Redoubled Customer Focus and Project Management

Over the past few weeks I’ve been wowed by business people who have really got customer focus right.  As
project managers, we can learn a lot from their example.  When was the last time you:

• Identified cost or time saving options for your customer?
• Anticipated your stakeholders‘ needs?
• Went out of the way to make all stages of their project easier for them?

Being a customer focused project manager means that you make a regular practice of putting yourself in your customer’s place.  You make it a point to determine what would make  them successful, happy or even less irritated.

It does not mean that you disregard project management basics such as delivering to agreed scope and requirements.  Adding extra functionality outside of some sort of process will very quickly MAKE EVERYONE UNHAPPY.

Toni Emory

Toni Emory is General Manager of the 415 Madison Avenue Regus Group office in Manhattan.  The Regus Group provides virtual office (hoteling) services.  I called Regus to see about using their business lounge near Grand Central to do some blog writing between clients.  When on the tour it became clear that the lounge wouldn’t suit this purpose (no real tables), Toni took extra time to (a) listen to what I was trying to accomplish and (b) explain how her company could meet the need.

You might say that this is nothing more than good sales or marketing.  Perhaps.  But then she went further and provided me the use of one of the best offices for the day at no charge.  She made sure that the chairs and lighting were comfortable.  She then sent in her technical support person Ornan Charles who stayed with me while my laptop booted until he was sure that I could use the phone and access the high speed internet.

It turned out to be wonderfully productive day.  So productive in fact that I worked through lunch, reaching into the in-office mini-bar for water and treats.  At the end of the day when I went to pay for the snacks, Charles insisted that they were on the house.

How did I feel after these interactions?  Like a million bucks.

Crystal Misner, Kerri Baird and John Henry

Crystal, Kerri and John make up the Printing for Less Mustang team.  I’ve been using Printing for Less for more than 5 years.  Even though they are an internet company, they are easily and quickly reachable by phone or email.  Their standard customer service is so far above what I’ve gotten used to from most other businesses that I’m sometimes almost embarrassed at how well they treat me.

Recent example:  I needed printing of a Microsoft Publisher 2003 file.  There was no easy way I could find to transfer this file to a more standard package without destroying the existing formatting.  I called for help, expecting a large cost and week turnaround.  A proof was ready to go that same day at no extra charge.

When it was time for shipping, they provided an unexpected free upgrade to overnight Saturday delivery.  The printing arrived two weeks before I needed it.  It was professionally done and without error.

How did I feel?  In the hands of competence.

Application to Project Management

When you think about these examples, think about your situation.  No matter what the structure, at some level your work comes because someone, somewhere believes that your organization can do the project work that they need done to meet a particular business need.

If in the end you can provide them with the type of feeling experience that Toni Emory, Crystal Misner, Kerry Baird and John Henry consistently do for their customers, you will provide a tremendous service.

Your customers are asking these questions regularly:

• Who will I go to?
• Who will I recommend?
• Who can I rely on?
• Who gladdens my heart to work with?

Make sure that when they do, you are the one that comes into their mind.

P.S. I’m writing about these companies not because they asked me to (which they didn’t), nor because I receive any money or other benefits from doing so (I don’t).
(Image by louisiana)

Tagged as: business lounge, customer focus, group office, madison avenue, manhattan, mini bar, office hoteling, project managers, Project-Management-Basics, regus group, snacks, technical support person, virtual office

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