CUSTOMER OBSESSION Definition and Indicators Customer Obsession: Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers. What this looks like in Practice As a people manager do you… As an individual contributor do you… · Know your customer’s needs and wants? · Anticipate your customer’s needs? · Honestly pursue customer feedback, not just solicit for compliments? · “WOW” your customers? · Know what would be better than what your customer is even imagining? · Ask, “Is what I’m working on helping my customer?” · Remove non-value steps? · Listen for what your customer wants, before/instead of telling them what they need? Give me an example of a time you used customer feedback to drive improvement or innovation. What was the situation and what action did you take? Give me an example of your most difficult customer interaction and how you worked through it. What was the outcome? Tell me about a time a customer wanted one thing, but you felt they needed something else. How did you approach the situation, what were your actions and what was the end result? Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty for a customer. Why did you take the action you did? What was the outcome? Most of us at one time or another have felt frustrated or impatient when dealing with customers. Can you tell us about a time when you felt this way and how you dealt with it? When do you think it’s appropriate to push back or say no to an unreasonable customer request? Can you give me an example of when you’ve been able to see around the corner to meet a customer need or delight a customer with a solution or product they didn’t yet know they needed/wanted? To try to meet the high expectations of our customers, we sometimes promise more than we can deliver. Tell me about a time when you overcommitted yourself or your company. How did you resolve the issue? Tell me about a time when you had to balance the needs of the customer vs. the needs of the business. How did you manage this situation? DELIVER RESULTS Definition and Indicators Deliver Results: Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle. What this looks like in Practice As a people manager do you… As an individual contributor do you… · Continually reinforce to yourself and the team who the customer is in order to execute and deliver the right results? · Set and communicate smart team goals, expectations and priorities; help employees stay focused, yet nimble and adaptable to moving targets or when projects aren’t progressing in order to get things done? · Help others remove barriers/roadblocks towards meeting team goals? · Recognize and celebrate successes, while keeping the team focused on delivering the right results? · Focus on the most important tasks, while adapting as needed to achieve results? · Persevere through setbacks and overcome obstacles to deliver outstanding results? Tell me about a time you (and your team if Manager) were driving toward a goal and were more than half way to the objective when you realized it may not be the best or right goal or may have unintended consequences. What was the situation and what did you do? [testing for achieving the right result versus driving goal for sake of goal achievement. May want follow up questions regarding to determine if the person was willing to take hit on goal attainment to achieve the right result and test long term versus short term thinking.] Tell me about a goal that you set that took a long time to achieve or that you are still working towards. How do you keep focused on the goal given the other priorities you have? Tell me about a time where you not only met a goal but considerably exceeded expectations. How were you able to do it? What challenges did you have to overcome? Give me an example of a time when you were able to deliver an important project under a tight deadline. What sacrifices did you have to make to meet the deadline? How did they impact the final deliverables? Tell me about a time you had significant, unanticipated obstacles to overcome in achieving a key goal. Were you eventually successful?
