Are We Really Customer Focused?

Ask any business leader about one of their organization’s key success principles and you will likely hear the phrase “customer focused.” Makes sense. Without customers there is no business. But what does “customer focus” really look like and how is it integrated into an organization’s processes and thinking?

An HBR case study titled “A Consultant’s Comeuppance” offers an excellent example of how one fictitious consulting firm, serving the banking industry, attempts to come to terms with the potential loss of a long-time client.

The client in question, facing a significant drop in business results, has dismissed their long time CEO and replaced him with an outsider with a reputation for being a hard-headed “numbers person.” Huddled privately with the bank’s Chief Financial Officer, the new CEO’s focus on cost-cutting is obvious. One of the items up for discussion (and reduction) is the amount the bank is spending in consulting fees and expenses. Suddenly, and for the first time in a long time, the firm must “justify their existence” to an individual they do not know and is intent on reducing expenses.

Naturally, the firm’s executive team takes great notice of this. They call an emergency meeting to brainstorm ways they can retain this important, long-standing, and significant client. The ideas generated are predictable. They range from getting to know the new CEO on a “personal level” (after all, this is a relationship business), to touting the firm’s long history of serving the banking industry, to new research and product offerings they have in the pipeline.

Two takeaways here. First, this case has familiar overtones for many businesses concerned with the potential loss of a major account. It happens, often without warning or notice. So, as I facilitate this case with leadership teams, most of the discussion is focused on the best ideas generated and what the firm should do to keep the account. Something important is missing.

First, as an important client, shouldn’t the firm have seen warning signs that the bank was not getting the business results it was looking for? Second and equally important, the brainstorming session is focused on what the firm wants and needs with little consideration for what the client wants and needs. They know cost-cutting is a primary concern. What can they do to prove value for the investment the bank is making in their services, especially during a time or financial stress? And, did the firm become too “comfortable” with their relationship with the client and less tuned in to the value they were offering? Customer focused, indeed.

Putting the customer first means measuring your success through their satisfaction, loyalty, and successful outcomes.

For more information on customer analysis and ways in which case studies can be a useful tool for leadership development and creative problem solving, contact me at joe@ajstrategy.com