Customer Leadership

“I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others… I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent…” – Thomas Edison

“Find out where the parade is going and get in front of it” – Ralph Klein,
Former Premier of Alberta (never lost an election in his political career)

“My role is to make money for our customers so they can share some of it with us. To do this I must provide them with real, tangible value.” – Daryl Cowie, Product Manager, GE

“The Customer is god” – Japanese proverb

“Find out what that Customer wants and give it to them” – many sources

These quotes all point to the same universal business truth: the way to succeed in business is to help your customers succeed. The customer is central to all things. They lead the way, they set the direction.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in business is to assume you know what the customer wants, or assume you know better than the customer. The customer is the leader.

Let’s take a look at different types of customers. Not all customers are external to the business. If your job is front line sales, then your customer is whoever purchases your products or services. If you work as an executive assistant, then your customer is the executive staff. They ask for things of you. You deliver items and services to them, and they pay you for it. They are your customer. If you look around your organization, you will see that the relationship between most departments is that of vendor and client (or customer). Product Management for example supplies specifications to R&D, who in turn develop and supply a product design back to Product Management. Product Management secures funding (IE. pays for) the service. In this transaction Product Management is the customer, and R&D is the vendor. Most relationships within an organization can be characterized like this.

If an executive assistant fails to consistently provide value to the executive staff, then he/she will not be successful as an executive assistant, and at some point the relationship will be terminated. If the widget manufacturer fails to consistently provide value to the widget consumer, they will not be successful as a widget manufacturer, and at some point the vendor-client relationship will be terminated. Both situations illustrate the reality that you must satisfy your customer to be successful. Both situations also illustrate that the customer is the one who terminates the relationship. They are the ones who ultimately decide what is needed, albeit often in consultation with the vendor.

In a strong organization everything can be tied back to the end, external customer (If you get enough customers together we call it the market). The trick is to understand what the leader wants, and influence the leader whenever it is beneficial to you both. You must always recognize who the real leader is, and the ultimate leader is the customer.