By now we know that focusing on the customer can help you grow sales, build loyalty and even get customers to recommend you to others. There are even a growing number of people that deploy the Net Promoter Score or similar metrics as a tool to achieve just that.

But while the ultimate number can point you in the right direction, it cannot change the way your business operates. That needs to be done by your people. They need to understand why customer focus is important. Be prepared to walk the customer talk. Truly listen to the customer. Change their habits and behaviours. Even re-organise the business.

We've learned at Management Centre Europe that this is a totally different ball game. Over the past 3 years we've been involved in a variety of companies wanting to focus on the customer. We've even done it to ourselves. And while metrics are important, we found that only companies that place equal value on the mindset of their people, stand a fighting chance.

On this note, I’d like to share five success factors we've picked up along the way. The list is far from exhaustive, yet it’s definitely a place to start.

Success Factor 1: Show them the money

No matter which way you look at it, businesses are about money. Shareholders want returns. Staff wants to be paid. So any conversation about customer focus should start with the money, and the measurable profits the business can make by making customers “happy,”  plus the bonuses that can be earned by growing customer delight. Only if both the leaders and the staff of the business clearly see what’s in it for them and for the business, will they consider changing their behaviour.

Success Factor 2: Involve everyone

Customer focus is not about graphs and PowerPoint presentations. It is about having your people experience what customers are looking for. Showing them why customer focus matters. How their job, no matter how customer-remote, can have an impact. That is why it’s important to involve everyone in the business in the customer research conversations taking place. And rather than prescribe the right behaviour, encourage them to formulate for themselves what customer focus means in their job.

Success Factor 3: Adapt the KPI’s

Getting your people to understand the importance of customer focus and what it means to their job is a start. But if the KPI’s they face tell a different story, the initial enthusiasm will quickly disappear. Efficiency measures can eliminate staff time to deal with the customer. Cost controls can create bad profits. Project priority sheets can lead people astray. As a third – crucial - step businesses need to review every KPI they use. Does it encourage people to do what is right? Or does it get in the way? Is it customer-focused, or is it customer-toxic? After all, only when every KPI is aligned, will the people be able to put their intentions into practice.

Success Factor 4: Back it with leadership support

Once people are willing to do what is right for the customer and have formulated a vision of how this applies to them, they need to be empowered to act. This is where the leadership of the business comes into play. They need to allocate resources to the right places, encourage the right behaviours and forgive well-intended mistakes. They need to set the example by actively talking to customers, and doing what is right. And when processes, habits or politics get in the way, they need to be decisive and clear that the customer focus drive is not up for debate.

Success Factor 5: Break the silos

But even empowered employees can only achieve so much. After all, customer feedback typically doesn’t fit the processes and silos you have devised for your business. That is why customer focus should not become the responsibility of any given department (marketing, sales, or service). Instead, cross-functional teams should be created and resourced to understand what customer focus means across departments. And subsequently align individual parts of the organisation so they "deliver what is right for the customer and for the business."

Success Factor 6: Focus on mindset and completion

Any customer feedback system is a rear view mirror for your business. It can tell you how well your business has done and trigger improvement projects, but it cannot predict the future. Every new situation will be different and your people need to instinctively select the right actions. For this they should rely on the customer facts, but above all on a mindset in which they know what matters most, and are free to do this.

I’ll be writing more on this topic in the coming weeks, but would welcome your views either by commenting below or by getting in touch at alain.thys@services.mce-ama.com. Alternatively, I look forward to seeing you at the Net Promoter Conference.

Welcome to the 2009 European Conference blog. This year's event comes in the midst of great change and volatility in almost all businesses. In this unstable environment, one thing that all companies have in common is a need to focus on business fundamentals. And this year's conference agenda is aimed directly at that target.

We have brought together over 25 guest speakers, representing leading companies and industry experts, to share specific ideas that will help you improve customer experience in the current environment. Whether your primary focus is in marketing, customer service, product development, or corporate change, you will find case studies to spur your creativity and help you "think differently" about the experiences you provide to your customers.

The conference theme, "embracing customers in a challenging market" is all about re-focusing the enterprise on those priorities that matter most for your most strategic customers. With budgets under pressure, companies can not afford to take the eye off the ball when it comes to current customers. Those relationships must remain rock-solid, to provide a platform of stability to weather change and position your company for growth.

Companies understand this, and are continuing to engage with us on how to use Net Promoter as a transformational tool to support customer experience strategies. Our January US conference, which took place in the midst of the worst crisis in decades, still drew hundreds of professionals, committed to ensuring their company's continued success. And as I write, I am about to fly to Chicago for another sold-out certification course, with over 45 professionals digging into the strategies and tactics that help to make NPS impactful in corporate change programmes.

Recent research confirms this too. According to a Forrester report issued in April, customer experience has resilience in the downturn. "Only 12% of respondents think spending on customer experience will be cut at a higher rate that it will in other parts of the business."

But the question is, how will you deploy your resources and energies on this critical subject? Join us in London as we explore this question with other like-minded customer centricity professionals. I look forward to seeing you there.