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PEOPLE FLOW |
“GREAT SERvICE
IS A bETTER WAy OF
MAKING THE CuSTOMER
COMMIT THAN A
GREAT PRODuCT.”
disConneCT from realiTy
While the corner office has the power
to do the most good, therein also lies
the greatest potential for harm. CEOs
are often removed from day-to-day
operations and focus instead on number
crunching.
“We have to remember that a chain
is only as strong as its weakest link.
Management on all levels needs to get
involved.”
l
This approach may work for a while,
but such a rigid strategy can rarely
maintain competitive edge indefinitely.
“If competitive edge falters, there
is no alternative to going out there
and learning how to support the
customer’s processes better than the
competition.”
WHo CreaTes value?
One of the professor’s grievances is
flawed corporate language. Case in
point: companies that insist they are
creating value.
“It is the customers who create
value, not the companies,” Grönroos
says. value is something perceived and
experienced firsthand by the customer
and cannot be handed down by
corporations who think they “know
better”.
“Resources as such possess no inher-
ent value, only value potential. That
potential can be accessed if resources
can be made to work to support the
customer’s processes,” Grönroos says.
For companies of all sizes, the change
toward better customer service must
start from the top. When discussing
attitudes and culture in any company,
it is the chief executive that establishes
the tone.
“It starts with the management
showing with its presence and actions
how things should be done and what
priorities need to be set,” Grönroos
says. The same attitude will eventually
pervade into strategy, resource alloca-
tion, development projects and reward-
ing policies. In this cascading process,
the will of the leadership is manifested
through the organization.