Ask yourself, as leader, as a manager, a director or entrepreneur; next time you call yourself ‘world class’ – what’s so great about the cogs that turn in your business.

Places like call centres (or should that be the euphemism ‘Contact Centres’?), and big chain stores, employ their people with the intention of them being just another cog in the machine. Businesses want them cheap, easy to train, easy to maintain, easy to replicate and most of all – highly replaceable.

Customers have begun to expect the low service, low cost, low talent market place that has been created by casting out the talent and replacing them with automatons.

This is not just another rant about homo-robotics.

Just because your customers expect nothing more, it doesn’t mean that’s what they want.
Ask yourself, have you let your customers down, for so long, that they no longer care? Have your ignored your staff for so long that they no longer bother? Have you let yourself down for so long that you have given up trying?

More importantly, does your business culture clamp on to the delusion that you’re fantastic, amazing, ‘world class’, inspirational and innovative?

Can you ever be so good that you no longer need to try?

If your business model is such, that when a customer comes in store, or picks up the phone – they don’t care if your counter staff, your shelf stacker or your Telephone Technician is here today, gone tomorrow; it’s time to think.

How many customers do you have, that know the names of your staff?

How many customers do you have, that spare a moment for small talk about the weather?

Employing just another cog doesn’t fit the ‘fantastic’ label. To be an amazing business, you don’t just need an amazing product, and amazing brand and an amazing profit sheet.

Ask yourself, “Woud we miss you?”

Then, ask all the people who work for you.