Changes in consumer beliefs, habits, events and emotional need states pose a daily challenge to brands; but those that prioritize customer-centricity reap the rewards in terms of loyal customer bases.
No direct metric exists to demonstrate how your team prioritizes customers; however, lagging indicators can reveal whether your strategy is working. Here are a few methods of measuring customer-centricity: 1. Share data freely.
1. Invest in Customer Data
Customer-centricity requires significant investments of data, time, and resources. It involves tailoring all products, communication channels, marketing efforts, branding strategies and more around customer needs – something which may cause resistance from teams that prefer an reactive approach when responding to changes in consumer behaviors.
Companies can identify changes in customer buying patterns using various sources, including industry research and trends reports, customer surveys, and the data already accumulated by themselves or third-party sources. Software companies frequently update their offerings based on customer feedback or changing market trends to better meet customers needs.
One of the primary challenges associated with customer-centricity lies in creating a company culture that aligns with this approach. This may require major restructuring of internal structures and de-siloing departments that may resist shifting their focus. Furthermore, it requires investing in infrastructure supporting customer-centric goals such as CRM platforms, customer journey frameworks, feedback collection methods, and aligned web assets.
2. Create Personalized Experiences
Customer-centric companies focus on offering personalized experiences for every interaction. This approach can help attract and retain customers, strengthen brand loyalty, reduce churn rates, and ultimately increase revenue.
Your organization must understand your target audience’s needs and desires in order to be customer-centric, which requires listening to customer feedback and acting upon it. For example, if customers complain about an in-app feature that’s difficult for them to navigate, creating “how-to” videos about that feature might be one solution.
Once you’ve implemented a customer-centricity strategy, it is critical to measure its effectiveness. While direct metrics for customer centricity might be impossible to create, lagging indicators can provide valuable insight into how your changes have an effect. For example, keeping tabs on customer churn can give insight into whether customer-centricity initiatives have had any lasting effect on retention or referral rates; additionally these metrics offer insight into ways you can refine customer journeys for improved experiences for all your customers.
3. Meet Your Customers Where They Are
Customer-centricity involves forging long-term relationships with customers that foster loyalty and retention, creating a positive feedback loop that drives revenue by making customers feel known, providing frictionless experiences, and developing empathy. Companies that prioritize customer-centricity will see higher customer retention rates, referrals, and price premiums than those who do not prioritize it.
Chick-Fil-A is an outstanding example of customer-oriented businesses. From the moment a customer orders via app or drive-thru window, their emphasis on customers starts. From greeting them by name and delivering orders directly to cars before offering heartfelt goodbyes – Chick-Fil-A strives to put customers first in every aspect of service delivery.
Establishing a customer-centric culture takes time and requires having clear metrics in place to track its progress. While it may take a few quarters for metrics to begin rising again, when they do start trending upwards you know your efforts have had an effect. One effective way of helping your team appreciate customers is through creating a community for them; Denny at Chargebacks 911 hosts an active Slack channel where customers can discuss product features and give useful feedback.
4. Focus on Customer Service
Customer-centricity is an objective that demands support from every department in a company and requires a cultural shift for success. This could involve changing how business is done and the decisions made within departments, often including moving away from transactional practices toward more relational approaches to doing business.
Customer service is of great importance in business; when your team provides an enjoyable experience for their customers, they will trust that your company will treat them well in the future. With that trust comes opportunities for upselling additional products or services which generates additional revenue for your company.
Customer-centric strategies are an effective tool for companies seeking to adjust to changing consumer behaviors. Fostering relationships with your customers increases customer lifetime values, lowers CAC costs and develops brand advocacy. Furthermore, customer-centricity strategies reveal new growth opportunities within your organization such as adding products or shifting toward different business models.