Time to wake up and smell the Apple juice by Liz Saunders, Mind Gym Head of Solutions on 04-May-2012

Imagine it's 2020. Which of the following is the most likely?

A world record-smashing haul for Team GB&NI at the Olympics? Unlikely, unfortunately. Simon Cowell is the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport? Let’s hope not. Apple is worth more than most European countries? Hmm. This claim was made prematurely earlier this year, but it certainly is a distinct possibility.

But why will they have continued their success?

Mac users may claim that Apple offer the best products. But not everyone would agree, particularly those who need Adobe Flash. And Apple certainly don't compete on price either, with their cheapest laptop almost double the price of a rival's equivalent.

At Apple, the customer, the end user, is always there – in the board room, finance team catch-ups, and chats by the Genius Bar. It's a culture, grown both from the top down and bottom up, that places the customer at its heart. It is this customer centricity that truly sets Apple – and certain other organisations, like Amazon or Zappos - apart.

And it is this extraordinary culture that will continue to separate the good from the very best; the latest poll by the Economist Intelligence Unit of over 500 business leaders found that 55% expect to compete primarily on service in 2020, compared to 33% on quality and only 9% on price.

In this Olympic year, Team GB will unfortunately struggle to win gold for customer service. The UK ranks an embarrassing 34th for customer service according to the World Economic Forum, just behind Lithuania. If we’re going to turn this around, we need to get into training now.

At Mind Gym, we’ve analysed over 50 academic studies and used the insights from over 20 leaders of customer service to identify the key levers for growing a customer-centric culture.

First, make the customer real and commit to them. A European bank we worked with recently asked a customer to speak at their annual conference. The sight of a little old lady telling the executive directors the story of how poorly she’d been treated hit home. The audience gasped, cringed, and left with the sense that this had to change.

Next, attention is infectious. Help spread it – think about how it feels when you’re the centre of someone’s attention. When employees feel supported by their colleagues and engaged with their work, they’re more likely to listen to, be patient with and pay attention to customers. This internal climate of service not only predicts customer satisfaction, but also stock price. Win-win.

Finally, use your managers. They’re the single most influential factor in changing a culture and driving service quality and the best managers deliver the biggest bang for your buck. But they’re not helping when they’re only reporting on sales targets and figures; when they’re coaching the people who talk directly to customers, they are.

The business case for a customer-centric culture is unequivocal. It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee, or Apple juice.

For more information, please visit: www.themindgym.com

Tweets by @biz_works