Customer-centric organisations are more likely to achieve better business results, with 73% of consumers citing that a good experience is key in influencing their brand loyalties. What’s more, companies that excel at customer experience have 1.5 times more engaged employees than less customer-focused companies and, crucially, they outperform laggards by nearly 80%.
But what does customer centric really mean in the current climate?
In a nutshell, it means a strategic, business-wide, continual and ever-evolving focus on the customer. It’s longer about tactical approaches – investing in a new piece of CX technology or tracking a few customer KPIs simply doesn’t cut it.
To be competitive, organisations need to take a holistic approach to become customer centric. By this, we mean that every aspect of the business should put its customers at the front and centre. Everyone, at every level, should be working efficiently and effectively towards creating valuable, long-lasting relationships with customers.
A holistic approach to being customer centric relies on a conscious, well-designed customer strategy that covers every aspect of the organisation. Critically, there needs to be a two-pronged approach, taking into account:
The external view:
- the needs and preferences customers have as individuals and any frustrations during customer journeys
- the customer expectations that are set by the promises that the business makes (in all forms of communication)
- the way a business is organised internally, and how this ‘feels’ from the outside
- service inconsistencies at different touchpoints, or via different departments.
The internal view:
- employees’ experience of dealing with customers; the challenges employees face operationally; the messages they get about customers
- the need for a Board level sponsor and CX champions
- how mature the organisation is and where improvements or changes need to be made
- a view of ALL data available, not just data from touchpoint surveys
- the importance of an evolutionary approach to CX, with a focus on continual development.
A holistic customer experience strategy, embedded at the heart of an organisation, is the only way that today’s businesses can fully understand what drives internal and external perception, customer engagement, employee engagement with the customer, and loyalty.
By going far beyond the delivery of siloed measurement programmes, the savviest organisations use a variety of CX measurement methodologies, metrics and approaches to continually drive customer-centricity – giving them measurable business advantage over their competitors.
Find out how to become one of these organisations by reading our guide on CX maturity and our guide on the CX Gap.