Lewis, your post is very short and it is difficult not to agree. I would love to see you elaborate on it. You may want to take a look at the "Putting People First" blog
(www.experientia.com/blog) that I maintain.

Seems so simple doesn't it? As a former corporate marketer - I couldn't agree more and this was one of the most frustrating things to me in my last job that marketing decisions were driven solely by parent company shareholder goals, and squeezing customers for every bit of margin we could. Instead of letting the success come from delivering what the customer wanted and needed!

You are so right, Lewis. And as you point out, it all starts with the basic core values and vision of the business owner. When people matter they are valued and listened to, starting with employees and the customer, good things happen. Through hard work and a commitment to this, businesses become successful. It's a matter of prioritizing, isn't it? Make people happy first and the rest will fall into place. . .thanks for refocusing all of us on this, Lewis.

Reading this, I thought immediately of Toyota and the "Toyota Way". They are a great case study of a system that incorporates the best of people, process and technology.

Great points, as usual Lewis. But I must playfully add: "Put your Business Case & Plan First".

Just a little philosophical twist as both "What is our case & plan?" & "How do we place people first?" involve an initial establishment, measurement, periodic reviews, and actions/refinements.

Which one really comes first? I guess every entrepreneur and founding party will have their own answer - but they definitely play off each other.

Lewis, maybe companies putting people first as customers could begin to think to put people first as resources, too. I'm not so confident, right now, nor on a short term.

Lewis, I wish we could get more companies to think this way. You are dead on. I do agree with Mario regarding business case and plan. But even in thinking in that arena, we must put people first. We must ask, How do we provide value in their lives with our product or service? How do we provide positive value and experience in our human interactions with our customers? How do we make sure every touch point provides a positive experience for our customers? How do we make sure our marketing interactions provide value to our customers? Yes, it's important to think about a companies shareholders. But without putting focus on people, on customers, there may well be no revenue for the shareholders to share. I guess the reason this simple idea becomes so difficult to implement is the natural human greed factor. When we are less concerned with ourselves and more concerned with the quality of life for those around us, we all win in the end. I guess it is the fact that this type of thinking requires time to see the fruits of labor (and we all want it now) that makes thinking about others so difficult to take from theory to action.

Mark,

Thanks for your comment. I wrote an entire book on the subject called "Lead With Your Heart."

Annie,

You get it. And so do a few companies. But most measure everything through profits and revenues. I agree you must measure those numbers but include a measure of consumer happiness through great experiences and both profits and revenues will increase.

Ted,

"Make people happy first and the rest will fall into place." That's it but doing so takes strategic and tactic knowhow and great execution. Thanks Ted.

Paul,

Great case study. Thanks!

Mario,

You are right on target. The Business Plan, the Core Values and Mission Statement and the annual strategic plan must focus on creating great customer experiences. To be successful, the internal culture must be built for this kind of success, which means we must hire (and fire) those who passionately believe in both our business and our customers.

Mario,

The parenthetical statement above should say "and fire those who don't fit." Sorry.

G,

There are companies that do both, but way too many companies think the old way: They put Wall Street ahead of Main Street, so they focus more on valuation (revenues) then on people, value, values and margins.

Troy,

Fabulous comment: "When we are less concerned with ourselves and more concerned with the quality of life for those around us, we all win in the end." Correct! When we serve customers, our communities and all people, we create wealth for our business and we invest in raising everyone's quality of life. Bravo Troy!

I'm gonna come across as a hater, but here goes.

This is lovely sentiment and admirable business goal. It's also totally idealistic, which could be said of most of your postings here. Like I said, it's not that I disagree with you, Lewis. It's just that you rarely put any substance behind these pie-in-the-sky "let's all just get along" pronouncements. It's all too vague.

You never get to the HOW of these ideas. HOW do you get organizations of 100s, if not 1000s, of people to abide by these tenets each and every day? HOW do you ensure (enforce?) that everyone is working ethically and in harmony with the company's stated values? How do you determine what is enough when it comes to "putting the customer first"? What does "happy" mean in this context?

I'm not just picking on you, Lewis. We're in the midst of a presidential race where the candidates are all throwing out grand declarations about "change" and "hope" and helping the little guy and all that stuff that sounds so good to our bruised ears. But we're frustrated when there's no HOW to back it up.

Patricia,

Blog posts are meant to create conversations. I wrote an entire book on the "how" that includes case studies of the companies that do. If you want details on a business model, which is what this principle is about, a post is not the place to go. If you are interested in getting the "how to", the book is called "Lead With Your Heart."

However, it is not my intent to sell books here, that is why it isn't mentioned in the post. The purpose of social medina, including blogging, is to share big or little ideas to encourage commentors to share in the conversation.

Often those who contribute here offer the how to, but that is never my intent when I contribute a post. Unlike candidates for office, I'm not running for anything. My purpose is to offer ideas to get people to think and to discuss what they think.

The subject of this post is hardly new in the business world and it definitely isn't about idealism.

I accept that response & respect your right to blog about whatever you want, however you want. But I do think that's a cop-out answer. The subject is "hardly new," after all. Maybe if you took a fresh crack at it and put more meat in the original post, the resulting comments would, indeed, yield true conversation, rather than agreement without any new insights. I suspect the first commenter and I are thinking along the same lines.

Thanks.

I had to come back to this as this topic really interests me, and professionals in the business approaching it interests me just as much.

I have been out of the corporate loop for a while since deciding to stay home with my kids - but my brain still works and I still like to engage in some thought about my former profession - breaks up the day lol!

To me this blog post is as in depth as it needs to be - the 'how' that several of you think is missing, in my opinion, doesn't need to be any more complicated than asking customers and employees what it is that makes them happy and loyal, and finding a way to make that happen. That 'way' is going to vary from company to company, industry to industry. But the concept of communicating effectively with your workforce and your customer base is universal. It's as basic as understanding human psychology, and focusing on the principles of the service profit chain.

Patricia's right! Having run an Agency and led integrated marketing departments for companies, both large and small, I don't know any B2B or B2C company that doesn't "believe" their customer comes first. It's just most of them focus their campaigns on their Company or product as if it were the most important component of the relationship or buying decision. Apparently, few are able to articulate it clearly, or convey it authentically through their marketing campaigns or sales materials -- or we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Come on, Lewis, "where's the beef" in you commentary?

My thinking on customer relations has gradually changed. Originally, I thought that a company needed to provide a way for customers and staff members to provide feedback and that would be enough.

My example was Land's End. If I had questions or problems, such as a desire for a different color in a style I liked, I could tell the staff through a phone or IM conversation. Evidently my wishes were similar to those of other customers many times, because products I wanted became available. I thought the company was exemplary.

Then Land's End was purchased and its culture changed. They still accept feedback, but they don't fix problems with quality reliably. Their cotton tops don't come out of the dryer smooth -- they're wrinkled. The staff always apologizes, but the company can't match L.L. Bean's quality any more, and apparently they don't try.

It's too bad Sears' failed business practices are creeping into a successful business like Land's End. In part, I blame unrealistic expectations by institutional investors for increased pressure to focus on margin over customer satisfaction. However, I've begun to wonder if there's a direct relationship between corporate debt and declining customer service.

Working for a small business (less than 10 employees in our case) really allows for focusing on the customer. We list, manage, and handle bookings for vacation rentals and we do our best to keep these VIPs happy! I think it gets much harder to accomplish in a corporate environment. Great blog, glad I found it!

Bruce,

I just have to respond to this: "I don't know any B2B or B2C company that doesn't "believe" their customer comes first."

Come on. I know no one in the business world who can say that. Also, you miss my point: Note that I don't argue that customers come first; I argue that people come first. Great companies, and I've been fortunate to work with one (out of five large companies that I worked for), know that putting employees first by building a great culture is the only way customers will ever come first.

But even great companies usually put profits ahead of people, and that comes from my experiences serving in marketing and communications for 35 years both within the corporate environment and from running two firms. It is the rare business indeed that places people ahead of profits and revenues.