When it comes to being person-centred, we in the not for profit sector like to compare ourselves favourably against the bureaucracy and lack of customer focus that we so often see in the government sector and big business.
But the winds of change are coming.
In an article in the Wall Street Journal last weekend Doc Searls described a new field called Vendor Relationship Management. It may be just a 21st century version of customer service, but it represents a new way of empowering customers to have greater freedom in the marketplace.
Searls says: "In the marketplace, fashions come and go, and giants fall, but freedom remains the guiding light. The largest and most durable opportunities are those that use the freedom we have or give us the freedom we want and need. Progress in empowering customers won't be smooth or even, but it will happen. Today, the supply side still reigns, but by .... 2022, everyone will understand that free customers are more valuable than captive ones."
It is fascinating that technology has changed the world so dramatically that some of the focus of the industrial revolution is now being reversed, and according to Searls, customers will be able to "start showing up as human beings and not just as cattle to be herded."
While big business struggles with its attempt to manage its "vendor relationships" I am pleased to be working in a sector where we are still able to say, "how can we help?".
Having said that, there is no time to be complacent. Being person-centred is more than just being customer-focussed. It is about developing real relationships with real people.
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