culture

Today’s post includes an excerpt of a guide I wrote for GetFeedback in November 2020. The original guide can be found here, and a video excerpt can be found here.

I recently read an article on Bloomberg Businessweek (about culture and how to sustain it – or whether it’s sustainable – in the wake of so many employees working from home) in which a Stanford researcher interviewed for the article stated: Culture is a way for organizations to control their members, police their behavior.

I originally wrote today’s post for WixAnswers. It appeared on their blog on June 7, 2021.

Culture is so important to your business. The right culture is even more important. If you ask me, the right culture is always one that is customer-centric. Putting the customer at the heart of the business is what makes the world, er, the business, go round.

A couple months ago, I wrote about the difference between consensus and alignment and why that’s important to know.

Back then I wrote:

“How do you keep the customer top of mind when everybody is working remotely right now?” This was the question that Ben Motteram and I tackled on one of our recent calls. The following is a transcript of the call.

The topics of customer trust and customer confidence have come up in conversations a few times recently, especially as it relates to pandemic and post-pandemic actions by several companies. More on that in a moment. To start with, I thought I’d take a closer look.

“Hiring for culture fit” is always a hot topic. I love it. I think it’s so important that you get the right people on the bus to ensure you (a) have the culture you desire, (b) deliver the experience customers desire, and (c) see the business results you desire.

I recently got my hands on a copy of Salesforce’s latest State of the Connected Customer report, which captures customers’ thoughts from midway through 2020 and, ultimately, the pandemic and other societal crises during the year. At this point, the key findings are probably not a surprise to read, but the details and stats behind them are interesting, nonetheless.

Key findings include:

The terms “customer-centric” and “customer-centricity” get thrown around a lot; oftentimes, it’s quite clear that they’re being used out of turn. I believe “customer-centric” is often confused with “customer focus,” and the two are very different.

Let’s look at some definitions.