212° Focus
In 1981 Jan Carlzon had just been named the CEO of Scandinavian Airlines. His company was in trouble. They had just been ranked by a consumer poll as the worst airline in the world. Last in service, last in dependability, and last in profits as a percentage of sales. Yet one year later, in the same poll, they were ranked number one in all three categories. What happened?
Carlzon had decided to focus on what he thought was the most critical issue…serving the customer. He wanted to keep it simple: identify every contact between the customer and the employee and treat that contact as “a moment of truth.” He set out to let his people know the importance of that moment…the captain, the ticket agent, the baggage handler, the flight attendant. “Every moment, every contact,” he said, “must be as pleasant and as memorable as possible.” He determined that he had approximately ten million customers each year, and on average each customer made contact with five of his people for approximately 15 seconds at a time. Carlzon felt that what happened in these 50 million contacts would determine the fate of his company.
He set out to share his vision with his 20 thousand employees. He knew the key was to empower the front line. Let them make the decisions and take action, because they were Scandinavian Airlines during those 15 seconds. He now had 20 thousand people who were energized and ready to go because they focused on one very important thing…making every moment count. Carlzon made it happen with 212° focus; and you can too.
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