You may remember that, in Alice in Wonderland, Humpty Dumpty, in a fit of pique, claims that when he uses a word it means "exactly and only what he wants it to mean - no more and no less". Psychologists tend, far too frequently in my opinion, to a similar attitude. They use "operational definitions" that they can, and often do, endow with an impoverished meaning.



Sadly what ought to be the most exciting management concept of today seems to be in danger of being treated in the same cavalier fashion. The trouble is that when words are used loosely, sloppy and incoherent thinking follows right behind.

The words that ought to be in the forefront of every business person's mind today are "Customer Engagement". Which should be followed, in close order, by "Employee Engagement". To round matters off neatly your Board and senior management should be thinking, talking and acting in terms of "Top Team Engagement". At the risk of appearing to be a somewhat skinny Humpty please allow me to introduce my terms. For they mean just what I say, no more - and certainly no less.

So let's look at each of these three 'constituencies' in turn.

Customer Engagement is when a substantial number of your delighted customers are proactive in promoting your company to others with similar needs and desires. It is not enough that they declare that they are willing to promote your business. Only when they go out to encourage others to beat a path to your door do they demonstrate that they have become engaged.

Employee Engagement happens only when your relationships with your customers are so superior that you attract and retain the very best and most talented employees. These employees commit themselves to delivering ever-better goods and services to your customers at ever decreasing cost so that your engaged customers are proud and confident to act as advocates for your business.

Top Team Engagement is your first priority. You will recognnise that it has happened when every member of your top team works daily to empower your superior employees to construct top quality relationships with worthwhile customers that will lead to growing customer engagement. Each of your Board members positively demonstrates being a role model in espousing the importance of your customers who, together with engaged employees, form the greatest sales team on the planet.

Why are these definitions important? Humpty reminds you that it has been shown in many studies that, for organisations that have a good proportion of "Engaged Customers" exactly as defined above, there is a proven correlation between that measurement and their ongoing long term success. Simply put, engaged customers help you build your business. However, if you are loose in your definition of "Customer Engagement" (as many of your competitors are) then you may think that good 'Customer Satisfaction Index' score will do. It won't. Evidence shows that customers who are only 'Satisfied' are fickle. They churn rapidly & expensively. You have a lot more to do.

So where are you on the trail to the Holy Grail of continuing sales success? How can you measure your customer relationship using the Customer Engagement Index and so see where you are? From that measurement how do you build a realistic improvement plan? What understanding do you need to build into every level of your organisation to implant a true Customer Engagement' culture?

Big questions that this single article cannot answer, but look out for future ones that will explore this area. Meanwhile here are a couple of pointers.

The measurement tool you seek must be a dynamic tool that first assesses and then helps you to build engagement in the key parts of your business. It should demonstrate integrity and independence. It should research-based, accurate, economical, valid and reliable. It should be easy to deploy, yield statistically significant results that are easily assimilated and lead directly to the development of a plan for Action This Day. You then implement that plan with your in house team, using external advisors you know and trust as needed.