Missing the Point

As a manager, what would you say is the ultimate objective of your employees? If you answer is “to do his/her job well” or “reach their performance objectives” you would be consistent with the answer given by most managers. However, while job performance is certainly essential to success, it is all too easy to overlook the point that, ultimately, every employee’s objective is to to serve the customer!

Stephen Covey has said that management is “efficiency in climbing the ladder of success”, while leadership “determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” In this case, the good leader makes sure that his/her employees understand that their primary responsibility is to delight the customer – internal and/or external. This small, but critical, detail is often completely overlooked!

I had the opportunity to experience recently what happens when companies forget this key concept (read the painful details here). “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us; we are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.”

Mahatma Gandhi In “doing their job”, two employees that I encountered completely forgot that customers are the reason they have a job function to perform. I made a special trip to a doctor’s office to pay an amount due for an office visit made by my son the day before. When I presented payment, I was informed that the office couldn’t take my money because “the invoice hasn’t been built yet.” I suggested that they might take the money and then apply the payment when said invoice was ready. No dice, they said.

No, seriously.

A company works very, very hard to create customers that pay for the products and services that, in turn, pay salaries and create a profit for the stakeholders. Does it make sense that employees receive little, if any, direction on how best to serve those customers?

In some cases, the “customer” is an internal one. For example, the payroll department serves the company’s employees by providing an accurate paycheck with all of the appropriate bonuses, deductions, withdrawals, etc. How effectively this job is done directly affects the morale of all of the company’s employees. Those in payroll should be instructed to see these internal “customers” as their first and foremost responsibility.

Internal or external customer; it doesn’t matter – every job should be connected to a customer in some way. Here are some keys to keeping your employees “customer-focused”:

1. Identify each employee’s internal and external customer(s)
2. Create expectations for serving those customers
3. Train your employees to serve those customers effectively
4. Discuss the importance of attitude in serving customers