centers within their company and how they affect customers. There are six main types of power centers:
There are two different types of power cores in companies: product-based and marketing-based. Product-based power cores focus on production, development, innovation, and manufacturing operations. Marketing-based power cores distill company operations into campaigns, tactics and branding. The head of marketing usually sets the strategic direction for a company because that person is responsible for creating customer experiences through campaigns, tactics and branding.
Power cores are the most influential centers of power at a company. They can be based on sales, technology, or customers. These power cores often have problems with new initiatives because they tend to focus too narrowly and neglect important issues.
The people who can solve the problem aren’t motivated enough. * The problem isn’t well-defined enough. * A solution is too difficult to implement.
When companies don’t work together, or people are rewarded for doing their own thing instead of the customer’s best interest, they can create problems. For example, one company sent a customer an empty box because it was trying to fulfill the order as fast as possible. The shipping department got a reward for fulfilling orders quickly without regard to what the customer needed. This reveals that businesses tend to focus on keeping operations running smoothly and producing products rather than pleasing customers.
Companies Don’t Get It
Companies misunderstand the challenge of customer service because they don’t know how customers form their opinions. Companies think that customers base their opinions on individuals, but that’s not true. Customers form their opinions based on how the whole company treats them. That is why customer satisfaction responsibilities are often neglected by companies and aren’t a part of management’s power core (a group or person who has control over an organization). If you want to have a successful customer loyalty program, you must understand this concept and work with it rather than against it.
