There is a great quote in the book I am reading at the moment, The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau that goes something like:
“The quest for freedom comes from pursuing value for others.”
The more value we can create for our customers the greater our financial and personal freedom to choose what we want to do in life.
How does building a “customer culture” relate to this idea?
When we work in an environment with certain norms of behavior and expectations we generally conform to these. It is a form of social pressure that drives group behavior. If you happen to be lucky enough to work in a company that promotes a customer focus you will be exposed to some awesome things.
You will see how the best business people in the world develop a deep understanding of their customers. You will be exposed to their ways of thinking, their processes and how they lead around this important idea. That exposure will help you to build your own customer focus skills.
As you develop your own skills you will increasingly be able to provide more value to your customers, colleagues and to the business you work in. You will spend your time creating real value rather than on activities poorly aligned with customer needs and result in wasted effort, resources and destroy motivation.
Freedom follows this success and employees are free to work on ever bigger and bolder challenges. So what company would you rather work in? One inspired by how to change the lives of customers for the better or a lesser alternative?
