Last week I had the privilege of moderating a panel at a seminar by The Conference Board on the customer experience. It was a great conference with leaders from iconic service and experience organizations like Disney, Starbucks and the Girl Scouts.

Our session was about creating a culture for service, and our panelists provided some great insights into this critical subject matter.

Stan Hart of Ritter & Associates talked about the importance of measurement in order to translate the language of the importance of service into action at all levels of the organization.

Ed Reilly of the American Management Association provided some great context around the reason that service and customer service has been elevated to a C-level imperative, and provided great guidance on how to provide the leadership and training that “walks the talk.”

For me the proverbial “a-ha” moment came during a session led by Michael Chen, CEO of GE Commercial Finance. He talked about the 4 I’s of creating a culture for success, and reminded us of the window of Batman’s girlfriend who told us (in Batman Returns) that actions are more important than intentions. He also said “Customers don’t come first – your employees do. Treat your employees like customers, and they will treat your customers like royalty.”

It’s great to hear that coming from a CEO, because this simple truth is so often forgotten as companies become entangled in creating measurement protocols, rolling out CRM programs and otherwise focusing their customer service resources externally. Your employees are the single greatest asset you have in achieving customer satisfaction – they impact every step in the process. And the power of social media means that you are only as good as the worst decisions of a single employee. Just ask Domino’s – who found itself battling a massive reputational threat after a couple of part time employees posted some distasteful video on YouTube.

Carreen Winters can be reached at cwinters@mww.com

cwinters General Corporate Domino's, GE, reputation, The Conference Board

My favorite corporate message these days comes out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Domino’s Pizza calls home. Don’t get me wrong – I rarely eat the stuff, although back in the day I could go toe-to-toe with a large pie (Canadian bacon, green pepper, extra cheese) at the drop of a hat.

I’m intrigued by Domino’s determined attempt to re-establish its image as a quality quick-serve restaurant that lives up to its corporate promise – delivering a quality product in 30 minutes or less. They seem to be doing okay on the 30-minute promise, barring a couple of expensive lawsuits back in the 1990s. But the quality product part… well, not so much.

In 2009, consumers participating in a series of focus groups totally trashed Domino’s pies. Common complaints – the crust tastes like “cardboard,” the sauce is just “ketchup,” and so on. In response to this harsh criticism, the company launched an aggressive campaign called The Pizza Turnaround designed to re-claim the consumer’s hearts, minds, taste buds and wallets.

The logistics and complexity of The Pizza Turnaround resemble the invasion of Normandy, except in the pizza industry. There are multiple points of engagement: TV and print advertising, in-store signage, a huge web presence, Twitter feeds, YouTube videos, Facebook pages and even Domino’s Championship Gear celebrating the company’s epic win over Papa John’s in a recent taste-off.

So is Domino’s delivering (pun intended) on the Pizza Turnaround? It sure seems that way. The folks at Pizza Throwdown liked the new recipes. So did the gang at Slice (“America’s Favorite Pizza Weblog!”). Even Stephen Colbert jumped on the bandwagon.

But to me, the most fascinating piece of this has to do with Domino’s corporate reputation. By building its loud, but engaging advertising campaign and the other elements of The Pizza Turnaround on the idea that, “you told us we suck and we’re doing something about it,” the company is sending some powerful messages to consumers. We listen. We heard you. We acted based on your feedback. Your opinions are as important as your dollars. We care. One Web pundit called it “reverse engineering reputation management.”

So was the pizza really so bad that the company had to start over? Not likely, since their annual revenues clock in north of $3 billion. But that’s not the point, is it? This is all about image, perception and reputation, and Domino’s has baked together a potent recipe that resonates well with the public.

In many respects, corporate reputation is a function of public perception and I’d wager that the public perception today about Domino’s is very positive. It’s the kind of enviable position that any corporation would love to be in these days.

Bob Silver can be reached at bsilver@mww.com.

bsilver General Corporate advertising, Domino's, reputation