Customers, Leadership & Culture

Customer centricity is vital to any successful business. Placing the customer at the centre of the business is simple to say, but hard to do. The foundation comes from the attitude and behaviours of leaders inside the business creating the unwritten rules of “how we do things around here”.

When leaders demonstrate their respect for colleagues, thoughtfulness, collaboration, personal responsibility and integrity these same values will be depicted by the way colleagues interact with one another.

In turn the everyday behaviour and attitudes between colleagues will determine how employees think about, and interact with, external customers. Customer centric attitudes and behaviours are initially a trickle down impact, and eventually a cascading avalanche, to create a great place to work and strong financial results. My experience reinforces the adage that colleagues listen to what leaders say, but of more importance, watch what they do, and emulate it.

Leaders set the standards of behavior by what they do, not what they say.

I consider customer centricity is best demonstrated when leaders treat their colleagues in a way in which they would like them to treat someone they care about and admire.