This week I was asked to speak at an internal conference for a bank. The subject was how to build a great customer experience. However, the reality was somewhat different to the title. I sat listening to speaker after speaker - all coming along with the same message how can we stuff more products into our clients and achieve our targets.

As I sat there I started to think, why do people say one thing and do another? Do they really think people are that stupid that they cannot see the conflict between the words and the actions? So, as the speakers droned on and on about product X and revenue Y, I thought what are the tell tale signs that show if your company is really customer focussed?. I took the opportunity to make some notes.

When I visit companies, they take great pains to tell me how customer focussed they are. They show me mission statements, pretty charters on their wall extolling the virtue of being customer focussed and explain how the company is organised around their products! Yet the reality is that their words and their actions are different. Customer focussed is the last thing they are. Let me be very clear right up front, our people are not stupid, and your customers are not stupid, they know you are not customer focussed! One thing I have learnt over the years is Customers will judge you on your actions not your intentions.

So what are some of the tell tale signs of people saying one thing and doing another?

What do you measure?

This is the easy one. I have met companies who tell me they are customer focussed and yet they have no form of Customer satisfaction measure at all! Do you measure Customer satisfaction? Ask yourself now if you know what last months results were? Now ask yourself if you know the companys revenue performance last month? Normally people can tell me the latter but not the former. What does that tell me?

Half the Customer Experience is about emotions. So, do you measure the emotions youre evoking in your customers? When were your measures last reviewed to check they are still the right ones and changed if necessary?

What happens to the information?

Too many companies have a tick the box mentality. They measure Customer satisfaction as the management books say they should. But they never do anything with the results. So ask yourself, how often is your customer satisfaction measure actively used to drive improvements?

How important are Customer measures to your company?

Who gets paid on the results and how much? I remember when I was in corporate life; I had a stand up argument with one of my colleagues at a board meeting about this. I suggested that the bonus we paid account managers, which stood at 5% of their overall bonus, with the remaining 95% paid on revenue, should be increased to 50% of their bonus. I argued if we really believed that focussing on the customer was critical then we should put our money where our mouth is. Sadly I lost the argument. Revenue was the key measure throughout the company and would remain so. Talking about being customer focussed just made everyone feel better. In fact with hindsight, in everything they did the customer came second or in some cases third!

Where is the customer on the agenda?

Just look at your next team meeting agenda. Where is the customer satisfaction review? Is there one? I know of monthly and quarterly meetings where the customer and the customer satisfaction measure are not even spoken about? How can management then say they are focussed on the customer?

You are your diary Look at your diary.

How much time do you spend with Customers or working on Customer issues? Look at your bosses and senior teams - this will tell you the difference between the actions and the intentions.

Customer complaints

Are they a good thing or a bad thing? Customer complaints should be encouraged - they are free consultancy and feedback from your customers. Too many companies treat them as something they shouldnt have?

Inside out or Outside in

A couple of weeks ago I was involved in a meeting where there was a heated debate about what the customer wanted. Retail put their view, Customer service put their view, sales put their view and it all got a bit strained. I sat there and, at an opportune moment, asked the simple question. Can someone tell me what the customer thinks?..Where is your customer data to back up what you are saying, because without that these are just opinions. The most important thing is what the customer thinks.

So in summary these are the main areas which show the difference between words and actions. Look at your colleagues and bosses and then ask yourself, are you truly customer focussed?

Finally, I would be fascinated to learn of any other tell tale signs you have observed; we are considering using them in our next book. Perhaps email them to me at colin.shaw@beyondphilosophy.com. If they are new and we use them in the book then we will acknowledge your contribution in print!

Colin Shaw Founding Partner, Beyond Philosophy. colin.shaw@beyondphilosophy.com

www.beyondphilosophy.com