On Differentiation

A lot of people talk about the people they work with on a daily basis as being great. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard somebody say that they worked with the best bunch of people, ever, during going-aways and retirements.

What if it was true?

What if the people who make up a company were part of that company’s differentiation among it’s competitors. What if a company’s employees were as important as the price and quality of the company’s product or service, to the customer?

DIFFERENTIATION
– Price
– Quality
– Employees?

Not Just Customer Service

And I’m not asking these questions with a customer service lens on, either. Customer service is important, but I’m talking about every employee’s distinct personality, skills, and effectiveness providing differentiation from every one of the company’s competitors.

In essence, can every employee be customer facing, in some way? And if they are, what will it say about your company, product, or service?

In my mind, this only happens when companys’ hire the right employees and then those employees feel comfortable and are empowered to be themselves at work. To make names for themselves as individuals… However, therein lies the risk to the company, and possibly a large part of the conflict when it comes down to the need to control..

Still, I can’t shake the thought of the individual employee being more of an asset than we think of today… What else could your employees be doing for you if they were allowed to act like themselves in some sort of customer facing capacity?