Customer First Mindset

Archive User

Would service quality or employee's mindset will change if companies start to think like a customer service company. Would it help in customer retention/renewals and value creation?

gurd3v

The companies that seem to thrive tend to have an intention to be fully customer centric. Listening to the customer and driving change will likely create value and improve customer satisfaction. 

That said, it's a balance because sometimes customers may ask for 1 thing but doesn't line up with the product vision/roadmap. Alignment and vision top down helps make sure you stay on the right side of the line.

Alex Turkovic

@Vipin Dixit - there is no doubt in my mind that a company-wide, customer-first mindset absolutely has positive impacts on things such as customer satisfaction and long-term revenue retention. 

A startup I joined several years ago had customer visits as part of its employee onboarding plan for ALL EMPLOYEES. This is obviously an insane luxury that's probably reserved for sub-50 employee companies, however the result of these visits were evident in the way everyone spoke about client issues. By starting your employment experience thinking about the customer and how the product helps the customer, you're unifying the conversation across the board to be 'customer first'.

All of that said, I feel strongly that a part of the Customer Success remit at any company is to try and help make the customer's voice be heard across the entire employee base. Whether it be through videos, customer profiles, inviting customers to company all hands, etc. There are any number of ways to increase customers' presence within a company's day-to-day operations to help keep them top of mind.

Just my 2 cents.

Will Pagden

Not sure I would aim for a customer service company. In general customer service is reactive, its important for CS to be proactive.

I think whats important here is that the company from the top down is Customer centric. That way every manager has a focus on truly impacting the customer for the better.

gurd3v

Just to clarify, I think you're suggesting that CS (Customer Success) be proactive, correct?

Will Pagden

Thank you! Its late on a Friday as you can tell. Edited original.

Matt Myszkowski

For me this aligns with desired behaviors and the relevant measurements of success that drive those said behaviors.

Companies talk about having a customer first/centric culture through their organisation, and the only way to do that is making sure everyone has a stake in winning (or losing), and that happens through measurements & the bonus attached to it.

gurd3v

This is key - shared incentives on measuring against ensuring happy customers is huge!

Scotty

Customer-first will also mean different things to different organizations.  It can be geared toward customer experience and delighting customers. It produces challenges if it strays you too far from your ideal customers. You still have to understand where a request fits into your product.