Customer-Centric Guide: Understand what a customer-centric company is and how to transform yours into on

Guaranteeing the satisfaction of your consumers is essential to succeed in increasingly competitive markets. For this reason, it is not surprising that many companies are investing in a Customer-Centric approach, which seeks to plan strategies with the customer experience as the center, thereby increasing the loyalty rate and achieving better results.

The digital transformation has completely changed the relationship between businesses and consumers.

Today, to be successful in business, it is essential to invest the necessary resources so that the customer experience with your brand is the best possible.

In this way, the concept of Customer-Centric – in a free translation, Customer-Centered Perspective, or Customer in the Center – has been gaining more and more space within different companies.

With actions aimed at consumer satisfaction, the objective is to retain them and, consequently, increase sales.

So how about a better understanding of how this strategy works and what you should do to start it within your company?

Just continue reading this article to also know what are the main challenges when implementing this concept in an organization and some success stories.

Attention!

What is it like to be customer-centric?

A company considered Customer-Centric has as its main characteristic that all its strategic planning is customer-centric. In other words, everything that takes place within that organization aims to provide the customer with a satisfactory experience.

All conversion strategies are designed so that the customer feels comfortable from the first contact with the company, when he is still a navigator, becoming a lead and beginning his journey through the different stages of the buying journey, until the post-sale.

From a detailed study of their behavior – discovering what their preferences, desires, goals, and difficulties are, for example – we can make adjustments that ensure that the impact is positive.

Whether it’s to improve a service or launch a new product, the focus is on the customer experience.

The main objective when applying Customer-Centric techniques is to increase the loyalty rate of your business. Consequently, your company will be able to register better results at the end of each month.

An example? Imagine that you have e-commerce that sells women’s clothing and underwear and, you perceive that your buyer persona is looking for experiences in physical stores where they can choose better: it means that it is time to evaluate the viability of having a physical store.

The focus should be on the customer and not on your initial planning to have an e-commerce, for example.

Now, if you have a traditional coffee shop and you notice that the number of sales is decreasing, it may be time to invest in technology to meet the demand of your audience.

How important is the Customer-Centric concept?

It may seem a bit exaggerated to define your strategic actions according to the opinion or need of your clients, right?

However, the market requires companies to adapt quickly and leave initial planning behind if the consumer profile indicates a different direction.

In the hypothetical case above, your initial planning could be not to have a physical store to avoid expenses or even facilitate your management.

However, if your client demands space to try on clothes and accessories, you should at least consider this option to make the customer experience even better.

A study by the consulting firm Infosys indicates a direct relationship between personalization and conversion, with 86% of users indicating an exclusive and personalized service as an important factor in their purchase decision process.

How can we ignore such favorable numbers for those who care about the customer experience?

Importantly, the focus on the consumer must be taken into account at all stages.

A negative experience is enough for the customer to rethink the decision to buy with your brand in the future: according to some surveys, 58% of users do not return after a bad experience.

Therefore, making the client feel comfortable and at ease when interacting with your company, at all stages, is no longer a simple competitive advantage but an obligation for those who want to succeed in the market. The price of not worrying about every detail can be high.

What are the main challenges of putting the customer at the center?

Although today, it is essential to apply Customer-Centric strategies for the success of companies, that does not mean that it is a simple task.

After all, the main challenge of this concept is to understand, and at best, anticipate consumer wants and demands.

The main difficulty faced by those who want to place the customer as the centerpiece of the organization is precisely implementing this culture among all sectors and employees of a company.

It is not enough to offer a product of the highest quality at the best price if the service, for example, leaves the customer unsatisfied.

It is necessary to ensure that all components of your organization, from the highest level to a newly hired intern, have this awareness.

Make sure that each customer contact with your company is a unique and satisfying experience. That a call to complain about something turns into a positive evaluation once the problem is solved.

In addition, there is a difficulty in carrying out strategic planning aimed at the consumer experience, since often, the idea of the company is to follow a pre-established path – either for economic or strategic reasons – and it is difficult for it to adapt to what the consumer is looking for. customer.

It is difficult to put aside a more advantageous strategy for the company in exchange for planning that prioritizes the client because, at least in the short term, it does not offer the same benefits.

The Customer-Centric concept is long-term and provides clearer results that are visible after a period of loyalty and strengthening of the customer relationship.

What actions must be taken to become a Customer-Centric company?

Now that you understand what Customer-Centric is, what are the main characteristics of this strategy, and the main challenges that you will have to face, it is time to put some actions into practice.

Therefore, we separate some tips so that your company puts the customer in the center of attention in the right way. Continue reading!

Create customer-oriented leaders

To create a culture that values the customer experience, the first step should be to have leaders, that is, decision-makers, who have this thinking.

Train and recruit leaders who understand the importance of valuing the consumer and how it can positively impact the company.

Starting from decision-makers who invest in strategies with this approach, it is possible to establish a culture, at different levels of the company’s hierarchy, healthily and productively.

Understand your client

To provide you with the best possible customer experience, you need to know in-depth what their wishes, challenges, goals, and general behavioral parameters are.

You can use CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools, for example, to make this task more efficient.

Only with a complete analysis of the profile of your consumer, it is possible to be sure when it comes to personalizing the services and products offered. After all, only when we understand what you are looking for can we tailor our strategy to it.

Invest in different relationship channels

Today, the communication possibilities between companies and consumers are many.

Therefore, a differential for the client can be the diversity of channels available for contact.

That is, to ensure an omnichannel and/or multichannel service, which allows contact through the customer’s preferred channel, with the feeling that the company knows it and knows what its characteristics are.

Train your teams

By offering autonomy to your teams, you can eliminate bureaucratic processes within your organization. This way, you can guarantee quick problem solving, ensuring that the customer is not dissatisfied.

In addition, with autonomy, your teams will feel more comfortable making decisions that benefit the consumer experience. Using creativity and different resources to make the processes more efficient.

Monitor your performance

As we said before, the work of the company that focuses on Customer-Centric does not end when closing a sale. Monitoring the performance of your strategies is vital so that your client remains, in fact, satisfied with the service and/or product offered.

Use feedback to improve

In addition to monitoring the performance of your strategies regularly, you should keep up with the feedback provided by your consumers. From them, it is possible to establish constant improvements in your service.

What are the main metrics of Customer-Centric work?

Do not think that the work ends when you start the execution of a strategy with the consumer experience as the center, quite the opposite!

It is essential to stay focused on that same goal: loyalty. To do this, you need to monitor the performance of your strategies to achieve this goal.

How? Using some metrics that can indicate whether your planning is, in fact, efficient, and if not, what is needed to improve.

To make your job easier, we’ve listed the top metrics to keep an eye on.

Cancellation rate or Churn Rate

One of the most feared expressions of any administrator is Churn, which represents the cancellation of a service or contract.

It is useless to attract new customers in large numbers if, on the contrary, other of your consumers are leaving your business generating a high abandonment rate.

Lifetime Value (LTV)

Another important metric to monitor closely is Lifetime Value (LTV), which measures your company’s earnings relative to a specific customer.

That is, what were the profits generated for your business from the moment the user became a consumer of your brand.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

To measure the level of satisfaction of your consumers, one of the most used metrics is the Net Promoter Score (NPS).

The idea of this tool is to decipher the percentage of satisfied and dissatisfied customers by organizing them into categories:

brand promoters ;
neutral;
detractors.

Which companies are examples of Customer-Centric?

To give you a better idea of what Customer-Centric is, we have separated two companies that can be considered examples when it comes to the consumer experience.

Are you curious? Discover them below!

Mcdonalds

By investing in customer-centric strategies, the famous American fast-food chain better understood what its consumer was looking for.

Whether through its actions on social media or an in-depth study of customer behavior, McDonald’s was able to overcome the competition of some brands that were beginning to challenge its dominance.

With Big Data analysis, for example, the company realized that its customers felt a lack of healthier options on the menu and therefore expanded it by offering breakfast items at other times.

Another idea was to place a totem with a fully digitized process so that customers could place the order in a more agile way.

Hilton Hotels & Resorts

The Hilton hotel and resort chain began investing in customer loyalty programs, with campaigns that give points to those who use the company’s services.

A program similar to miles, in which the consumer accumulates points that can be exchanged for discounts and other benefits in the network.

Even with broad mastery of its market, the company identified this demand from its target audience and therefore decided to invest in a reformulation of the program.

In other words, even with customers already satisfied with the service offered, Hilton managed to generate even more value for its brand and focused on providing the best possible experience for its consumer.

Now that you understand what it means to be Customer-Centric, its main challenges, and how to implement it in your company, keep reading our articles that deals with this topic in-depth?

Learn how to guarantee the best experience for your customer based on the fundamentals of the Customer Centricity methodology: