Who do you think has more influence over customers and end users: the polished Harvard, Wharton or INSEAD educated CEO with rock-star charisma, or the university student (beer-chugging champion) working part time in a call center or retail location? I'll give you a clue — many customers never talk directly to the CEO, but customers talk with call-center agents and retail employees every day. You might have naturally assumed that the CEO has more influence over customers, but let's take a look at the responsibilities of a CEO. The CEO does a lot more than just sit around monitoring the company’s online stock price all day with his finger on the browser refresh button. Rather, the CEO is ultimately responsible for everything that happens at a company! However, in reality, CEOs delegate much of the day-to-day work to other employees. For example, CEOs of software companies don’t waste their time writing function modules or debugging source code, just as CEOs of Formula One race teams probably don’t even know how to release the parking brake, much less drive an F1 race car. (Note to Formula One CEOs, F1 cars don't actually have parking brakes — or turn signals for that matter.)
Let's assume that a customer is buying a product or service from a large, international business-to-consumer (B2C) company. Maybe the customer is buying a new digital camera, opening a bank account, or shopping for a new vehicle. Chances are that the employee helping the customer and taking the customer’s money is not the company's CEO. The CEO is probably stuck in traffic on the way to an airport (drafting up a business case to buy a helicopter in order to save money on limousine costs). The person answering end-user questions about the product and helping the customer with their purchase is likely one of the lowest members of the organization, or worse yet, maybe not even a member of the organization but — gasp — a channel partner. When customers form opinions about companies, it is based on interaction with these front-line employees, not the CEO. Customers don't usually meet with CEOs, and customers rarely read annual reports. Rather, customers judge companies by the quality of service provided by call center agents, retail workers, third-party contractors, and channel partners.
Time for a pop quiz: what's your company’s mission statement? Don't feel bad if you can't recite it by heart; in a very unscientific survey of three neighbors, one paperboy, and one overnight delivery driver (who ran back to his truck and drove away without even acknowledging me), 0% of respondents were able to successfully recall their company mission statement! In an ideal world, companies should ensure that its employees are aware of and can articulate the company’s mission, vision, and value statements. Each customer touch point in an organization should enforce the company's brand image and core messaging. Complicating this task, many companies today outsource at least portion of their value chain — whether it is by using third-party call center agents, selling through channel partners or value-added resellers, or using contracted service providers and technicians. These extended employees heavily affect customer’s perception of the company.
Let's take a theoretical example: assume I contact my local telephone company, let's call them UT&S, to order high-speed Internet access. I would probably expect a visit from an UT&S technician dressed in an official uniform driving a professional-looking work truck with the company logo painted on the side. What if instead my neighbor Paul from down the street shows up in jeans and food-stained shirt, driving his family's mini-van. Paul isn't an employee of UT&S, he's an outsourced contractor. When I quiz Paul about whether he even knows what UT&S stands for, he sets down his beer (just kidding, Paul wouldn't actually be drinking a beer; he's a whiskey guy) and gives me a puzzled look. After I explain to him that UT&S stands for "United Telegraph & Semaphore company” he gives me an even more puzzled look! "Why would you buy high-speed Internet from a company who specializes in telegraphs,” he asks? Good question. Maybe I’ll go ask the CEO. I hear he might be touring with the Rolling Stones this summer...
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this Blog post are the personal views of the author, John Burton, and do not necessarily reflect the views of his neighbors, friends, family members, elementary school teachers, church pastor, or employer. John has never worked as a CEO and has no banking relationship with any CEOs. Read this Blog entry at your own risk. Always consult a physician before reading any Blog. Ask your doctor if Blogs are right for you!
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