Putting customers first – would you do the same?

Companies that are truly customer focused, think of their customers first, even when it’s not in their own best interests.

I know of one CEO of a consultancy firm, let’s call her Alison.  Alison met with the CEO of a very large and successful business, let’s call him Darren, who was considering changing advisors.  Darren’s company was also planning to complete a major international acquisition and an IPO in the following few months.

Alison thanked Darren for considering her organisation but then went on to say to him: “Darren, I’m genuinely flattered that you see our firm as being serious contenders for this work, but I’d strongly advise you to hold off on changing advisors now with everything else you’ve got going on in your business. Why not complete your acquisition and your IPO with your current advisors. They know you, they know your team, they understand the culture, your systems and how you like to work. Once you get through all that, then once things settle down, that would be a much better time for and your team to consider changing advisors”.

“Now that’s why I want to work with your firm” responded Darren. “Here I am offering you a huge business opportunity that I know your firm would really value, and you are effectively turning it down because you’re putting our wellbeing ahead of your own!”

It’s almost academic to say that Darren went ahead with the change of advisors and that Alison’s firm were successful.  The lesson for us all in this is to truly put our customers or clients first at all times, even when it’s not in our own best interests. Only when our intentions are truly in the best interests of our customers and clients can we really be seen as trusted advisors and genuinely customer focused.

If you’d like to explore how your business can do more to deliver ‘customer-first’ behaviours and practices, we’d love to hear from you!