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customers and potential customers once every 6 to 12 months when people where in the market for running shoes or athletic gear.Nike wanted a way to maintain
a consistent relationship with its customers over time. After collaboration and experimentation in a partnership between Apple and Nike, Nike+ was born. Originally
it was a device that was inserted into speci c models of Nike running shoes and would sync with the Apple iPod to provide speed and distance measurements.
As technology has changed it has developed into an iPhone app and various other wrist-based devices made by Nike. The idea was that runners would like to track their workouts and listen to music while they run. This has since developed into sharing workouts online, and Nike even runs global running challenges to get customers motivated.
These ve externally oriented disciplines—customer insight and foresight, competitor insight and foresight, and peripheral vision—are focused into action for the entire company, business units, and teams through two enabling disciplines:collaborationandalignment.
6. The Collaboration Discipline
Collaboration is another trait of workforce behavior that enables a strong customer culture and makes it possible for the company to transform the information generated by the externally oriented disciplines into value for customers and shareholders. Without strong collaboration within a business, valuable information is squandered and business opportunities are lost. Also, the impact of value delivered to customers is weakened. Key questions you can ask include:
Do colleagues from different work groups share information and work together? Are your people working cross-functionally to solve customer problems and deliver better service to customers? Are mechanisms in place to encourage cross- fertilization of ideas, practices, and value creation? Do staff members receive individual recognition for initiating end-to-end solutions for the customer?
Ikea, the global furniture producer and retailer, is one of the most successful businesses of its type in the world. Its culture of collaboration is so strong that they are prepared to re superstar mangers and sales people who are not collaborative. Ikea actively encourages cross-fertilization of ideas, practices, and value creation within and between stores and across countries. They recruit new staff who will t their culture and be a positive collaborative team member. Team members within shops receive individual recognition for initiating and delivering better solutions for the customer through
collaboration. This collaborative culture is translated by staff into their homes and communities as a way of improving the lives of those with whom they connect.
7. The Strategic Alignment Discipline
The nal discipline of workforce behavior that enables a strong customer culture and makes it possible for the company to create and deliver value for customers and shareholders is its level of internal alignment. Without strong alignment within a business, there
are inef ciencies that affect customers and lack of employee engagement that creates inconsistency and affects business performance and customer satisfaction. The questions you should ask include:
Is the rm’s strategic direction discussed regularly with all employees? How quickly are work group priorities changed when the rm’s strategic plans change? Do staff members fully understand and buy in to the company’s vision and values and see how it relates to them per- sonally and how they work? Can all people in the business tell you how they are working differently to implement a customer-focused strategy?
The New Zealand All Blacks rugby team was recently nominated the best team globally across all sports based on their consistently winning performance over many years. It starts with the fans. Almost every New Zealander plays, watches or talks about rugby from school age. They are fiercely loyal. The New Zealand rugby union system is integrated from top to bottom with coaches, players and administrators working collaboratively to achieve their vision of “rugby world domination” and to make the fans proud. Those of us who
have experienced an All Blacks match know of the powerful team culture, the preparation and practice that shows itself in the strategy and actions on
the field, and the unwavering sight of all team members on achievement of the goal.
These same principles apply to all organizations – alignment of all to a consistent vision, values, strategy and action behaviors that create superior value for our customers and communities.
These seven traits represent behavioral disciplines, thatat their best, enable organizations to become number 1 in their markets. They can place companies where Amazon and Google are now placed – in a class of their own representing the yardstick of the most customer-centric and admirable companies
in the world – as perceived by their customers and
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