Ryan Millar interviews Maria Letizia Mariani, Chief Commercial Officer at Signify.

To kick off this episode, Ryan and Maria Letizia discuss the true importance of customer focus and centricity. Customer focus doesn’t fall back on a single person, but it is the job of every employee, every day. This can be illustrated in many ways, either by quoting Queen Elizabeth II on The Crown Netflix series like Maria Letizia, or the football coach of The Netherlands from years ago like Ryan, but it comes down to a simple formula. To achieve great things, you need discipline. Greatness is made of the small daily duties that we need to perform with reliability, and this stands at the core of customer-centricity.

Behind every success story, there needs to be a solid base – and that’s no different at Signify! Maria Letizia goes to explain what are considered the ‘right’ processes and tools that lead to an empowered organization. In the end, things are made possible by people, and that’s where the emphasis lies within Signify. Everything comes down to the employees, they need to be engaged to make a difference. This is at the base of Signify’s strategy. The 5 frontiers strategy has at its center, in the middle ring, the customer and the last ring are the employees. So to serve the customer, and all the rings that fall in the middle, they need to be embraced by the employees (Talk about peeling the layers of an onion…).

Now that we got you all excited about peeling, Maria Letizia illustrates how customer feedback is really the centerpiece of Signify’s operations. This was brought on by consistent feedback and building upon it, which then led to the launch of a project to facilitate user navigation on the company website. Not only has this made the information clearer, but also more accessible.

After learning about how to satisfy your customer needs, it’s time to focus on your hardworking elves, the employees. Maria Letizia elaborates on what really makes Signify a great place to work. This includes topics such as engagement, commitment, and ensuring your employees see a personal value in what you do so that they can channel it into their work. It’s important to increase diversity, inclusivity and creating an environment where people feel they can learn and grow. And of course, regular check-ups also don’t hurt.

But how were one to do this in crazy times like today? With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, most people were forced to switch to working from home. Well, it went in stages, and the realities of remote working looked different for everyone. Whether some were alone, others trying to desperately juggle homeschooling their kids, one thing was common: a high level of solidarity. Maria Letizia goes to explain that employees were very supportive, flexible and the creativity was flowing. From a work perspective, they’ve proven they can manage well.

Although we can safely say we’re all superheroes for coping through this, there’s still something missing those online meetings can’t replace. As Maria Letizia mentions, when you meet your colleagues face-to-face, you unleash a unique level of creativity with unexpected and unplanned ideas. This shows the importance of being physically together, to give and receive energy. But, improvise, adapt, overcome… In the words of Maria Letizia, we have to be kind, and grateful.

Now to finish off with some quality entertainment, we’ll Segway into the alternative questions section of the podcast, where we finally talk about all things NOT work-related! The discussion ranges from favorite memories such as authentic Italian cuisine enjoyed with family, to people Maria Letizia would invite to a fantastic dinner party. By staying tuned, you also get some book recommendations that may or may not include Harry Potter. You’ll also receive some great advice regarding your career, and being yourself, but we don’t want to give everything away, so just go listen.