I’m just back from a week in New York where I followed a workshop on the management of Customer Experience at the Columbia Business School. From the work sessions with my colleagues we found out that the CEO plays an essential role in setting up an environment which is likely to create a positive customer experience. Think about Steve Jobs for instance, but not only.
Livia Marotta of Swarovski mentioned a less know example of a deeply-involved CEO : Mickey Drexler of J. Crew. Stores are equipped with a speaker which Drexler uses to speak to his employees. In his speeches Drexler is passionate about product- and service-related tiny details and imperfections that he wants employees to correct and to report. I went to a J. Crew store on Columbus Circle to check this out and guess, what … it’s true. Here’s a picture of the speaker.
My take:
Beyind the anecdot which some of you may think of as micro-management, the CEO’s involvement in the smallest details of his company allows him to make his / her presence very vivid to all employees. Can you think of something less motivating that not knowing who and what you are working for?
Employees motivation and employees experience are critical to build a lasting customer experience. Many European brands should learn the lessons out of it.
Posted in Marketing, Strategy.
