Who Cares Enough?

I had several people comment on our previous blog (Little Things), that in their opinions, organizations simply don’t care very much anymore about their customers.  Organizations frequently say they care, but the customer experience is often a different story.  Saying you care is pretty easy, but by itself only sets the table to disappoint others with missed expectations.

It is my belief that companies and people often times do care.  They just do not care enough – enough to take some kind of action or make some kind of change.  I was on a recent flight which was delayed an hour due to late arrival of equipment.  Once we took off, the crew was very cordial and apologetic.  I loved the reason the gave for the delay…”we have been flying late all day!” Based on the resigned looks on the cabin attendant’s faces, I doubt if anything will happen, except some lamenting by the associates about another screwed-up day at work.  Sound familiar?

Policies, procedures, the way things have always been done – these organizational habits die hard.  And when they stop working for the good of the customer, it is simply easier to let them continue, rather than confront them and propose a change. That takes work.

Leadership begins when you care enough about something to take action.  I genuinely hope that more and more people will start stepping up as leaders in their organizations to start making noise about and pursuing solutions for the things, little and big, that aren’t working right.  Most customers are forgiving of mistakes and problems, they just want to see something done about them.

Make sure that you team is willing to care enough to do the hard work to prove that you really do. Getting people to truly care is yet another of the important challenges you face as a leader.  Good luck to you.

Comments

  1. Dick Jorgenson says

    I am just starting facilitating TLC. Was impressed that caring is at the base of change and innovation or improving a situation.

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