The Customer-Free Zone

There’s often a disconnect between organization leaders and customers. Leaders live in a customer-free zone where they don’t interact with customers on a daily basis and therefore don’t know what customers most desire. I had the great opportunity to interview John Brandt, the author of the new book, Nincompoopery: Why Your Customers Hate You—and How to Fix It. I love the title of that book and its content, including his concept of the customer-free zone.  Here’s my take on this interesting concept—or, should I say, problem.
The most important factor to customers is that they feel heard and cared about by the company and its representatives. Yet sometimes these representatives are prevented from doing the best they could do for a customer. That’s because the front line is constrained with policies, procedures, and rules created by people who don’t spend enough time interacting with customers. These “rule makers” are hanging out