Who's the Boss?

Your true boss is your customer. A customer-driven organization is constantly improving because owners and managers are trained to hear the customer’s voice and their answers to two key questions: “How are we doing?” and “How can we do better?”

This practice of continuous listening occurs with all managers and employees who have customer contact. Each person is trained to listen and really hear the voice of the customer.
We may think we hear the customers through their verbalization of complaints, but the fact is most customers just don’t complain when they have an issue. The reasons are simple: customers think complaining won’t do any good, complaining is difficult, they feel awkward or pushy, and/or it’s just easier for some to switch to a different supplier rather than voice their concerns.

Recognizing that customers may not complain and just disappear should lead laboratories to implement a formal and informal customer...