But we don’t pay attention until they are really good. A lot of people can paint, play sports, write articles or books, and do many other things reasonably well, but we don’t really notice them until they are really great. In fact, we become so connected to them, we don’t care what they are going to sing, or write, or perform, because we know it will be good.
The same is true of organizations and how their customers perceive them. A lot of companies will tell you that they are good at handling their customers, but we don’t notice them until they are outstanding. That is because they have a transactional mindset, which believes that customers do business with them because they like their product. Therefore, all they need to do is to be nice to those customers. The top performers go beyond their products and focus on developing their customer-centered cultures that take excellence into a new dimension.
There is a fundamental difference between really extraordinary companies that perform in the top 3% on voice-of-the-customer ratings. They have built their organizations on a strong customer purpose. They are not satisfied until their customers are successful. They have transformed themselves from product-centered into truly customer-centered. They have built their culture around customer success and have traveled far beyond relying only on their “product.” Customers already trust their product.
These exceptional organizations have an energy that attracts faithful customers who have noticed what makes them different and rewarded them with go-nowhere-else loyalty. Customers show up because of the company and the product is no longer part of the decision. They already know the product is going to be good.
