In my years of working in customer experience, I’ve noticed three key questions arise when organisations compare their performance in a league table:

  • Who is at the top? 
  • Who is at the bottom?
  • What are the top performers doing differently? 

The first two stem from curiosity, but the third is where real learning happens. The best providers aren’t necessarily doing something radically different; they’re simply more consistent in delivering great service. That consistency is built on key cultural traits. Here are 10 of them: 

1. Senior management is committed – not just ‘bought in’

There’s a big difference between passive agreement and real commitment. The best leaders don’t just approve customer experience initiatives – they drive them and make them a strategic priority. 

The phrase nailing the colours to the mast comes from naval warfare, where lowering a flag signified surrender. When captains wanted to show unwavering commitment, they nailed their flag to the mast, making it impossible to lower. The best leaders in social housing do the same – they make customer experience a clear, immovable priority, embedding it into their organisation’s DNA. 

Without strong leadership commitment, customer experience initiatives risk being side projects rather than core business priorities. Truly committed leaders regularly communicate their vision, align teams and measure progress, ensuring that improving customer satisfaction is a continuous process, not a one-off initiative. 

2. They understand and prioritise customer needs

For this one, there is a clear nod in the direction of the people who taught me everything I know about customer experience and research, because this is now hard-wired into me.  How do we make a customer happy? On one hand, this is an easy answer, but it is quite difficult to do. We make customers happy by doing our best at the things that matter the most to them. Easy stuff, eh? It should be, but you’d be surprised how many organisations think they know what matters most to their customers, but then realise they have it wrong when customers actually tell them.  Move away from thinking you know what matters the most, to knowing what matters the most, and the only way you will be able to do this is by actually talking to your customers.  Don’t worry, they don’t bite (well, not all of them!).

3. A clear vision guides everything

I’m going to start with a quote from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’: 

Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” 

The Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” 

The exchange between Alice and the Cheshire Cat can be a powerful metaphor for the importance of having a clear business vision. In business, having a clear vision is crucial. It provides direction and purpose, guiding decisions and actions. Without a vision, a business might drift aimlessly, making it difficult to achieve meaningful progress or success. A well-defined vision helps align the team, focus efforts, and measure progress, ensuring that everyone is working towards the same goals. 

So, just as Alice needed to know where she wanted to go to find the right path, a business needs a clear vision to navigate the journey towards success. 

Do you have a specific vision for improving the customer experience that you’re working towards?

4. Employees are empowered

Empowerment is crucial, as it ensures that employees are well-equipped to meet and exceed customer expectations. Many of these traits are interdependent. For instance, providing the right tools and training is directly linked to understanding and prioritising customer needs. When employees have access to the necessary resources and knowledge in a supportive environment, they can better understand what matters most to customers and tailor their service accordingly. 

5. Departments work together seamlessly

Collaboration is essential for maintaining a unified approach to customer service. The best organisations break down silos, ensuring different teams collaborate to provide a joined-up service. 

Poor internal communication leads to inconsistencies, where customers receive different responses depending on who they speak to. By working together, departments can better understand and address customer needs, leading to a more satisfying and reliable customer experience. 

Technology plays a crucial role in improving collaboration, with integrated systems enabling teams to share information and provide seamless support. When departments operate in harmony, they can share insights, resources, and strategies that contribute to a cohesive customer journey.

6. They take action, not just gather insights

Collecting feedback is easy – acting on it is what matters. Leading organisations turn insights into real improvements, rather than letting data sit unused in reports. 

Great providers have a clear process for taking action. They don’t just look at customer satisfaction scores – they dig deeper into the data, identifying trends and recurring issues that need addressing. In other words, using your research outputs to identify what you need to do moving forward to improve your customers’ experiences.

7. They communicate changes effectively

Once action is taken, the best providers make it visible. They keep both customers and staff informed, reinforcing engagement and trust. 

The other thing about communicating and taking action comes from the reality that often the actions you are going to take don’t actually involve any investment in new processes or delivery.  A great many actions are reliant on changing just perceptions. 

 8. Targets and rewards are linked to customer experience

The saying ‘follow the money’ applies here – what gets measured and rewarded gets prioritised. This works well for sales teams. Why not use bonus criteria to deliver on other organisational priorities? In accepting that customer satisfaction and loyalty metrics impact positively on the bottom amongst other things, surely there is an argument that incentives for delivering against such metrics would be a powerful tool for maximising customer experience?

9. Suppliers are held accountable

Top providers make external suppliers responsible for delivering excellent customer experiences. This is a brave one, as it places significant trust in third-party contractors to uphold the company’s standards. Over the years, I’ve encountered numerous repair contractors who confidently claim they are performing exceptionally well. However, when you juxtapose third-party performance data with actual customer feedback, a stark contrast often emerges. This discrepancy highlights the importance of comparing reported performance with real customer feedback.

10. Complaints are seen as opportunities

Great providers don’t fear complaints – they embrace them. The wonderful book ‘Moments of Truth’ by Jan Carlzon, former CEO of SAS Airlines, sets out how viewing every customer complaint as a fantastic opportunity as opposed to a threat helped transform SAS into one of the best airlines in the world. 

Customers that make a complaint and are highly satisfied with the way the complaint has been handled (and the speed of resolution), will be highly satisfied at an overall level. But they will also be more satisfied than customers that have not even made a complaint! 

Take action today – how does your organisation measure up?  

Now is the time to: 

  • Evaluate your current approach. 
  • Engage with customers to understand their needs. 
  • Empower employees to take ownership of service quality. 
  • Break down silos for better collaboration. 
  • Take action and track progress. 

Customer experience isn’t about grand gestures – it’s about consistency, culture and commitment. The organisations that get this right don’t just improve service, they build lasting trust and loyalty. 

Don’t hang around hoping things will change—start making changes now to enhance your customer experience. Join the ranks of top-performing organisations by committing to a customer-centric approach. Not only will your business thrive but your customers will thank you for improving their lives!

Want to speak to me about TSM’s? Complete the form below.