When an organization fails to live their values, the ripple effect varies from slight impact to massive impact (impact equals customer attrition, employee attrition, revenue and profit loss, etc.).
If, for example, the organization claims that they are customer oriented, or pride themselves on service, then every touch point must reflect this.
Recently, my wife and I were in the mood for Greek food. We are fortunate, because there are a number of good Greek restaurants near our neighborhood. We recently tried one that was new to us, but not new to the area. The food was awesome! So, as I was on my way home from work one evening, I decided to call in the food order.
I called the number, and got a recording that the call could not be completed. Thinking I may have dialed wrong, I called back—same result. Thinking maybe the circuits were down, or there was some kind of issue with the lines, I waited five minutes and called again—same result. I was already on my way to the restaurant, so I kept calling—six times in total, all with the same result. When I arrived, here was my interaction:
Me: Hi, I'd like to place an order for carry-out. By the way, are you experiencing any issues with your phones?
Shift Manager: No.
Me: Are you sure? I just tried to call six times, and got a recording that said the call couldn't be completed.
Shift Manager: No. No problems.
Me: I can show you my phone—is this the right number I called? Did you change your number?
Shift Manager: I don't need to see your phone. I believe you. We are not having any phone issues.
Me: Ok. If you say so.
Then, I proceeded to place my order, got the food, and left.
We've not gone back since, and won't go back. The food was still good, but the lack of interest in customer feedback was atrocious. What made it worse is that I was trying to help him—alerting him that he may be unintentionally causing his customers (existing and potential new ones) PAIN, which equals not spending money, which equals not experiencing how great the food is, which equals not referring friends, and so on...
This is where the connection back to living the values and vision of an organization come into play. It may be obvious to some (especially if you read the eQ blog regularly) that leaders have to be sure to clarify the vision—throughout the organization. But more than that, leaders have to have ways to ensure the entire organization knows what it looks like when people are living the values and vision—and when they are not.
Every moment where actions are misaligned to the vision equals pain and performance degradation for the business.
How are you, personally, ensuring your customers are not experiencing their own version of this story?
Andrew Freedman, Principal at entreQuest, specializes in helping eQ’s clients grow by creating well aligned company cultures and strategies that result in remarkable client and employee experiences.
