The importance of explicit customer values

For the purpose of researching for my book (Make Service Excellence Your Company Culture) I researched top companies in the world and looked at how explicitly they mention the customer, in any shape or form, in the core values of the company.

The values of any company are a statement, a brand promise of how this particular company will deal with the main stakeholders it has identified.

Determining the exact number of the world's largest companies that explicitly mention "customer" in their core values is challenging due to variations in how companies articulate their principles or the wording they use. However, several prominent companies do emphasize customer-centric values:

• Amazon: "Customer Obsession" is a foundational principle.

• Alibaba: "Customer First" is listed among its core values.

• Intel: Highlights "Customer orientation" as a key value.

• McKesson: Emphasizes "Customer-First" in its values.

• American Express: Includes "Customer Commitment" among its core values.

• Google: States "Focus on the user and all else will follow."

• Salesforce: Asserts "When our customers succeed, we succeed."

• Uber: Mentions being "Customer obsessed" in its cultural norms.

• Ford: Notes "Customers are the focus" in its values.

• AT&T: Aims to "Build strong customer relationships."

While this list includes major companies, it's important to note that other top companies may prioritize customer satisfaction in practice, even if not explicitly stated in their core values. For instance, companies like Apple and Microsoft focus on innovation and user experience, which inherently involve customer considerations, though they may not directly mention "customer" in their value statements. Additionally, companies such as Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson have missions centered around improving lives, which can be interpreted as customer-focused, albeit not explicitly.

However, this oblique mention of the customer is not enough.

Companies that are not targeted at their customer (internal, external) are very inward looking, very inside-out as opposed to outside-in. These company think first about themselves, the superiority of their products and services and how the customer experience is a consequence of that. The customer experience should be the purpose of the company, not a consequence of the company's ability to create better products or services.

As an example, I would like to take Boeing and Airbus and look closer at their core values as in the public domain :

I cannot fail to ask myself if, in light of the above, the issues that Boeing was facing, and still is, are linked to the lack of focus on the customer and the customer needs.

How can you otherwise understand that Boeing installed a system, overriding the pilot, without telling their customers? Was it hubris? Or did they simply not care enough about the customer?

In any case, the dramatic consequences of this decision are history today. For the vast majority of companies, the consequences need not be as dramatic, but at Orizon Advise we strongly believe that dedication and commitment to the customers experience are very much worth it and will make a difference in the competitive corporate environment.

Customer focus, the customer experience should be embedded in the company's DNA, be explicitly mentioned and given due attention.