From dawn of publicly held corporations, CEOs and upper-management executives have been placed on a pedestal. Too high to touch, too strong to falter, too knowledgeable to need help. Unfortunately, this stereotype perpetuated for far too many years to count, leaving many CEOs and executives at a disadvantage. However, public recognition of executive coaching several years ago has taken a sledgehammer to base of that pedestal, and has broken ground on a new era of "CEO training." Kathi Graham-Leviss of XB Coaching, Inc. (www.xbcoaching.com) has seen how this stereotype has dealt an unfair blow to many a corporation. Through years of providing coaching to top corporate officers and executives across country, Leviss has found that holding fast to “untouchable” persona triggers a domino effect that faults corporation, executive, and those on their team. So why then, are so many organizations still cloaking their leaders in blanket of supposed omnipotence?

“The general consensus of past was that public opinion and corporate loyalty remained higher if there was a perception that all officers and executives could do no wrong,” states Leviss. “However, that consensus is extremely outdated. Today more trust, more loyalty, and stronger team values are exhibited when employees see their leaders and officers continually improving themselves. When upper-management portrays an image of teamwork by admitting fault, improving skill sets, and leading by example, everyone benefits.”

Especially after recent corporate improprieties, employees and stockholders alike have taken a strong stance that those in charge not only be more visible within corporation, but that they also be better trained in a plethora of areas.

“Many officers and executives struggle (unbeknown to others) with job requirements for which they simply never received formal training. Because many people exhibit sheer brilliance in area of their expertise, they are assumed to be qualified in all nuances of leadership,” Leviss says. This is a dangerous and unfounded assumption.

For example, following responses appeared repeatedly in results of an informal survey I conducted:

I found it interesting that none of responses resembled anything like: "My kid is failing out of school", or "My spouse works too much", or "I can't make mortgage payment". Oddly enough, all of responses were CRM related. Go figure.

Nonetheless, results were as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------- Creating and Maintaining Customer Satisfaction: 27% Providing a Return on Investment: 27% Maintaining User buy-in and enthusiasm 16% Cementing Customer Loyalty 15% Finding right CRM Tool 6% Keeping up with CRM Innovation 4% Respondants who sleep soundly 5% ------------------------------------------------------------------

Today, I'd like to focus on number one reason that people are not sleeping at night, "Creating and Maintaining Customer Satisfaction". We'll talk about other number one, ROI, in a few weeks. But, first, I'd like to take a step back and observe some findings from another study.

In a survey conducted by CRMGuru.com, it was discovered that having a Customer-Centric Strategy was most important driver of success of any CRM implementation. A few weeks ago, we illustrated that Customer Loyalty had significant impacts on both top and bottom lines.

So how do each of these pieces of puzzle fit together? What is relationship between Customer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty, and implementing a Customer Centric Strategy?

Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty are two golden keys to giving your company competitive advantage. Building and implementing a Customer-Centric Business Strategy is created with intention of increasing both your customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty.

**************************************************************************************************** If you aren't yet sold that Customer Loyalty is important to your business, please click below http://www.initiumtech.com/newsletter_120602.htm ****************************************************************************************************

The first step in implementing a customer centric business strategy, (or any other initiative) is to take a snapshot of where you currently are. This makes it possible to measure your progress along way. The two main benchmarks that can help measure success of your initiative are:

1. WHAT ARE YOUR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION LEVELS? How many of your customers are satisfied with products and services you are providing to them?

2. WHAT IS YOUR CUSTOMER ATTRITION RATE? In other words, how many of your customers are defecting and choosing your competitor's products and services.

The second step is looking at 5 key areas in developing your customer centric strategy. I have listed a few things to consider in each area:

1. Overall Business Strategy

- What are your customer's needs? Spend more time understanding this, as opposed to trying to get your customer to interact way you want them to - Focus new product development around customer feedback

2. Organizational Issues

- Senior management committed to leading company through organizational changes - Sales, Customer Service, and Technical Support given incentives to work together to provide outstanding customer service - Move majority of CRM technology selection authority from IT to "business" decision makers

3. Work Processes

- Build and modify work processes around servicing customer better - Work hard at increasing efficiencies, streamlining processes - Seek to be Low-Cost producer in your industry