Customer Service Leadership – The only sustainable Edge – Part 2
Posted on October 17, 2007 - Filed Under CSA - Celebrity Speakers, Expert Interviews, Innovative marketing strategies | 5 Comments
by Larry Hochman
Customers have more power than ever before, and the revolution caused by the so-called “Information Age“ is above all else about ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND CHOICE. Forget about the historic power of the Trade Unions, now an anachronistic footnote. “Customer Unions“ are what the future is all about, and the future is already here!! “Customer Unions“, I predict, will be 10,000 times more powerful than Trade Unions ever were in the final determination of a business`s, or an industry`s, success. Napster was, in effect, the first “Customer Union“ of the “Information Age“. It does not make any difference at all that it was quasi illegal; it revolutionised the entire music industry (which was shockingly late to understand the power of peer-to-peer networking). The leaders of the music industry lacked vision; therefore they had no relevant focus, and were caught up only trying to replicate what had made them successful in the past and which is always self-defeating. Owing to their lack of foresight, they were replaced by visionary leaders from another industry altogether.
Steve Jobs would certainly not have called himself a music industry guru. However, his visionary leadership at Apple gave birth to the I-Pod, an innovation that gave customers exactly what they wanted: freedom and control in regard to the music they listened to. The multi-billion pound world-wide music business has been transformed forever; it started with customers having the technology to share files, and was furthered by a device facilitating a simple method of organising individual control. All leaders must understand the profound implications what of this means, regardless of what industry they are a part of.
In a world of omnipotent hype and change, the future of leadership will have less to do with promises and much more to do with DELIVERY. The reason that customers are so cynical is linked to THE FAILURE TO DELIVER. Forget about making promises and focus on delivery and be sure every member of your staff understands the commercial costs involved if you consistently fail to do so. This is one of your most important tasks as a leader today. No one can be considered an effective leader unless they can be an instrument for making a difference. In order to do that, you must be brutally honest with yourself, and your staff, about what lies at the heart of customer dissatisfaction. You do not need to employ costly consultants to understand and face up to this fundamental reality: DO NOT PROMISE SOMETHING THAT CANNOT BE DELIVERED. It lies at the heart of the profound customer unhappiness that continues to grow exponentially day after day after day. It is the rot that must be eliminated to win the cynicism battle being waged by every leader of every enterprise on the planet.
In the mobile, global, temporary, outsourced and off-shored world where we now find ourselves (forever!), all leaders must be ruthless in eliminating hierarchies and barriers to speedy decision making. The concept of empowerment, much overused and less understood, has nothing to do with giving anything to anyone. Instead, it has always been about the ability to remove fear and bureaucracy, the two barriers which more than any will preclude people from making decisions on their own. In order to lead any organisation successfully in the future, all decision-making must be decentralised. If people are incapable of making their own decisions, they should be asked to find another job or another company to work for. If a leader fails to inspire people to think and act independently, and does not remove both fear and bureaucracy within the organisation, they should also be asked to find another job and or be removed. There is no room at all and none and for corporate rule by dictatorship, in the commercial worlds of tomorrow.
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5 Responses to “Customer Service Leadership – The only sustainable Edge – Part 2”
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Excellent article.
While on the one hand, it’s good to hear that customers are gaining power and control, there is a downside to the issue. There are many people in this world who are unrealistic in their demands and never happy. These seem to be the very “customers” who complain and want everything free. Some customers are never satisfied, but instead like a black hole of wants, needs and excessive nagging.
Perhaps each customer should have a personality ranking as well.
Also, you have vicious competitors who can infiltrate customer groups and raise a ruckus. This can damage innocent companies that are out to do the right thing.
The whole idea of customer power sounds great on the surface, but can quickly lead to customer manipulation and could potentially lead to the downfall of small business as we know it. Just think of a small business that is too afraid to stand up for itself in face of an outrageous customer for fear of being slandered by a certain customer or customer-group. That small business could go out of business pleasing some of the people out there in the world.
There are givers and there are takers in this world–some of those takers are customers who take advantage of businesses.
This is exactly what I expected to find out after reading the title mer Service Leadership – The only sustainable Edge – Part 2 : The Innovative Marketing Blog. Thanks for informative article
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
Hello ! ^_^
My name is Piter Kokoniz. Just want to tell, that I like your blog very much!
And want to ask you: what was the reasson for you to start this blog?
Sorry for my bad english:)
Thank you!
Piter.