Quote of the Week

by JoAnna Brandi
 
In my seminars on Customer Caring I talk about something I call the Work-Relationship Tripod (sm). As many of our businesses are consciously moving from being "transaction - based" to being "relationship - based," it’s important to understand the interactions of relationship in business. Imagine, if you will, that your business sits on a tripod (or even a three-legged stool.) Each leg of the tripod represents a different set of relationships: External, Internal, and Inner. All of the legs need to stay in balance, in order for the business on top to be in balance.

The external relationship "leg" represents those relationships external to your company - those relationships you have with customers, suppliers, competitors, investors, communities and even the families of those that work with you. The internal relationship "leg" represents those relationships among the people inside your company - fellow staff members and managers. The third "leg" representing the relationship we all have inside, with ourselves, that's where our sense of self-worth and pride and attitudes exist.

These relationships form what I refer to as an "eco-system". In an eco-system, the whole system changes in response to changes or feedback in one of its parts. For example, as our customer's lives change, as their days became longer and busier, we changed our hours to accommodate their needs, or when our competitor became a player on the Internet, we reacted by evaluating our own digital strategies. We respond to changes anywhere in the system.

We have a good deal of control over the "climate" in our eco-system. If we create an organization where people participate, enthusiastically come to work they enjoy, care for and about the customer and each other, we will have an entirely different environment then if it's an "every person for him/herself" attitude, where the good energy of people is wasted in political nonsense or in CYA (Cover Your you-know-what) behavior.

As you get serious about becoming more customer-focused, lots of changes will have to happen. And the changes of course, begin with you. Organizations don't change, people do. In most organizations today there is a lot of changing that needs to be done to meet the challenges of the future. The first step: intend to change things. Intend to change yourself. Intend to shake things up and think "outside the box". Begin with looking at the tripod.

External Relationships

Customers want to be treated with respect and caring and the highest level of interpersonal skill. They want you to understand the world from their point of view, they want courtesy, convenience, expertise, professionalism, and creative solutions to their problems - they want you to say YES. They want unique solutions to their unique problems. They want you to be involved with and support their community.

Another external relationship is that with suppliers. Let your suppliers know what you need so you can take better care of your customers. Get them involved. Work towards a win/win.

Internal Relationships

How we work together as a team. Does everyone in an organization serve customers? You bet. Some people in an organization serve the external customers; some people serve the people that serve the customers. Together internal suppliers and int