Defining customer-centricity and how to achieve it in business

With the business industry still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, a lot of companies have reevaluated their marketing strategies to adapt to the changing times. One of these is focusing on customer-centricity.

What is customer-centricity?

Besides what the term implies, many organizations seem to have variations of what customer-centricity is. Some define it as the collective things we do for our customers to ensure they get what they need when they need it and with ease. 

For marketing experts, meanwhile, it is measurably fulfilling a promise with clear responsibilities and goals. On the other hand, some business professionals define it as how you operate as a business and how you sell your products and services. 

Conventional wisdom, however, dictates that customer-centricity is doing business while putting the customers’ needs first in everything you do.

Customer-centricity vs. product-centricity

Product-centricity focuses more on product design and quality, regardless of your customers’ needs. In contrast, customer-centricity focuses on developing your product with their needs in mind first and foremost. 

Many businesses that implement customer-centricity are proven to be more profitable. A case in point would be Amazon and Zappos, companies that spent many years using a customer-centric marketing strategy. In fact, research conducted by Deloitte and Touche revealed that customer-centric companies earn 60% more profit than those that are not.

6 steps to becoming a customer-centric business

Your business operations cannot adopt a customer-centric approach overnight. Like any marketing strategy, it will take time for your business to incorporate customer-centricity fully. 

Establish a customer-centric culture

Customer-centricity is a culture as much as a marketing strategy. Before you can work on it, it is essential to get the approval of your company stakeholders and employees. After all, you intend to change how you run the entire business. 

Shaping a customer-centric business culture requires developing your employees’ core values to put their customers first in everything that they do.

Every member of your team should listen and acknowledge customer concerns and aim to provide them with an excellent customer experience. Your brand should also conduct market research and develop products and services that address customers’ needs.

Improve your data management

Ensure you consolidate vital information to help your staff understand your customers at every touchpoint. The data you gather should also be accurate and consistent to be reliable. 

Use AI to help you analyze data and convert it into information your team can easily absorb. This way, you empower them to deliver better customer service and achieve your customer-centric goals.

Get customer feedback

Take the time to listen to your customers’ feedback and determine which ones you can realistically implement to improve your company’s business operations. After all, while a customer may not be right all the time, a high percentage of them having a similar experience or feedback is still worth checking. 

Take note and observe their behavior, as it can cue how they feel towards your brand. Not all your customers will be vocal about their concerns, so it is essential to get feedback on their behavior towards your company.

Reward your employees

Acknowledge and reward your employees for their efforts, the same way you treat your customers. Set up a system that compensates them for ensuring an excellent customer experience. Build trust and have a good relationship with them and develop them to be customer-centric.

Focus on customer retention and build loyalty

It is harder to gain new customers than retain them, so you should value your existing customers every step of their journey. 

Resolve their concerns swiftly and efficiently. Follow up and give callbacks when necessary. Remember, a loyal customer has more value over time. Find ways for them to keep coming back to your company, and you can expect a lot of profits.

Set customer-centric KPIs

Identify KPIs to help you measure your success. For instance, implement customer satisfaction (CSAT) metrics to see how satisfied your customers are. Conduct surveys to learn more about your customers’ behavior and sentiment towards your brand, and then improve your processes based on this information.

Measure your existing customers’ collective wallet share to determine company revenue. You can also include calculating customer churn as part of your metrics to see how many customers you retain, gain, and lose in a certain period. 

Challenges to becoming customer-centric

As with any business strategy, customer-centricity has its share of challenges you need to consider.

Building and getting support for the culture

Like with any crucial business decision, you need the affirmation of everyone in your company, especially your investors. You cannot achieve this overnight, especially since you are introducing a new system and a new set of behaviors for everyone to follow. 

You have to instill customer-centricity as a core value to every member of your organization, and they have to commit to applying it into action. You will need everyone’s support to succeed in culture-building. 

Moving away from a product-centric approach

As mentioned previously, studies have shown that a product-centric process is not as profitable as a customer-centric one. Transitioning to a new business strategy can be challenging as it will require the reallocation of product development funds, hours of training, and especially cultural establishment. 

Data consolidation

Aside from adopting a new culture and a new business strategy, it is equally important to organize existing data that you can use to support customer-centricity. While gathering and unifying data can be tedious and complex, it can be rewarding.

The importance of being a customer-centric business

Customer-centricity makes for an excellent business perspective as it can lead to faster business growth. If you are uncertain, you can count on Outsource Accelerator to help you achieve it.

We will help you match with the right outsourcing partner tha embodies the core value of customer-centricity and apply it to your outsourced functions. You can expect to switch to a more profitable and efficient business process seamlessly. 

Check out our outsourcing directory or get your three free quotes today!