I think most people who follow football (Soccer to those across the pond!) will agree that Barcelona are the best team in the World it at the moment. Their manager, ex-player Pep Guardiola, took the reins last year and proceeded to win every competition they competed in and did so playing the most attractive and attacking football out of any team in Europe. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Guardiola shed some light into the philosophy behind how the club operates and there are some lessons that all organizations should take on board.
What is different about Barcelona to other sports teams is that the club is owned by the fans. Each year, over 100,000 fans pay a solid chunk of money to be members and get voting rights over who the President will be for the next two years, who has to submit his plans of new signings etc in a kind of election manifesto. What this means is the club is inherently ‘fan centric’, they understand the importance of keeping their customers happy!
Guardiola said “We live in a world where everything is spiraling in cost and many people need to make a big sacrifice in order to go and watch a game of football. So for me it all makes sense, the effort, the work the planning the concentration and the discipline if you do it for the people. The manner in which we play is a demonstration of the respect we have for the people who pay for a ticket or pay money to watch matches on television” Cool huh?!
Even though most businesses aren’t owned by their customers, if they adopted the mindset that they are and were constantly thinking about how they can delight them, keep them coming through the door or turnstyle, keep them spending their hard earned money, then the result will be a customer centric organization…and we all love them!
