Putting the customer back in focus

Just bear with me on this one. Around 10 years ago I learned about stakeholder mapping. A stakeholder map, for those of you who don’t know, is a big old spider web with you in the middle and everyone who has a stake in your life mapped somewhere around you in the web. Those with a big stake in your life are mapped close to the center, those with a smaller stake further to the outside.

Now,  just see what happens if you treat all your stakeholders as if they were your customer. In a sense, if they have a stake in your life, they can influence it. In the same way that customers can influence a company they engage with.

This includes the librarian who helps you with your books, the shop assistant at the lunch place, your boss, your colleague, your sister, the mechanic at the garage, your children, your partner.

Give it a go and witness the difference from your usual routine. Sure, you cannot keep this up with absolutely everyone. But give it a go. Just do it.

Oh, and do tell me if it doesn’t work for you. And if it does.