Eric Sohn
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On the heels of Steve's thought-provoking theory of the 4 perspectives for business success, I'd like to float another, very popular, theory of business success and see what people think of it.
Stakeholder theory says that, in order to be successful, a business needs to balance the needs of all stakeholders, which are communities that are impacted or can impact business results. These generally include:
- Shareholders
- Customers
- Employers
- Suppliers
- Governments and regulatory agencies
- Local communities
Companies have been successful by placing primary emphasis on different of these groups. For example, Johnson & Johnson's Credo places shareholders clearly low on the totem pole, but saved them interminable grief when they recalled Tylenol after someone poisoned a number of bottles. And SAS clearly does well for itself, while being very generous with its staff, and benefitting from the low turnover.
So, which of these do you over-emphasize? And which do you under-emphasize? What could you do to change the mix - and how would it change your business?
Coach Eric
> Steve Levy wrote:
> Sean et. al.
>
>Customer loyalty is not created in a vacuum - it requires a balanced approach in performance measurement along several axes.
>
>Being focused on customer satisfaction alone is like going to the gym, performing bicep curls with your left arm, and calling it your workout. Real business success - and customer satisfaction - requires four different perspectives from which one's company's activity can be evaluated:
>
>Financial perspective (how do we perceive our shareholders?)
>Customer perspective (how do we perceive our customers?)
>Process perspective (in what processes should we excel to succeed?)
>Learning and innovation perspective (how will we sustain our ability to change and improve?)
>
>The coaching challenge is in maintaining balance in running one's business - although it is widely accepted that "balance" does not mean spending 25% of your time on each of the above areas.
>
>cheers!
>
>
>> Sean Failla wrote:
>> I work harder and smarter. It is my goal with each customer/prospect to become thier resource for Energy related issues. Whether or not it is a product or service I provide. I feel that if they are comfortable enough to look to me for answers then they are satisfied. That's the easy part. Constant and valuable communication is critical, the more personal the better. I understand newsletters over "spam" or general emails are a more effective form of communication and more welcome. It's something I have on the board for the near future.
>>
>>Good luck.
>>
>>> Eric Sohn wrote:
>>> Sean -
>>>Thanks for bringing up this topic. Facts on customer satisfaction:
>>>
>>>- It costs 5x as much to acquire a customer as retain one
>>>- 96% of unsatisfied customers say nothing to you
>>>- Loyal (not satisfied) customers tell 1-3 others; dissatisfied customers tell 7-10 people
>>>
>>>So, what do you do to create loyal customers? What could you do to achieve the next level of satisfaction and loyalty?
>>>Coach Eric
>>>> Sean Failla wrote:
>>>> Eric,
>>>>
>>>>The one thing I don't miss about the corporate world is the lack of focus on customer satisfaction in the attempt to "get a deal and move on". While profitability is important to satisfy Wall Street, it is more important to focus on customer satisfaction especially during weak economies. Based on my almost 20years of experience, customers are always shopping around. What's the old saying, "it takes years to develop a good customer and seconds to loose one". It takes greater effort to maintain a customer than it does to get the deal. Communicate often!
>>>>
>>>>Sean
>>>>
>>>>> Eric Sohn wrote:
>>>>> Hi, faithful BBFFU'ers -
>>>>>Does the need for "fixing" things now impact the quality of your business results? Does it change how you feel about working in your business? Please give examples.
>>>>>And, most importantly, how might you change the way you work to better balance the need for speed with the need to produce the best result for you, your business, your customers and other stakeholders?
>>>>>Coach Eric Private Reply to Eric Sohn (new win) |
