The rise of digital has empowered the customer by allowing them to easily compare and critique the products and services they choose to buy. Brands these days can no longer rely on a traditional product or service-based approach. They must focus on the customer, and how to improve the experience at every step of the purchasing process, from awareness to advocacy. Essentially, to be customer-centric, a company must put the customer at the core of its strategy.
Not only does it sound good to implement a customer-centric approach, it makes good business sense too: research from Deloitte and Touche has found that customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable compared those that are not focused on the customer.
Your company may have already put into place some initiatives, but it is rare to find an organization that masters every element of customer-centricity. In any case, here are some of the essential traits of customer-centric organizations:
Alignment
So many organizations work in functional silos, which can prevent the sharing of customer data. Additionally, the company culture may not be aligned around the customers’ needs. By allowing customer data to be shared throughout each department, and embedding a company culture that embraces the customer, organizations can work more effectively to achieve customer centricity.
Passion
Companies that truly believe the customer comes first tend to adopt policies that are customer-centric. Passion should also be a defining keystone in a company’s culture, and remains a key element in the quest to become customer-centric.
Reactivity
It’s already a good step to share customer data insights across departments, but how and how quickly an organization reacts to customer feedback is also essential. Social media allows for consumers to converse with brands in real time, and they expect a company to reply quickly. Product or service complaints and improvements should also be considered and dealt with in a rapid manner.
Spending time with the customer
Truly customer-centric organizations ensure that all their employees, from the front line to executives spend time interacting with and understanding their customers. This instills a customer-centric culture, and allows employees to align key strategic decisions with customer needs.
So how to embed customer-centricity in your organization?
Becoming a customer-centric organization is a complex process, but even making some first small steps can reap benefits for both the customer and employees.
An effective way to embed customer-centricity fundamentals is by implementing a custom-made experiential learning approach to train your teams. Afterall, employees retain 70 percent of skills and concepts through experience and practice.
Find out how customer-centric your organization is by taking our 3-minute quiz. You can enter to win a free 30-minute customer-centricity consultation from one of our experts.
