In his book, 'The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth', Fred Reichheld, a long time Bain & Company partner, says that ‘Senior managers are delusional’. He reports that 96% of senior managers said they were focused on the customer. 80% believed that they delivered a ‘superior experience’ to their customers. However, when their customers were surveyed, only 8% of their companies were given a superior rating.
In a follow-up blog, we find the following gem: “If the customer service revolution depended on our leaders, we'd all be in serious trouble. Most of them confuse customer service with lip service. They say the right things, but generally do not understand what they're saying. Outstanding customer service will not happen just because our leaders say they're customer-focused, or customer-centric, or whatever the current buzzword is. Almost as soon as top managers realize what it really takes, they lose interest. There's nothing sexy, or flashy, or fast about customer service. It's the tortoise, not the bunny”.
I was reminded of this today, when we were conducting a survey of 620 bank branch managers, 91% of whom reported that they believed that their customers would recommend their company to their friends and family. This is the ultimate question, but can we truly believe the response?
Perhaps, but not likely.
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