I wrote the following over 10 years ago. Please ask yourselves to what extent is this current?
” What do your customers really want? More for less, of course! That can hardly come as a surprise to you. After all, whether you are a senior executive, a middle manager, or a front line worker, you’re a customer yourself.
As a customer, what “more” do you want? More value, more service, more consistent, flawless delivery performance, more accuracy, and even more responsiveness? You bet. Chances are that increasingly, you want to pay “less” for this “more,” don’t you?
Your customers are no different, and that’s a problem because unless you can provide your customers with “more for less,” you can be assured they will find someone else who can, and sooner rather than later.
Are you fully prepared to provide your customers with what they have come to expect and will increasingly demand? Do you understand that this requires a fundamental shift in conventional wisdom? Do your leaders appreciate that this involves working collaboratively in a new way? Do they understand that this must involve not only the improvement of individual business processes, but also the application of process concepts and principles across the entire enterprise value chain?
These are not theoretical questions. Customer expectations aren’t likely to cool down anytime soon. “