Training Outline - Customer Centricity
Objectives
1. Develop empathy by helping employees understand their role in the customer’s experience.
2. Identify inter-departmental dependencies and their collective impact on customers.
3. Shift mindsets from function-focused to customer-focused, even for non-customer-facing roles.
4. Provide tools to map processes, identify customer touchpoints, and evaluate impact.
Module 1: Understanding Customer Impact (60 minutes)
Activity: Process Mapping Exercise
1. Divide participants into cross-functional groups.
2. Each group selects a key business process (e.g., order processing, product delivery, or
issue resolution).
3. Step 1: Map the process step-by-step, identifying each function's contribution.
4. Step 2: Highlight customer touchpoints or points of potential impact (e.g., delays in
approvals or data inaccuracies).
5. Step 3: Discuss how their role indirectly impacts the customer’s perception of the
company.
Outcome: Visual representation of interdependencies and impact areas, fostering understanding
and accountability.
Module 2: Building Empathy
Activity: Walk in Their Shoes
Groups are given fictional customer personas (e.g., an impatient retail buyer, a first-time user of
the product).
Non-customer-facing employees take on customer-facing roles, role-playing scenarios like
complaint resolution or product inquiries.
Participants reflect on challenges faced during the interaction and how their internal function
could ease these challenges.
Outcome: Increased empathy for customer-facing roles and an understanding of how internal
functions impact customer satisfaction.
Module 3: Fostering a Customer-Centric Mindset
Objective: To solidify the mindset that customer-centricity is everyone’s responsibility by focusing on key
pillars: Responsiveness, Collaboration, and Quality. This module will bridge the gap between mindset and
actionable behaviors.
Introduction: Why Mindset Matters
The Three Pillars of Customer-Centricity
1. Pillar 1: Responsiveness (10 minutes)
Definition:
Acting promptly to meet customer needs, whether direct or indirect.
Example:
A finance team ensuring on-time invoicing helps maintain trust and avoid
disruptions in client relationships.
Activity: The Response Chain
Create a hypothetical scenario: A customer has an urgent product issue.
Participants identify how their function can ensure the issue is resolved quickly.
Discuss how delays in one step (e.g., approvals, logistics) can escalate customer
dissatisfaction
Outcome:
Emphasizes the importance of speed and reliability in creating a positive
customer experience.
2. Pillar 2: Collaboration (10 minutes)
Definition:
Breaking silos to ensure departments work seamlessly to serve the customer.
Example:
A product development team collaborating with sales to tailor solutions that
meet customer needs.
Activity: Inter-Department Collaboration Game
Form cross-functional groups.
Assign a problem: A delayed product shipment due to a breakdown in
communication between logistics and procurement.
Teams map out how collaboration between departments could prevent or
resolve the issue.
Each group presents their solution to foster discussion.
Outcome:
Highlights how cohesive teamwork can enhance customer satisfaction and
resolve internal inefficiencies.
3. Pillar 3: Quality (10 minutes)
Definition:
Delivering excellence at every touchpoint, ensuring the end product or service
meets customer expectations.
Example:
The IT team maintaining seamless software performance impacts how quickly
sales can process customer orders.
Activity: What Does Quality Look Like?
Participants identify one task they perform regularly.
Discuss how improving the quality of that task (e.g., accuracy, efficiency) affects
the customer experience.
Group shares insights, connecting internal quality to external perception.
Outcome:
Reinforces the value of precision and excellence in ensuring customer trust and
loyalty.
Commitment Activity: The Action Map (10 minutes)
1. Instructions:
Distribute a worksheet with a visual "Action Map" split into the three pillars.
Participants write one action they will take under each pillar to improve
customer impact.
Example for Responsiveness: "Reply to internal queries within 24 hours."
Example for Collaboration: "Proactively share updates with the sales team."
Example for Quality: "Double-check data before submission."
Group discussion on how these small actions collectively improve customer
outcomes.
Wrap-Up: Call to Action (15 minutes)
Reinforce the idea that every role, directly or indirectly, serves the customer.
Distribute "Customer-Centric Action Cards" with personalized tips and team reminders.
