Many executives and managers exhort their followers to make the customer the center of everything they do. Yet for all the passion and conviction of their words, genuine customer focus remains theory rather than practice in their organizations.

“It’s all too easy for businesses to become inward-focused, to think about their own activities rather than what the customer is going through,” says Rita Gunther McGrath, associate professor of management at Columbia University and coauthor of MarketBusters: 40 Strategic Moves That Drive Exceptional Business Growth (Harvard Business School Press, 2005). “They think they’re focused on the customer, but they really aren’t.”

She points to an industrial-materials manufacturer whose managers thought of themselves as highly customer-centric because of their keen focus on quality. But their definition of high quality was so narrow that it omitted how customers actually used one product.

The company packed the material in 50-pound drums, but customers usually needed just 30 pounds. Because the product spoiled when exposed to air, customers often had to throw out the remainder. It was only when the managers spent time in the field observing customers in action that they started manufacturing smaller drums, increasing customer satisfaction and boosting sales.

So what can leaders do to make customer focus a reality in their organizations?

1. Demonstrate a genuine commitment. When the rank and file see that their leaders—from their direct supervisors to those in the executive suite—are committed to keeping the customer in their sights, they are more likely to strive for the same focus.

One way for organizations to cultivate managerial commitment and make it visible is for every member of the executive team to mandate that their direct reports have regular contact with customers. Another approach is one taken by some consumer goods companies, which mandate that senior managers spend at least one full day a month in a supermarket to witness how customers interact with their products, says McGrath.               

2. Ensure that employees understand what’s at stake. “People should see the link between what they do and the longer-term results,” says W. Earl Sasser Jr., Baker Foundation professor at Harvard Business School and coauthor of The Value Profit Chain: Treat Employees Like Customers and Customers Like Employees (Free Press, 2003). To make this link clear, use language that the employee will respond to.

For example, the president of a car dealership calculated the average lifetime value of each customer at $332,000 and insisted that employees keep that figure in mind during every customer interaction. Why? That way, employees could understand the potential cost of failing to excel at performing even the most seemingly insignificant actions. 

3. Engage employees in customer solutions. If employees feel they have real power to address problems when they see them and they’re given the necessary tools to take action, they’re more likely to make customer focus an integral part of their routine.

It’s all about what Sasser terms the service-profit chain, which links employee satisfaction to profitability and growth. Research conducted by Sasser and his colleagues found that workers are most fulfilled when they have the authority to solve problems for customers. Employee satisfaction drives loyalty, which in turn drives productivity, because replacing experienced workers is costly. Productivity drives value, value drives customer satisfaction, customer satisfaction drives customer loyalty and, ultimately, customer loyalty drives profitability and growth.

Consider MBNA, the Wilmington, Delaware, credit-card company that recently merged with Bank of America. In the 1980s, says Sasser, MBNA’s CEO made two discoveries: it took five years, on average, to recoup the investment required to attract new customers, and the typical customer tenure was only four years. So he enlisted the aid of employees to help him find the root cause of customer defections.

Interviewing clients who had recently left, the employees uncovered a host of complaints. Working together, they came up with ways to address those issues, boosting customer satisfaction and hence retention. At the same time, the very process of finding customer solutions increased these employees’ engagement. 

4. Reward customer-focused behavior. Using everything from the company intranet to internal newsletters to town-hall meetings, managers should publicize employees’ customer-focused actions. Bonuses and other incentives should also be directly linked to measures of customer satisfaction.

It’s also important that supervisors reward customer-focused behavior immediately. These kudos can take the form of a thank-you note, public praise, a gift certificate or an extra day off. 

5. Open communication channels. Managers cannot make changes to address customers’ needs and problems if they are unaware of them. Front-line employees must be given easy-to-use processes for capturing and communicating customer insights. It’s also important to create processes allowing colleagues to share customer insights and best practices with one another. 

Anne Field is a Pelham, New York-based business writer.

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