To write a successful book you need a central theme. A theme runs from beginning to end clearly communicating a set of ideas to the reader. As long as you have one the reader is constantly engaged.
Phil Pavitt, CIO of Transport for London (TfL), has a central theme and he doesn't want you to forget it. That theme is the customer. One year into the role, Pavitt believes he and his team have made significant improvements to TfL and he has a vision of what a CIO and their team can achieve that goes beyond what most people believe a public organization is capable of.
"Everything we do here is about the customer," Pavitt states. It is not a quick appeasement for marketing or PR types, customer focus is the Pavitt model to being a CIO and he has used it to great effect at every organization he has been with. The reason being? "Customer-centricity answers most questions posed."
Since joining TfL Pavitt has focused on customer group number one, the TfL employee. "Once that is right the focus is on the real Londoner experience, which will coincide with [the Olympics in] 2012," he says of part two of his customer focus. Since joining he has remodelled his team to be customer-centric in their thinking and drastically reduced the number of consultants working at TfL, who he points out are not customer-oriented people.
To achieve customer satisfaction for both employees and travellers, he intends to use the same technology, for example tracking systems that alert TfL staff where a bus is on its route will also be used to alert passengers.
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