More and more organisations are transforming their business towards a customer-centric perspective. In this article we explain what customer-centricity is and what it means to be a customer-centric company.
Customer centricity is becoming one of the major trends of the business world. Increasingly, organisations are realising the importance of thinking customer-centric. The basis of customer-centricity is that the client is more important than anything else and should be at the core of the organisation.
In fact, according to a survey conducted by Econsultancy, 58% of business leaders believe that customer-centricity is the most significant factor for implementing a true digital culture, ahead of data-driven strategies, innovation or collaborative working.
As we explained in Kale's presentation, Kale focuses on the development of business transformation and the implementation of strategies on the basis of customer-centricity. In other words, all our services are focused on putting the customer at the centre of the business strategy.
Customer-centricity comes to no surprise. In a digital, global, hyper-connected and hyper-competitive landscape, adapting business strategies to the interests, wishes and desires of the customer is practically a requirement for long-term success. Customer knowledge —customer intelligence, customer analytics and customer strategy— are the main materials of any customer-centric company.
Knowing your customers in depth, anticipating their needs and offering them personalised experiences are just some of the advantages of being a customer-centric company. If you want to learn how to develop an effective customer intelligence strategy, don't miss our ebook, where you will find a detailed plan to successfully implement this approach in your business. Don't get left behind and be part of the customer-centric revolution!
In this sense, customer-centricity comes from a need brought about by a context in which companies no longer monopolise the power to act and make decisions. The voice of the customer is more active and influential in the business activity. Today, the opinion, complaints and wishes of customers determine, to a large extent, the success or failure of business strategies.
What is customer-centric?
Como su nombre indica, la customer-centricity o estrategia customer-centric se fundamenta en poner al cliente —a los clientes estratégicos o más importantes— en el centro de las estrategias y acciones de negocio.
As its name suggests, customer-centricity or a customer-centric strategy is putting the consumer —the strategic or most important clients— at the centre of business strategies and actions.
Putting our customers at the centre of the organisation means thinking about them in every business decision and action, listening to them proactively and striving to satisfy their needs, solve their problems, meet their expectations and offer them satisfactory experiences.
A customer-centric company is one that knows its customers well beyond superficiality, that is clear about what its consumers want and need, and that strives to give it to them. In a similar way, organisations that move in this direction must be aware of what their customers' paint points and main problems are and take action to solve them.
Andrei Petrik, CEO of NetHunt CRM, explained in a conversation with Forbes what it means to be customer-centric: "Customer-centricity is a way of running a business, implementing a seamless customer experience at every stage of the process. It is an approach that promotes greater brand loyalty and satisfaction, which translates into more customers and greater customer lifetime value. In implementing a customer-centric approach, I have found that there is no customer-centricity switch that you can flick and expect everything to work, but that being customer-centric requires an effort investment."
In the era of data, customer-centricity is founded on customer data which, once consolidated and transformed into business insights, can be complemented with strategies such as customer segmentation, the creation of buyer persona, customer experience optimisation, etc.
For a company to be truly customer-centric, the customer-centric approach needs to be present in all departments, business units and spheres. However, customer-centric strategies and action drivers tend to have a greater reach in marketing, sales and commercial departments, which often translate into offers, messages, customer experiences and personalised omnichannel experiences.
According to a report by Infosys, 31% of consumers prefer personalised shopping experiences, 86% confirm that personalisation has some impact on their shopping experience and 25% say that personalisation significantly influences what they end up buying
Therefore, it is no longer only the experts who are guiding us towards customer-centricity. It is now customers who want their thoughts, wishes, desires and concerns to be taken into account, to be listened to and for companies to respond coherently to what they have to say. However, it seems that companies are not getting the message. PWC reports that only 38% of customers feel that company representatives understand their needs.
Beneficios de las empresas customer-centric
Providing the customer with what they want and need is obviously beneficial. After all, a happy customer is a customer who brings us value and is also more likely to buy again and engage in a long-term relationship with the brand.
Beyond the obvious, Deloitte points out that customer-centric organisations are 60% more profitable. But why? What are the tangible benefits of being customer-centric?
Among many other things, adopting customer-centricity as a business philosophy automatically implies:
- Getting to know your customers better.
- Find valuable customer-related insights that can serve as the basis for new strategies and business opportunities.
- Discover the main needs, wishes and pain points of the clients.
- Identify pathways, actions and strategies to anticipate the consumer's needs.
- The development of communication, marketing, advertising and sales strategies that have been adapted to each type of client.
- Increase customer loyalty, retention rates and Customer Lifetime Value.
- Optimise the customer experience.
- Streamline the conversion funnel.
- Greater stability and progress long term.
En definitiva, las organizaciones que aún no se han planteado transformar su negocio en customer-centric se están perdiendo las ventajas de trabajar por y para el cliente, de conectar a un nivel superior con los consumidores de valor y de apostar por la que, todo apunta, será la estrategia de negocio del futuro.
In short, organisations that have not yet considered transforming their business into customer-centric are missing out on the advantages of working for and with the customer and of committing to what will be the business strategy of the future.
Is your company customer-centric? Not sure?
