Sometimes we just stop thinking. The parental question “What were you thinking?” is universal. It’s just in our nature. The mental glitch doesn’t break away from us at some magic age. It’s there for life.It’s also in our nature to dash to solutions. Who wants to wallow with a problem anyway? Nike’s “Just do it” campaigns weren’t just by chance. They know what we are about.
So for a moment, set aside all the tools, the models, the techniques and technologies that pursue the ever elusive “Customer Satisfaction” and just think.
“Customer Satisfaction” is an outcome, a perception. In an organization it is a result of a cumulative effect of something. Now boil that something down into a word.
The word is “respect”. Now think about our everyday experiences. An experience we all share is the interminable wait in medical practices; always well beyond our “appointment” time. Is our time less valuable than theirs? What about respect for our time? Getting our order right, finding help in a store, the list goes on.
Now translate that back to the cumulative effect of your organization’s habits, processes, and rituals of interacting with customers. Do each and all of these culminate in a perception of “respect”? Most likely they do not.
Now go back to the tools, the models, the techniques and technologies. You will no doubt see them differently, and interpret and use them differently and hopefully get better outcomes.
Aretha Franklin’s singing of Otis Redding’s song “Respect” got it right – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut15Ezxu0yY&feature=related
“All I’m askin’ is for a little respect”
