Desperately seeking customer-centric managers

Don’t worry, nobody’s got lost nor is missing. What I’m addressing instead is a positive signal because a rising number of companies have realized that they need customer-centric managers to foster and spread Customer Culture. Therefore they are actively looking for them internally, within the organization, or externally. Let’s focus on the latter scenario to delve together into related implications and opportunities.

3 examples to think over

The following below are excerpt of job ads being published by companies (not hiring agencies) for positions being based in Italy, France and Spain. So have a look at them.

Note: In this first ad the company is looking for a professional with a ‘strong customer-centric approach’. Nevertheless, the use a recurrent wording and the ack of any other explanation make the requirement generic and subjective. Therefore the risk of misunderstanding between company’s and candidates interpretation is quite high.

Note: here instead the requirement is definitely more explicit because the terms ‘culture’ and client ‘focus’ have been declined with examples. Nevertheless, according to my experience when it comes to collaboration it’s better prevent the question I’m asking myself right know: ‘do they require a strong collaboration with the team, or especially cross-department?’

Note: in this last job ad example the requirement is more explicit since it shows what the company is looking for, where (aka in what areas the manager will cultivate the new mindset). Ultimately, the addition of further information provides a full, clear picture.

Over to you

Getting customer-centric managers within your organization is definitely a good move because they will act as enablers and facilitators. However if you want to spread Customer Culture across your organization consistently you can’t rely just on them, since they will be facing some internal resistance, explicit or silent. Therefore, make sure that top management is fully aligned with them, to gradually overcome reluctancy and move towards a consistent mindset evolution.