{"id":14372,"date":"2015-04-14T06:02:48","date_gmt":"2015-04-14T10:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/?p=14372"},"modified":"2019-09-28T23:29:43","modified_gmt":"2019-09-29T03:29:43","slug":"8-ways-to-tell-whether-your-ceo-supports-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/8-ways-to-tell-whether-your-ceo-supports-you\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Ways to Tell Whether Your CEO Supports You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting the CEO\u2019s support for any initiative is vital, but how do you tell whether his or her commitment is genuine? Over the 13 years I worked on Customer Experience<\/a>, I learned the tell-tale signs of authentic commitment. Here is my check list of ways to see if your CEO is committed to your initiative.
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How to Check the Commitment of Your CEO:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Count the number of times the CEO mentions Customers in any communication.<\/strong> If you don\u2019t hear your CEO talking, emailing, or meeting about Customers, he or she isn\u2019t focused on them. In all fairness, there are only so many hours in a day and the CEO does have responsibilities. However, if you can convince the CEO his or her responsibilities are part of what affects the Customer\u2019s Experience, it will weave into the culture of the organization and the decisions the CEO makes for it.<\/li>\n
  2. Keep track of how much time is devoted to Customer issues in meetings.<\/strong>When a one-hour meeting spends five minutes or less on Customer issues and the other 55 minutes on sales, marketing, product development, and operations (with no mention of Customers at all), then it\u2019s not a priority.<\/li>\n
  3. Compare the amount of time your CEO reviews Customer feedback to the time he or she reviews spreadsheets. <\/strong>Most organizations have some channel that feeds Customer comments back to their organization. If these comments are never viewed or shared with the C-suite, it\u2019s because they don\u2019t want to hear about it.<\/li>\n
  4. Examine the CEO\u2019s schedule to see what he or she values. <\/strong>I like the phrase, \u201cYou are your schedule.\u201d What you have on your schedule reveals what you think you need to devote your time to. If you don\u2019t see Customers there, they didn\u2019t make the cut.<\/li>\n
  5. Ask yourself, does the Customer Care Center receive accolades publically? <\/strong>Many times Customer service employees are treated like second-class citizens. Sales get all the accolades or even marketing for the latest campaign. Consider the past few Atta-boy (or Atta-girl) messages you heard at your organization. When was the last time it highlighted the work of the call center or Customer care reps? If you can\u2019t recall, it\u2019s because they aren\u2019t considered drivers of the company\u2019s success.<\/li>\n
  6. Notice whether he or she only talks to you about processes. <\/strong>Is your CEO process-obsessed, which is about efficiency, or does he or she talk about the Customer experience? There is a big difference between the two<\/a>. Many think your job is to fix the process so Customers are happier, but the process is only a part of their experience. If they don\u2019t recognize that, you must have to educate them on what the Customer Experience entails.<\/li>\n
  7. Note which type of KPIs are tied to Incentives. <\/strong>What gets incented gets done<\/a>. Many times Customer Experience is a goal, but it isn\u2019t tied into incentives for performance. Until it is, it\u2019s a nice-to-have, not a got-to-have concept.<\/li>\n
  8. Examine whether you have any authority to go along with your responsibility. <\/strong>If you don\u2019t have authority, this is a halfway house that shows the lack of commitment by the CEO. He or she wants change and you are responsible, but you have no authority to make change happen. My advice? Look around for another job. In my experience you will spend your time hitting your head against a brick wall. Everyone is happy doing strategy work and talking about concepts, but when it comes to actions they run a mile. I have found everyone is happy until you ask them to do something.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Not everyone understands what Customer Experience<\/a> is, how deep it goes, and what affects it. They might think it means the Customer has a great experience with the organization, but often that\u2019s where their understanding stops. They aren\u2019t aware of how the Customers feel both consciously and subconsciously about the experience is a huge influence on whether they think it\u2019s \u201cgreat,\u201d nor do they realize how company-centered, operational processes can create negative feelings. This lack of understanding can create a situation where words say one thing, and actions say something else.<\/a><\/p>\n

    The Chief Customer Officer has a unique position, often battling across silos. They are a C-level executive with all the prestige that letter provides. However, they are also the champions of Customer Experience, which is a concept of which CEOs are not always in support, even if they think they are.<\/p>\n

    What are some other ways to tell if the CEO is on board with your agenda? I\u2019d love to hear your signs in the comments below.<\/strong>
    \nTo learn more ways you can detect buy in on your Customer Experience Agenda, register for our\u00a0Advanced Customer Experience Management (CEM) Certification<\/em><\/strong>Course beginning on <\/em>April 20th<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Please<\/em> click here<\/em><\/a> to learn more.<\/em><\/p>\n

    If you enjoyed this post, you might be interested in the following blogs:<\/em><\/p>\n