Nobody seems to know how the economy is going. Housing and other sectors are still down, some other sectors are up, others holding steady. Business owners and C-suite members seem to be holding their collective breaths to see what may happen in the next few months.
It is a balancing act. But it is one that we have met before and will likely meet again in the future. Thus is the nature of business. Perhaps even a reason some of us are in the business….that feeling of piloting by the seat of your pants, wondering if you are going to be a success or a failure.
But I believe, whether your business succeeds or fails, it matters very much how you conduct your business. Treat others with respect and a failure can still be viewed as a hero. Treat others poorly and even the very successful will find it hard to gain true respect and admiration.
What does this have to do with the customer experience? Everything.
The customer experience culture starts at the top. You as the owner or CXO show by your actions what kind of experience will be passed on to customers. All the mission statements, speeches to employees, stockholders, and general public won’t change the way people feel if the words are not backed up with the right action. Those actions can create an avalanche because you, the CXO, are the one to start the pebbles moving.
So you need to loosen the right pebbles because, just like an avalanche, a wrong move can become impossible to stop. Especially now, with the digital immediacy we have, your actions can “go viral” in a matter of hours instead of the days it used to take. I’ve never been a big believer in all publicity being good. What is the worth of huge name recognition without a positive reputation?
Take a look now, while there still some time, to define the culture of your company. Make sure it is a culture that, once it avalanches to your customer facing employees, gives off the ripples of great customer service.
