If you love the customer your organization will hate you

Focusing on the needs of customers is a thankless job in most organizations. In fact, the customer champion is seen as annoying, irritating and a trouble maker. It is a career-limiting role.

Most organizations that I have dealt with over the years spout nice platitudes about the customer (or employee) being important. But in reality, the potential customer is somebody to be sold to, and the current customer is pretty much ignored. If you want to progress in most organizations you focus on your boss, not on your customer.

I’ll never forget the afternoon I sat in an almost empty Starbucks café. At the next table, a Starbucks regional manager was doing reviews with staff.
“You’ve got a problem,” he said in a low voice to one of them. “I’m getting reports that you’re handing our lattes to customers that are not filled up to the top. Why is that? Did you not want to hand it back to your colleague? Did you think they wouldn’t be your friend anymore if you were seen to be annoying them?”

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