Cultivating a customer-centric culture

In today's increasingly competitive business landscape, companies are constantly in search of strategies to solidify their positions in the market. While innovation and product/service quality play a significant role, there is one fundamental aspect that often gets overlooked: cultivating a customer-centric culture.

The concept of a customer-centric culture revolves around the idea that every business decision and interaction should be centred around meeting and exceeding customer expectations. By prioritising customer satisfaction and fostering strong relationships, companies can lay the foundations for long-term success.

In this article, svend aage linde, Chairman of the Board of Eurofins Food and Feed Testing Denmark and co-founder of Danish laboratory Miljø-Kemi, discusses how Miljø-Kemi (which is part of the Eurofins network of companies) transformed from a small testing facility into a thriving business due to his team’s unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction.

In 1981, Svend Aage Linde was a young man disillusioned with how his employer at the time, a technological institute in Denmark, was treating its customers. It wasn’t the first time Svend had walked away from a job over its poor attitude towards customers, but thankfully, it would be the last!

Following a discussion with a colleague, the pair founded their own company, Miljø-Kemi. So, why did Svend take the risk to quit his job and co-establish a laboratory? “It was to focus on customers,” Svend said.

“If you do what you need to satisfy the customer, they will come back again.”

Miljø-Kemi went on to be very successful in its field, offering  a broad range of analytical methods to detect contaminants in air, consumer products, water, and soil.

“I chose to establish a laboratory focusing on niche testing for the environment sector with the primary aim of providing outstanding service to our customers,” Svend explains.

“No one else at that time provided that level of customer service.”

It was 16 years later when Svend heard what he described as a “rumour” about “some crazy guys in France” getting their food testing company listed on the Paris stock exchange. The organisation in question was the Eurofins network, which made its IPO in 1997.

The news didn’t mean much to the Miljø-Kemi environment testing team at the time, but by 1999, they decided that Miljø-Kemi should extend the scope of its work to include food testing. Svend soon met Gilles Martin, CEO of the Eurofins network of companies and laboratories. It became clear to Svend that joining the Eurofins network would give his customers immediate access to a broad portfolio of food testing services.

What sealed the deal for Svend was the Eurofins network’s commitment to customer service.

Exceeding customer expectations is one of the core values shared by employees across the Eurofins network of companies and laboratories, along with developing innovative testing, inspection, and certification solutions to meet customer needs.

Miljø-Kemi joined the Eurofins network in 2001, enabling the company to reach its promising potential and extend its testing portfolio, an added value for customers.

The journey of Miljø-Kemi exemplifies how listening to customers and going above and beyond to fulfill their needs can pave the way towards sustainable growth.

“To cultivate a customer-centric culture, employees at all levels within the business must share a customer-focused mindset,” Svend concluded.

Svend's story is a testament to the success that can be achieved when companies prioritise their customers and strive to deliver exceptional service.

Contact the former Miljø Kemi team – now Eurofins Denmark: www.eurofins.dk