customer first strategy

Top 10 Challenges Facing Companies When They Adopt a Customer-First Strategy

Posted on August 29, 2023August 29, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

In an era where customer expectations are rapidly evolving, businesses have finally recognised the importance of adopting a customer-first strategy.

However, despite this awareness, many companies still struggle to fully embrace customer-centric practices. Numerous barriers can hinder the journey toward customer-centricity, impacting both customer satisfaction and long-term business success. In this article, I propose ten reasons that often prevent companies from becoming more customer-centric and offer suggestions on how organisations can overcome these challenges.

Introduction

We all know that customers exert unprecedented influence today and that business success hinges on one core principle: customer-centricity. The shift from product-centric models to customer-focused strategies has become not just a preference but a clear necessity for every company aiming to thrive in today’s dynamic market landscape. Yet, despite acknowledging its significance, many organisations still struggle to genuinely embrace customer centricity.

The journey towards adopting a customer-first strategy is not merely about altering a few processes; it’s a transformative endeavour that necessitates rethinking organisational culture, strategies, and operations. These are all covered in detail in my book Winning Customer Centricity: Putting Customers at the Heart of Your Business – One Day at a Time. (Click the link to learn more and get a free download.)

For now, I want to share some ideas on how these challenges manifest, why they persist, and, most importantly, how visionary leaders can lead their organisations to conquer these roadblocks and establish a new paradigm that places customers at the forefront of everything they do.

The 10 Challenges of a Customer-First Strategy

As the market continues to evolve and customer expectations soar to new heights, the need for customer-centricity becomes a strategic imperative and a distinguishing factor that separates industry leaders from followers. Here are ten keys to unlocking the full potential of a customer-first strategy.

1. Lack of Customer-Centric Leadership: Without solid support from upper management or executives, initiatives to become more customer-centric might not receive the necessary resources, attention, or priority to succeed.

When executives don’t prioritise customer satisfaction or fail to embody customer-centric values, they send a clear message throughout the organisation that customer-centricity isn’t a core focus for the business. Leadership buy-in is essential for creating a culture that places the customer at the heart of decision-making.

Actions: Host workshops or training sessions for leaders to emphasise the strategic importance of customer-centricity. Share success stories highlighting the positive impact of customer-centric practices on business outcomes. Encourage leaders to actively participate in customer feedback sessions to demonstrate their commitment.

2. Silos and Departmentalism: Departmental silos can be formidable barriers to customer-centricity in larger organisations.

In most companies, departments operate autonomously, focusing on their own goals and metrics without considering the broader customer experience. These siloed departments lead to disconnected efforts and inefficiencies, as well as confusing customer experiences and a fragmented customer journey.

To tackle this, companies should encourage interdepartmental communication, establish cross-functional teams, and align goals to ensure a seamless and consistent customer experience.

Actions: Establish cross-functional teams or task forces with representatives from different departments. Encourage regular meetings to foster collaboration, share insights, and brainstorm customer-centric initiatives. Create a unified customer journey map to identify touchpoints where departments can collaborate effectively.

3. Misaligned Incentives: If departments are incentivised solely based on their performance metrics, it can lead to actions prioritising short-term gains over long-term customer satisfaction and relationship building.

For instance, sales teams might prioritise closing deals quickly rather than ensuring the solution truly meets the customer’s needs. The same can happen in care centres where customer service representatives are measured on calls taken rather than on customer problems solved or overall satisfaction levels.

Organisations must rethink incentives to align with customer satisfaction metrics and long-term customer relationships.

Actions: Revise incentive structures to include customer satisfaction metrics, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT). Encourage collaboration between teams by rewarding collective efforts that contribute to overall customer success. Regularly review incentive programs to ensure they remain aligned with customer-centric goals.

4. Technology and Data Fragmentation: An effective customer-first strategy requires a comprehensive view of customer interactions and preferences.

Inconsistent or incompatible technology systems and data sources can hinder the flow of customer information across the organisation. This can make creating a holistic view of the customer and their interactions difficult.

Integrating data from all available sources and adopting a unified technology infrastructure enables companies to understand their customers holistically and tailor their interactions accordingly.

Actions: Invest in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that integrates data from various touchpoints. Implement data governance practices to maintain data accuracy and consistency. Consider leveraging customer data platforms to centralise and unify customer information.

5. Resistance to Change: Shifting to a customer-centric approach often requires changes to processes, culture, and mindset. Employees accustomed to the status quo might resist these changes due to their fear of the unknown or concerns about added workload.

Companies can address this by fostering a culture of continuous learning, providing training, and emphasising the benefits of customer-centric practices for both customers and the organisation.

Actions: Develop change management strategies that involve employees in the process. Communicate the rationale for changes, emphasising how they benefit both customers and employees. Provide training and support to address concerns and equip employees with the skills needed for the transition.

If you’d like to know the most effective way to overcome resistance to change of your company culture, please book some time for us to discuss your needs by clicking the link below.

6. Short-Term Focus: Companies under pressure to deliver immediate results might prioritise short-term financial gains over building long-lasting customer relationships. This shortsighted approach can lead to decisions that erode customer trust and loyalty over time.

To counteract this, businesses should emphasise the long-term benefits of customer-centricity, such as increased customer lifetime value and positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Actions: Educate stakeholders about the importance of customer retention and lifetime customer value. Develop metrics that highlight the correlation between customer satisfaction and business success. Incorporate customer-centric KPIs into performance evaluations and strategic planning.

7. Lack of Customer Insights: Insufficient access to customer insights impedes informed decision-making.

Companies need access to actionable customer insights to understand and serve their customers honestly. Yet, many struggle to gather, analyse, and leverage relevant data.

Actions: Invest in appropriate tools that allow for deep customer data analysis. Conduct regular customer surveys to gather feedback on products, services, and experiences. Leverage social listening tools to monitor online conversations and identify emerging trends and sentiments.

Do you have a reliable process for developing actionable insights? If not, or yours needs upgrading, check out our online course. In under two hours, your team will be ready to support your business more effectively.

8. Inadequate Communication: Effective communication is essential for sharing customer insights and feedback across the organisation. When different departments don’t communicate effectively, valuable information remains siloed.

This can result in missed opportunities to share customer insights as well as to improve products, services, and customer interactions.

Actions: Establish regular cross-functional meetings to discuss customer-related updates and insights. Implement a centralised customer feedback system accessible to all departments. Encourage open communication channels and platforms to facilitate information sharing.

9. Complexity in Scaling: Scaling customer-centric practices across multiple departments and locations can be challenging for larger organisations. The complexities of implementing customer-centric initiatives can lead to inconsistencies and dilution of efforts.

To overcome this, companies should establish clear guidelines, provide training, and appoint customer-centric champions in each department to ensure consistent execution.

Actions: Develop a comprehensive customer-centric playbook that outlines best practices and guidelines. Appoint customer-centric champions in each department to ensure adherence to established practices. Offer training programs that address the specific challenges of scaling customer-centricity.

10. Lack of Continuous Improvement: Customer-centric efforts stagnate without a commitment to ongoing improvement.

Becoming customer-centric is not a one-time achievement; it requires a commitment to continuous improvement. Some companies struggle to sustain their efforts over time, leading to a return to previous practices.

To maintain customer-centricity, organisations must establish mechanisms for ongoing evaluation, gather customer feedback regularly, and adjust strategies based on changing customer needs and preferences.

Actions: Establish a feedback loop that involves regular review of customer feedback and performance metrics. Implement agile methodologies to quickly adapt to changing customer needs. Foster a culture of continuous improvement by recognising and rewarding innovative customer-centric initiatives.

Successfully Adopting a Customer-First Strategy

In summary, companies need to foster a culture of collaboration, communication, and empathy across departments to overcome these barriers and become more customer-centric. This involves breaking down silos, establishing cross-functional teams, aligning incentives with customer satisfaction, investing in technology that enables data sharing, and ensuring that customer-centric values are embraced at all levels of the organisation.

By implementing the suggested actions, companies can address the challenges that hinder their journey toward customer-first strategy adoption. Each action contributes to building a foundation of collaboration, customer focus, and adaptability that can transform the organisation’s culture and enhance the overall customer experience.

Becoming genuinely customer-centric demands a comprehensive overhaul of an organisation’s culture, processes, and mindset. While these ten challenges can undoubtedly present obstacles, they are not insurmountable. By addressing these barriers head-on, organisations can create a customer-first environment that enhances customer satisfaction and lays the foundation for long-term business success in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

If you’d like to learn more about our online Mastermind course and in-person training on adopting a customer-first strategy, please book some time for us to discuss your needs by clicking the link below.

Maximising Customer Value: Answering Your Top Questions About Customer Centricity

Posted on May 16, 2023May 16, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

As a customer-first strategist, I am frequently asked about customer centricity and the value it brings to a business when they adopt the strategy.

I, therefore, thought it would be useful to share the topics my clients ask me about most frequently and my responses to them. If you, too, have questions about customer centricity, I’m sure you will find the answers you’re looking for below. And if not, you can always DM me.

So you have questions about customer centricity?

Good to know! Let me start by saying that adopting a customer-first strategy can be daunting for any organization. You should, therefore, not dwell upon your reticence in the past. However, in today’s rapidly changing business landscape, it is more important than ever for you to prioritize customer centricity.

What is a customer-first strategy?

A customer-first strategy is an approach to business that prioritizes the needs and preferences of the customer. It means putting the customer at the centre of every decision an organisation makes, from product development to marketing and sales. Put simply, it involves a shift away from traditional product-focused strategies to a more customer-centric approach.

This means that it’s not just about providing good customer service; it’s about understanding your customers’ needs, preferences, and pain points, and then designing your products, services, and marketing strategies to meet those needs.

Why is a customer-first strategy important?

In today’s highly competitive marketplace, focusing on your customers is more important than ever before. You can no longer hesitate. Nor can you not make it a top objective for your organisation.

A customer-first strategy can help you build stronger customer relationships, increase customer loyalty and retention, and ultimately drive revenue growth.

By focusing on your customers’ needs and preferences, you can differentiate your brand from your competitors and create a sustainable competitive advantage. Isn’t that what we’re all searching to do?

A customer-first strategy is important because it can increase customer loyalty and satisfaction. When customers feel that a business truly understands their needs and is committed to meeting them, they are more likely to remain loyal to that business and recommend it to others.

In addition, a customer-first strategy can help businesses identify new opportunities for growth and innovation. By focusing on the customer, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their market, and create products and services that truly meet the needs of their customers.

How do you implement a customer-first strategy?

To implement a customer-first strategy, you must start by understanding your customers. For me, this starts with simply watching and listening to them. I say “simply”, but this is one of the most powerful ways to not only know, but truly understand your customers and how your product or service fits into their lives.

Once you have done this, you can supplement your knowledge, if you have found gaps in it, by conducting market research surveys, collecting customer feedback, and analyzing customer data.

All the information you gather can be used to design products and services that meet their needs, as well as to develop marketing strategies that resonate with them and to provide excellent customer service.

Implementing a customer-first strategy requires a fundamental shift in how a business operates. It requires a commitment from top management to put the customer at the centre of everything the business does.

This means creating a customer-centric culture and empowering employees to make decisions that benefit the customer. I suggest you check your mission and vision statements and mention the customer specifically in them.

It also entails using customer input to continuously improve products and services, and creating a feedback loop that ensures that the customer is always at the centre of decision-making. If you’re a regular here, you’ll know my favourite question that I suggest every business uses because of its power, is:

“What would our customers think of the decision we’ve just taken?”

If you know they wouldn’t agree, your decision probably needs rethinking.

What are the benefits of a customer-first strategy?

I touched upon this in last week’s post when I spoke about “The Little Known Disadvantages of a Customer-first Strategy”, but here is a summary of the advantages I mentioned:

Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty
Increased customer retention
Enhanced brand reputation
Improved customer acquisition
Higher revenue and profits
Reduced marketing costs
Increased employee satisfaction and productivity

Reading this list makes me wonder why every organisation has not yet adopted a customer-first strategy! You too?

What are the challenges of a customer-first strategy?

Adopting a customer-first strategy can be challenging, especially for businesses that are used to a more product-focused approach. Again, the challenges you might face were detailed in last week’s post, but here are some of the key ones I included:

Shifting the company culture to be more customer-centric
Collecting and analyzing customer data
Designing products and services that meet customer needs
Developing marketing strategies that resonate with customers
Providing excellent customer service
Balancing the needs of different customer segments
Ensuring that the customer-first approach is sustainable in the long term.

To summarise, the most commonly faced challenge in adopting a customer-first strategy is a lack of customer understanding. In fact, I would go further and say that this is by far the most common reason businesses don’t grow or even fail.

Far too many businesses make assumptions about what their customers want, without taking the time to research and gather data about them.

In addition, the over-arching challenge worth mentioning is a lack of buy-in from the company leadership team. Without the commitment of top executives, it can be difficult to create a customer-centric culture and empower employees to make decisions that benefit the customer.

In a word, start at the top with leadership buy-in and then ensure every employee gets to know your customers. That’s what customer-centricity is all about.

How can you measure the success of a customer-first strategy?

Measuring the success of a customer-first strategy requires a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures. Key metrics to track include customer satisfaction, retention rates, lifetime value, and net promoter score (NPS).

It’s also important to collect qualitative feedback from customers, to understand how they perceive your brand and how you can improve their experience even more.

Keep in mind that the metrics you choose should be aligned with the business’s goals and be regularly tracked and analyzed to guarantee that the customer-first strategy delivers the expected results.

How can I create a customer-centric culture?

As I have already mentioned, creating a customer-centric culture requires a commitment from top leadership to prioritize the customer.

This means investing in customer research and analytics, empowering employees to make decisions that benefit the customer, and ensuring that the customer is always at the centre of decision-making.

It also means establishing a set of values and behaviours aligned with the customer-first strategy, and then embedding those values and behaviours into the organisation’s very fabric.

I would also suggest that your mission and vision statements include your customers by name, so no one will forget why you’re in business and who you are serving.

How can I ensure that my customer-first strategy is sustainable?

Ensuring that a customer-first strategy is sustainable requires a commitment to continuous improvement. This means regularly gathering customer feedback, analyzing it, and using it to improve products and services.

It also means staying up-to-date with changes in the market and adapting your strategy accordingly.

Finally, it means creating a culture of innovation and experimentation, where employees are encouraged to do whatever they can to not only satisfy but to surprise and delight your customers at all times.

Adopting a customer-first strategy can be a powerful way to differentiate your brand and drive business growth. While implementing it can be challenging, the benefits are well worth the effort. By putting your customers at the heart of your business, you can build stronger relationships, which will drive customer loyalty, and, ultimately, increase your bottom line.

If you still have a question about customer centricity, why not book a complimentary discovery call with me? We can discuss your own concerns and find solutions to your most urgent challenges.

How Leaders can Successfully Lead a Customer-first Strategy Adoption

Posted on April 18, 2023April 18, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

As a leader, you know that customer centricity is critical to the success of your business. However, it is not enough to pay lip service to this concept; you must make it an integral part of your company’s culture and business strategy.

In this post, we will explore what customer centricity means, why it is essential, and how you, as a leader, can successfully lead a customer-first strategy adoption in your organization.

Defining Customer Centricity

Customer centricity is a business strategy that puts the customer at the heart of everything the company does. It involves understanding the needs and desires of your customers and then tailoring your products and services to meet them.

Customer centricity is not just about providing excellent customer service; it’s about creating a culture of customer obsession that permeates every aspect of the business. This is why it must be a company objective.

Why is a Customer-first Strategy Important?

There are several reasons why a customer-first strategy is crucial for the success of your business. First and foremost, it helps you build a loyal customer base.

When customers feel that a company truly understands their needs and is committed to meeting them, they are more likely to become repeat customers and recommend the company to others. This can help you increase revenue and grow your business.

Customer centricity can also help you differentiate yourself from your competitors. In today’s highly competitive business environment, standing out from the crowd can be challenging.

However, suppose you can demonstrate that you are genuinely committed to meeting your customers’ needs. That’s a great way to distinguish yourself from other companies that are just going through the motions.

Finally, customer centricity can help you stay ahead of the curve regarding new product and service development. By constantly seeking customer feedback, you can identify emerging trends and stay ahead of the competition. This can help you develop new offers that meet your customer’s needs today and tomorrow.

Leading a Customer-first Strategy in Your Organization

Implementing a customer-first strategy in your organization requires a significant shift in mindset and culture. Here are the steps you can take to make customer-centricity a reality in your business:

1. Start with the CEO

As a business leader, you need to lead by example.

Make it clear to your employees that customer centricity is a top priority for the company.

Set measurable goals and hold your team accountable for achieving them.

This sends a strong message to everyone in the organization that customer-centricity is not just a buzzword but a fundamental part of the business strategy.

2. Understand Your Customers

To be truly customer-centric, you need to understand your customers deeply.

This means going beyond demographic data and understanding their motivations, pain points, and desires.

Watch and listen to your customers frequently. Conduct customer research, including surveys and focus groups, to gain insights into what your customers want and need.

Collect the information in a customer persona/avatar template. If you don’t have your own, check out our 4W™ Template HERE.

Then use this information to inform product development, as well as your marketing and sales strategies.

3. Create a Customer-Focused Culture

To create a customer-focused culture, you must ensure that everyone in the organization understands the importance of customer-centricity.

This means training employees on how to provide excellent customer service, empowering them to make decisions that benefit the customer, and incentivizing them to prioritize customer satisfaction.

Recognize and reward employees who go above and beyond in meeting your customers’ needs.

4. Use Customer Data to Drive Decision Making

Data is critical to understanding your customers and making better business decisions.

Use customer data to identify trends, track customer behaviour, and measure the success of your customer-centric initiatives.

You can also make use of the data you collect to inform your product development, marketing, and sales strategies.

5. Continuously Seek Feedback

Customer needs and desires are constantly evolving. As already mentioned, you must continuously seek customer feedback to stay ahead of the curve.

This can be done through surveys and focus groups and by watching and listening to your customers through call centres or social media.

Then use this feedback to inform the development and improve existing products and services.

6. Build Customer Relationships

Building solid relationships with your customers is critical to creating a customer-centric organization. This means going beyond transactional interactions and doing whatever it takes to build long-term relationships with them.

Use customer relationship management (CRM) tools to track customer interactions, personalize communications, and provide excellent customer service.

7. Continuous Improvement

Customer centricity is not a one-time project; it is an ongoing journey and takes constant effort by every employee.

Continuously look for ways to improve your customers’ experience, whether it is through new product development, better customer service, or more personalized communications.

Never be satisfied by customer satisfaction; their surprise and delight should be your objective.

Regularly assess your customer-centric initiatives and make improvements based on feedback and data.

Benefits of a Customer-first Strategy

Implementing a customer-centric business strategy can have numerous benefits for your organization. Here are some of the most essential benefits from my perspective:

1. Increased Customer Loyalty

When you prioritize customer satisfaction and build strong relationships with your customers, you are more likely to create a loyal customer base.

This can increase revenue, as repeat customers are more likely to make additional purchases and recommend your company to others.

Loyal customers are also more likely to forgive you should anything adverse happen – as it almost certainly will!

Whether this is a product recall, negative social media reactions or communication or distribution problems, your solid reputation for customer care will benefit you.

2. Differentiation from Competitors

In today’s crowded marketplace, standing out from the competition can be challenging, as I’m sure you already know.

By prioritizing customer satisfaction and building a customer-centric culture, you can differentiate yourself from other companies that are not as focused on meeting the needs of their customers.

3. Improved Product Development

By understanding your customers and their needs, you can develop products and services that meet their needs, preferences and desires.

This can lead to more successful product launches and increased revenue.

4. Increased Revenue

When you create a loyal customer base and differentiate yourself from the competition, you will likely see increased revenue.

In addition, by focusing on customer satisfaction, you can identify new revenue streams and opportunities for growth.

5. Improved Employee Satisfaction

Creating a customer-centric culture can also improve employee satisfaction.

When employees are empowered to provide excellent customer service, and they see their positive impact on customers, they are more likely to be engaged and satisfied in their work.

This is, of course, much more important for customer-facing service industries than it is for consumer goods in general. However, all employees should understand their role in both satisfying and delighting the customer.

Conclusions to Lead a Customer-first Strategy

As a leader, implementing a customer-centric business strategy is critical to the success of your organization. I’ve already stressed this numerous times.

By understanding your customers, creating a customer-focused culture, using customer data to drive decision-making, and continuously seeking feedback, you can build a loyal customer base, differentiate yourself from the competition, and drive revenue growth.

While implementing customer-centricity requires a significant shift in mindset and company culture, the benefits are well worth the effort. Numerous research studies show a more than three times higher growth rate for companies demonstrating customer experience excellence.

So what are you waiting for? C3Centricity offers a number of products and courses to meet your precise needs. Take a look at our most popular topics HERE or book a private discussion with Denyse.

Post Covid People are Searching for More Meaningful Connection & Engagement

Posted on March 7, 2023May 29, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

I know, you probably don’t want to read yet another article about the post-pandemic era. But bear with me; this is about customer connection and engagement.

Since covid, people have changed their perspective on many categories. They have also adapted their purchasing behaviour following lockdown. So this seems to be the perfect time to reconsider our customer-first strategies, doesn’t it?

Up until the covid-19 virus infected the globe, almost every single organisation, big or small, recognised the importance of satisfying their customers. However, most of them were only giving lip service to customer-centricity. Very few were actually going beyond voicing their opinions.

So I have some bad news if you are in this first group and it’s this. Not actioning a customer-first approach in everything you do is no longer an option. You were be called out, most probably very publically online. Customers are sharing their experiences of companies and brands far more than they were doing before the pandemic.

It makes sense. What else did we have to do than surf the internet all day long? And this habit seems to have remained. According to the latest global statistics, back in 2020, the average consumer spent 474 minutes a day on digital media. By 2023, that number is predicted to rise, according to the experts, to 500 minutes on digital media.

Taking a closer look at social media use trends, business owners and marketers can learn a great deal about opportunities to boost engagement and business impact as the new norm continues to evolve.

The article by Business.com lists four things consumers are looking for:

They want to be entertained – understandable when you consider how much time they are spending online.
Unlocking creativity – they are not only consuming content, but they are also creating it in larger quantities than ever before.
They want connection and comfort – people are desperate to overcome their isolation and connect with others, so online multiplayer gaming and chat have surged.
They seek positive content to cheer them up – it’s a natural human response to seek uplifting, inspirational content during difficult times.

If I were to sum up these four desires, I would say that people are looking for more connection and engagement. Exactly what a customer-first strategy provides! But there are things to avoid.

[bctt tweet=”Customers have four desires when online, that can be summarised as simply a desire for more connection and engagement. Exactly what a customer-first strategy provides! #CEX #CustomerFirst #CustomerCentricity #CMO” username=”Denysech”]

When an organisation decides to become more customer centric, there are many mistakes that are commonly made. This article “7 Reasons for Failure When Adopting a Customer First Strategy” gives the main ones and makes a complementary read to this post.

But today’s world has accelerated the upward trend of the importance of a customer-first strategy and makes it one of the most, if not the most important one for all organisations.

It is no longer the norm, or even the new norm, of successful businesses. It is becoming the make-or-break criteria for surviving the post-pandemic era.

And many companies are already falling behind – fast! It should, however, be noted that for many retailers, the pandemic has only sped up their likely demise and appearance in bankruptcy courts. For more on this, I suggest you read “As pandemic stretches on, retail bankruptcies approach highest number in a decade.”

While retail is clearly suffering as purchases in lockdown went online, it is not the only industry to have been hit hard. Another CNBC article highlights others, including cruises, fitness centers, energy and airlines.

Whether or not these too were headed downwards or not, customers hold the key to success more than ever before, as their spending becomes less impulsive. The 20 biggest companies that have filed for bankruptcy because of the coronavirus pandemic are listed in this article on Forbes.

Reasons for having a customer-first strategy

Enough research has been done to prove that the return on a customer-first strategy is significant. Here are just a few of the statistics I have found.

86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience. But only 1% of customers feel that vendors consistently meet their expectations. CEI Survey
89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company after experiencing poor customer service. RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report
Walker forecast that by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Customers 2020 Report
A 10% increase in customer retention levels result in a 30% increase in the value of the company. Bain & Co
94% of consumers say they are more likely to be loyal to a brand that offers transparency. Label Insight

These are numbers that would make any CEO sit up and take notice! But will it make them act? What’s holding them back from investing in their customers rather than (just) in the products and services they offer?

I believe that this data can no longer be ignored. It’s time every CEO started initiating a move to a more customer centric organisation. NO more excuses; this has to be (OK, one of) your top priorities!

If you’re ready to put your customers first, then C3Centricity can help. We will inspire your team, no matter where in the world you operate. Contact us today for a complimentary advisory session.

Marketers are too busy building brands

With so much information available today, marketing is being challenged to demonstrate its ROI. This might explain why they are still putting their efforts into brand building, sometimes to the detriment of their customers, consumers and clients.

However, an analysis run by IBM on research carried out in the UK last year by the Callcredit Information Group gives a different reason. They found that the majority of marketers is feeling overwhelmed by all this data. Their explanation for this is that:

“Only 29% of marketers believe they have the necessary skills to analyse data, with 44% planning on investing in further training over the next two years to boost confidence within their organisations around the handling of information.”

According to a Forrester report, 44% of B2C marketers are using big data and analytics to improve responsiveness to customer interactions. But of equal importance in terms of top two mentions, is the desire to generate insights. ( Source)

It saddens me that despite the constant flow of data into companies they still lack insights into customer connection and engagement. As I’m often quoted as saying:

“We’re drowning in data but thirsting for insights.”

Marketing is clearly so busy using data to manage pricing, distribution and their communication channels, that they are not using the information to get to know their customers better. This conclusion is confirmed by a Forbes article which mentions that marketing is using big data to provide answers to “which content is the most effective, how to increase conversion rates and customer lifetime value.” It would be good if they used it to increase satisfaction and loyalty, no?

[bctt tweet=”Marketing is clearly so busy using data to manage pricing, distribution and their communication channels, that they are not using the information to get to know their customers better. It would be good if they used it to increase satisfaction and loyalty, no? #CEX #CRM #CustomerFirst #CustomerCentricity” username=”Denysech”]

Big data has actually done customer understanding a disfavour since organisations are hardly increasing their spend on market research according to ESOMAR’s latest industry figures. The industry grew a measly 2.1% in 2018, once again confirming that there continues to be no “significant” growth recorded in the past seven years! Compare this to the more than 4-6% increases recorded for ad spend over the past five years.

But there is some hope. A recent report from OnBrand Magazine on the KPIs used by marketing showed that Marketers are using a variety of metrics to measure the impact of their brand marketing activities.

In surveying more than 560 global brand managers and CMOs, the analysis concludes that new customer acquisition (75%) and social media engagement (72%) are the two primary ways they determine the success of their brand marketing efforts.

This may not be the full solution, but it is certainly a start in customer connection and engagement!

However, there is still a lot of room for improvement. A 2016 Spencer Stuart survey shows data analysis and insights are one of the three main areas where CMOs need the most development as a leader.

Unfortunately, they are also the skills which more than half of them say are most difficult to find when building a team!

So if CMOs can’t develop insight about their customers, shouldn’t market research be more not less important to them? After all, it’s the one profession which spends its whole time trying to understand the market and customers. So what’s going wrong?

Market research is seen as a cost, not an investment

Companies still need market research to understand their customers and improve the connection and engagement of their customers.

Yes, there is a wealth of information flooding into organisations with the IoT, but those numbers don’t tell you their “why.” That’s where market research comes into its own. It needs to provide more “why” answers and not just the mere statistics they seem comfortable dropping on the laps of executives and marketers alike.

I believe that (a large?) part of the issue is also the researchers themselves. They’re not sociable, speak a language others don’t understand and seem afraid to voice their own opinion, let alone make recommendations.

This was confirmed in The Vermeer Millward Brown Insights 2020 research. It clearly showed the advantages of a senior market research position at the board level. But to get there, the majority of researchers need new skills.

The critical capabilities which were said to highlight the biggest differences between leaders and laggards were in business acumen, creative solution thinking, storytelling and direction setting.

It seems a real pity to me that the very people who should benefit from the explosion in data availability are not profiting from it. As if their needed analytical skills are not enough, there is also a real opportunity for them to lead the customer-first strategy in many organisations.

Customer services are seen as complaint handlers

When I was first hired to head up the global consumer excellence division for Nestle, I found a group of siloed departments which rarely shared information. Even worse, the customer care centre was seen as mere complaint handlers. Their image was of a group of women who spent their days on the phone talking to other women!

I don’t think Nestle were the only ones who had this image at that time. And sadly I still find similar perceptions in many organisations which become my clients through a desire to make the much-needed changes.

You only have to take a look at the financial results of companies which excel at customer care to realise the business benefits of putting the customer first: Amazon, Southwest, Zappos to name but a few.

An excellent article by Shep Hyken called “Ten Customer Service Tips for Customer Loyalty Month” details the essentials of a forward-thinking customer-first strategy and what it means today. Even if it is now quite old, I still believe the article is of immense value, which is why I mention it here. In the post, he mentions that

“According to Forrester, 72% of businesses say that improving the customer experience is their top priority. A study from NewVoiceMedia indicates that companies lose more than $62 billion due to poor customer service. No company can afford to be a customer service laggard.”

The Forrester report from which Shep quotes was from an ongoing analysis that has been run each year since 2010. The key findings from the 2016 report showed:

In all five sectors they covered, companies with higher customer experience (CX) scores outperformed their rivals in revenue growth
CX leaders showed an annual growth rate of 17% compared to just 3% for the others.
The cable and retail industries beat the field in CX by 24% and 26%, which is a huge boost to the bottom line.
Even in the sector with the smallest range (airlines), there was a 5% difference between companies.
This also translated into subscriber growth – in the cable industry leaders grew internet subscribers by 23.9% more than others and video subscribers by 13.9%

Along with the previously mentioned statistics, I can see no reason for a company not to invest in a customer first strategy. If you can think of any yourself, then I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

In conclusion

To answer the title of this article, a customer-first strategy needs an organisation to recenter itself behind what must be a company-wide objective. Customer centricity can make a real difference in terms of both sales and profits to those who follow this direction. But it is essential to have executive support and a true commitment from every employee to think customer first.

It will take skill upgrades for both marketing and market research departments to translate the data and information gathered into actionable insights. But that is a small investment for the huge returns that have been proven.

And being customer centric will mean that every employee finally has the chance to get close up and personal with customers. This is the only way for them to understand the role they play in satisfying and delighting them.

Are you ready to adopt a customer-first strategy? If so, then check out our website for more tips and answer our free assessment: https://c3centricity.com. Upon completion, you will receive a detailed report that shows you what to do to improve and how to prioritise your actions.

7 Reasons Why Your Customer First Strategy Adoption Will Fail!

Posted on January 5, 2023March 13, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Every CEO knows that a stronger customer focus can be the answer to many – dare I say most? – of their business challenges!

So why do so many companies continue to struggle in successfully adopting a customer-first strategy and culture?

Here are the seven main reasons why companies fail to effectively adopt a customer first strategy; which one are you struggling with the most today?

1. The CEO has stated it as a company objective but has not detailed what nor how the organisation will change

While it is essential that a customer-first strategy has a board-level sponsor, it is important that every employee understands their role in making it happen. It should not be treated as just another project for one department to complete, but as a long-term, top 3 company objective.

When this happens, every division is driven to identify how their actions will impact their customers and what part they will play in meeting this important company objective.

This is one area where the CEO can’t set it and forget it. He/she needs to be regularly informed of progress and should ask some “awkward” questions to ensure that everyone is truly embracing the objective. Without this company-wide support, the strategy will never succeed.

[bctt tweet=”The CEO needs to ask the awkward questions that ensure everyone is embracing a customer-first strategy. #CEX #CRM #CustomerFirst #CustomerCentricity #Customer” username=”Denysech”]

A few years ago, the Business Roundtable, which is an association of over 180 CEOs leading US companies, agreed to put people before profits. They specifically said they would be:

Delivering value to our customers.
Investing in our employees.
Dealing fairly and ethically with our suppliers.
Supporting the communities in which we work.

With many organisations now struggling to recover from the impact of covid-19, it is interesting to see whether they have all moved forward on these objectives.

The Business Roundtable updated their results one year later. In the summary you can read HERE they say:

One year later – through a period of unprecedented crises – companies have demonstrated a commitment to the values embedded in the Statement.

2. The organisation has not fully embraced the strategy

As mentioned above, everyone has a role to play in satisfying and delighting the customer. It is not the job of marketing, sales or market research alone to understand their needs. It is vital that each employee thinks customer first and ensures that every action and decision they make is customer centric.

One easy way to do this is to ask this question at the end of every meeting:

“what would our customers think of the decision we just made?”

If there is something they wouldn’t like or you know that you yourself wouldn’t approve of, then it needs to be reconsidered.

[bctt tweet=”What would our customers think of the decision we just made? #CEX #CRM #CustomerFirst #CustomerCentricity #Customer” username=”Denysech”]

I would also suggest reading the recent post “7 Ways to Deliver Awesome Customer Service.” It includes seven recommendations so that everyone in an organisation can treat the customer with the respect and great service they deserve.

3. The project is treated just like any other

As with every well-defined objective, it is important that there is a responsible leader supported by a well-rounded and experienced team to lead the customer-first adoption. They will be responsible for ensuring that every department identifies and makes progress in the desired direction. They will also be able to adapt and adjust the plans as challenges arise in its execution.

This is the same for every project, not just that of adopting a customer-first strategy. For more on project management I suggest reading the post “Getting to Yes: A 7-step Roadmap to Successful Project Management.”

However, unlike most other projects, adopting a customer first strategy will not have an end date! It should have a timeline to identify milestones, of course. But as the customer will continue to change, the actions needed will need constant adaptation. I like to say that “customer-centricity is a journey, not a destination.”

[bctt tweet=”Customer-centricity is a journey, not a destination. #CEX #CRM #CustomerFirst #CustomerCentricity #Customer” username=”Denysech”]

4. The initiative does not have a visible leader

The initiative must have an executive sponsor and a passionate and charismatic leader, to excite and drive the whole organisation towards a more customer-centric approach to business.

Once the board has endorsed the initiative, the every-day leadership should be handled by someone who exemplifies customer-centricity and has a passion for customer delight.

In the most customer-centric organisations, this person is a CCO (Chief Customer Officer) or CXO (Chief Experience Officer) who sits on the executive board alongside the CEO, CFO and CMO.

According to this article in Forbes, the responsibilities of a CCO are to:

Bring The Customer To Life
Reach Outside The Organization
Involve The Front Lines
Embrace The Data

As you can see, these are actions that demand specific capabilities that complement rather than replace those of the heads of sales, marketing and PR. That is why a customer-first strategy needs a separate functional head. Trying to integrate these into the responsibilities of these other leaders is unlikely to meet with much success. Some of the best CCOs / CXOs come with a background in customer service or market research. This is because both professions prioritise the need to not only know but also understand the customer. Another Forbes article highlights some of the dangers of appointing a CCO or CXO. These include thinking that the job is then done, or that the person remains just a figurehead without any power to change company structure nor culture. It certainly makes interesting reading if you too are contemplating recruiting a customer representative and will help you to avoid many errors.

5. No-one understands how to move the initiative forward.

When you don’t know where you’re going, most people are afraid to take the first step. But that’s the only one you need to know. It’s easier to course-correct when you are moving than when you’re standing still. As already mentioned, customer centricity is a journey, not a destination.

That’s why many organisations now work with a business catalyst to help them take those all important first few steps. Once the project is up and running, occasional sessions are then sufficient to keep the internal excitement for the customer growing.

If you are nervous about “going it alone” then let’s discuss your first moves. Just contact me for an informal chat.

[bctt tweet=”Successful businesses work with a business catalyst to help them take the important first few steps when adopting a customer-first strategy” #CRM #CEX #CustomerFirst #CustomerCentricity username=”Denysech”]

6. Everyone in the organisation is unclear about their role in satisfying and delighting the customer.

It is well-known that companies such as Amazon and Zappos have new employees enjoy direct contact with the customer from their very first days’ working in the company. However, this is something that should also be encouraged on an ongoing basis as well.

Ideally, every employee should get the chance to watch, listen and interact with customers regularly. The best organisations have such connections on every employee’s annual objectives, specifying such exchanges on a monthly basis as a minimum.

If you would like to start making regular contact with your customers in person, rather than through your care centers, then I would highly recommend you read “Five Rules of Customer Observation for Greater Success.”This article will help you to avoid the mistakes many make when observing the customer for the first time. It is also a useful reminder for those who have been connecting for a long time and may have some bad habits they need to correct.

7. They think it costs too much

While this may be the perception, in reality, it costs a lot more NOT to adopt a customer-first strategy. It makes both business sense AND customer sense.

There has been so much research done on the impact of adopting a customer- first strategy that there is no doubt that it provides a positive ROI (return on investment):

Walker found that 86% of buyers would pay more for a better experience.
Genesys showed that improving the experience for customers is the key to increasing retention, satisfaction and sales.
Deloitte and Touch claim that customer centric companies are 60% more profitable.
Bain & Company research shows that increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by between 25% and 95%.

These numbers should be sufficient to convince every CEO that a customer-first strategy is worth investing in. In fact, it is an essential strategy every CEO would be wise to adopt, no matter what industry they are in. So what are you or your CEO waiting for? Did I miss a different problem you are currently facing? What other challenges have you faced or are now facing in adopting a customer-first strategy? Please let me know by adding your comments below.

If you would like to know what support we can provide in helping you to adopt a customer first strategy, check out our website then contact us here:

https://c3centricity.com/contact

Essentials of a Customer First Strategy Every Industry Needs to Adopt

Posted on December 1, 2022May 29, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Every business should strive to improve their customers’ experience with their products and services. Adopting a customer first strategy is therefore often mentioned as a company objective. Unfortunately, it rarely goes beyond the theory in most organisations, so I decided to help out with these six suggestions.

Hospitality is perhaps one of the most visible industries where customer satisfaction, or lack of, is quickly shared with the world. (Read my last post for more on this)

It is true that without satisfaction, customers will not return to a hotel or restaurant. And they will almost certainly share their (bad) experiences with anyone who will listen – including online!

Hospitality is also one of the industries that receives the most comments online, thanks to TripAdvisor and other booking sites. There is no hiding from their clients!

Now while I empathise, this is not all bad news. Because it means that great service will also be more quickly known about online. Therefore you can make changes and see the results almost immediately, or at least far quicker than in most other businesses.

However, despite this, I believe that the hospitality industry has a lot it can learn from consumer packaged goods (CPG) where improvements take the consumer longer to appreciate. In fact most other industries could benefit from taking a look at some of CPG’s best-in-class processes.

Both the hospitality and CPG industries have their customers at their heart; after all it’s in their name. They are both founded on pleasing and hopefully delighting their clientele in the quality of the products and services they offer.

However, as the world changes, customer demands do too and companies need to stay current if not ahead of these requirements, in order to ensure continued growth.

The 6 essentials of a customer first strategy

#1. From ROI / ROR to ROE

There has been a lot of talk recently on moving from a return on investment to a return on relationship metric. While I agree with the importance of relationships, I believe that what we should be talking about is engagement. Be honest, other than the author of the once popular book that started talking about brand love, who wants to have a relationship with a brand?!

Brands that have a high following and loyalty have found a way to consistently engage their fans and keep them coming back. They become involved and interested in the brand, the product, their website, even their communications.

Coca Cola and Red Bull are great examples of this. You should also check out another post entitles “Increasing Impact & Engagement through Advertising Testing.”

[bctt tweet=”Brands that have a high following and loyalty have found a way to consistently engage their fans and keep them coming back. #CEX #CRM #Engagement” username=”Denysech”]

#2. Building Relationships with Strangers

While the hospitality industry is based on serving and satisfying its guests, in today’s connected world, it also needs to consider people who are currently strangers – but who could potentially become clients.

These might be the friends of current guests, who for example the Rosewood Mayakoba resort in Mexico tries to attract. Let me explain.

This wonderful hotel encourages its guests to photograph their experiences during their stay at the resort and then to share them with their friends on Facebook. This not only provides free publicity for the hotel, but also enables it to start engaging these potential clients, since they probably have similar lifestyles to their current guests.

User generated content (UGC) works well because customers trust each other a lot more than they do brands. Research from Forbes shows that 81% of consumers’ purchase decisions are influenced by their friends’ social media posts.

For some great examples of successful UGC campaigns, I highly recommend checking out this article on Wedevs. You may also like to read our article “The Exceptionally Easy & Profitable Uses of Customer Co-creation.”

[bctt tweet=”User generated content (UGC) works well because customers trust each other a lot more than they do brands. #CEX #CRM #Trust @C3Centricity” username=”Denysech”]

#3. Value is More Important than Price

Having additional control in their lives today means that customers are re-evaluating what they are offered. They have higher expectations and are more discerning in their choices. They expect recognition at every touchpoint, even if in reality their peers influence their decisions more than does traditional marketing. This is important to keep in mind as you build your customer first strategy.

The internet enables people to compare offers, so they are less interested in bundled propositions, preferring to decide what is best value for them personally for each element. Several brands have understood this and now offer their customers the possibility to define their own, personal bundle of options. Liberty Mutual is one such example of this.

According to research by Walker, 86% of consumers would be willing to pay more for a better experience. So don’t get fixated on price; find ways to add value that consumers may appreciate far more than its actual cost to you.

To learn more about pricing and value check out “Sourcing & Services Matter: Why Price Alone Won’t get your Customers to Stay.”

[bctt tweet=”Don’t get fixated on price; find ways to add value that consumers may appreciate far more than its actual cost to you. #CEX #CRM #Trust @C3Centricity” username=”Denysech”]

#4. Renovation is More than just for Buildings

Most CPG companies have targets for innovation and renovation; sometimes it can be as much as 30% or more of annual revenue. They also have mid-term innovation pipelines which can include partnerships in joint ventures with what were previously mere competitors. These have mutual benefits as each partner can concentrate on their individual skills, which enables each partner to then develop better new products and services.

Consider building partnerships and joint-ventures into your own customer first strategy. They will enable you to satisfy and delight your customers far more quickly than you could do when working alone.

For hospitality, innovation can no longer be purely physical or rational; we need to consider more emotional and relational ways to satisfy. The Rosewood Mayakoba resort, already mentioned above, is one good example of this. The Art Series Hotels were another, until they were bought by the Accor group. Check out one of the latter’s last campaigns to appreciate how they excelled at understanding their guests: Art Series Overstay Checkout. Sadly they have now become just another chain hotel, despite trying to communicate something different. I also recommend reviewing the amazing pictures posted on MayaKoba’s Facebook page?

If you want more ideas on innovating, then you will certainly appreciate our article “A Customer-First Approach to Successful Innovation.”

#5. Loyalty is Never Really Won

One of the reasons that I believe we need to work on building engagement in all industries, and not just in hospitality, is because customer demands are constantly evolving. What satisfied them yesterday, can bore or even disappoint today.

To acquire and retain our customers, we need to be constantly upgrading our products and services, so that they remain surprised and delighted. This means that loyalty is much less long-term than in the past, and lifetime value is now measured in years rather than in decades.

[bctt tweet=”To acquire and retain our customers, we need to be constantly upgrading our products and services, so that they remain surprised and delighted. #Customer #CEX #CRM #Satisfaction @C3Centricity” username=”Denysech”]

Ensure you build loyalty actions into your customer first strategy, not just for attracting new customers. Remember it costs far more to get new customers than to keep and grow your current ones. So don’t ignore them by considering that they don’t need further efforts once won. Loyalty doesn’t last for ever!

#6. Dialogue and Exchange, Don’t Just Communicate

In today’s connected world, customers want a say in not only what they consume, but also where, when and how they are marketed to. They want a say in what they buy and expect a rapid resolution to any queries or complaints.

According to SuperOffice nearly half of all customers (46%) expect companies to respond to social media postings within 4 hours, while 12% expect a response within 15 minutes or less. This means that 24/7 monitoring is essential for all organisations if we are not to disappoint our most engaged customers.

[bctt tweet=”We must have 24/7 monitoring if we are not to disappoint our most engaged customers. #CEX #CRM #Customer #Engagement @C3Centricity” username=”Denysech”]

These are just six of the many ideas I shared during a talk I gave to the faculty of a world- renowned hospitality school. If you are interested in seeing the full talk, I am happy to share it. Just email me with your details and what your biggest business challenge is currently in adopting a customer first strategy.

Are you struggling to improve your own customer centricity? Whatever people-facing industry you are in, we would welcome the chance to catalyse your growth. Check out our website for more information about our services and training programs, then contact us here.

Adopting a Customer First Strategy. Even the Police Can Get it Right!

Posted on August 28, 2022May 24, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

In most countries, the population have a love / hate relationship with their police. You can imagine my surprise, therefore, to find myself writing about how they appear to be adopting a customer first strategy in Switzerland!

Let me explain. A few years ago they introduced a new-style speed radars in the villages around my home town. The elements are not that new per se, I know, but last week it suddenly hit me why these speed cameras seem to be so effective. It’s simple; they’re customer centric! The Swiss police have adopted a customer first strategy! And that’s why I want to share more about this story here.

Background

Police speed camera — Image Source: Wikipedia

One of the reasons why the Police are disliked in many (dare I say most?) countries, is because of their insidious speed controls.

Whether they are permanent fixtures as on the right, or temporary ones, we all dislike the flash that tells us it’s too late, that we’ve been “caught.”

We then wait a few days, to weeks or even months, naively hoping that it wasn’t our car that was flashed. But eventually the letter arrives asking us to pay a fine.

I think the worst of them all are the laser guns that the Police have been using for many years now. We don’t even know we’ve been flashed until the communication arrives at our home! Or we are pulled up a few hundred meters down the road.

Example of a customer first strategy in action with a smiley traffic radar — Image source: Alibaba

The relatively new types of radar that are being introduced in my home area don’t flash either. But that’s because we never get “caught” as such.

You see they measure our speed and give us immediate feedback. Take a look at the photo on the right; I’m sure you’ve seen such installations before in your own area.

Now if we make the assumption that all four types of equipment are to get road users to decrease their speed in critical areas – and not just to gather money as I’ve heard suggested – then the results must vary widely.

So let me share my thoughts from the perspective of a customer first strategy champion.

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Permanent radars

Everyone quickly knows where these are located. In fact, in some countries there are warning signs and they are actually highlighted on the GPS mapping system you may have in your car.

speed radar warning — Image source: Pixabay

In some places, the permanent radars are not always functioning, as the cameras inside them are rotated between installations. It is therefore not possible to know which radars are active and which aren’t. The Police then get a multiple deterrent effect, beyond the number of cameras they have actually installed.

A driver’s behaviour when passing this type of installation, tends to be the following. The traffic is rolling along “normally” and probably over the speed limit. Then everyone brakes hard just in time to pass the radar below the maximum speed allowed. They then speed up again to continue along the road at their previous faster pace.

This phenomenon is in fact well known by the Police. In fact, they sometimes add a second, mobile radar a few hundred meters down from the permanent one, to catch those who are once again speeding!

Even the warning signs, as on the left, don’t have much impact on drivers and the speed limitation is quickly forgotten.

Whether they get caught with the first or second radar, the impact on the end customer, the driver, will be the same.

They feel angry and frustrated, which makes them less attentive, and may result in them driving more erratically. They may even speed up feeling that now they have been caught, there is nothing more to lose!

Not good for the driver nor the Police’s objective of maintaining a slower, safer speed in the vicinity. Clearly not a part of a customer first strategy!

In Switzerland they did try painting the cameras to make them stand out in a fun way. The Emmental cheese on the right used to be close to Geneva airport, but I have seen giraffes and other designs here too. Of course I have also seen other radars that have been painted, but these were done by angry motorists!

Temporary radars

Temporary radars have a similar function to the permanent ones, but it usually takes a day or two for drivers to become aware of their location. Their reactions will then be similar to the permanent radars, with the slowing down before and the speeding up after the radar has been passed.

This is not good for traffic fluidity, nor for slowing it down. And the drivers’ reactions if flashed will be just the same as with the permanent installations. Again, not good for making the roads safer by slowing down the traffic, and clearly not a demonstration of a customer first strategy.

Laser speed guns

Police laser gun — Image source: Wikipedia

These are probably the most hated form of speed control by drivers. They have no knowledge of where they are, nor even that they have been flashed. It could be argued that they are therefore not a deterrent to speeding, but a pure money-making exercise for the Police.

I admit that the Police do tend to stand in certain places where speeding is a common occurrence. Knowledgeable, local drivers look out for them when approaching the areas and adapt their speed accordingly.

But overall they are not really a device to deter speeding and therefore the associated sentiments are very negative.

Once again this type of radar would not be used if the Police have adopted a customer first strategy.

Speed Information

The speed radar that prompted this post measures your speed but then immediately gives you feedback. You are rewarded with a happy green smiley if you are within the speed limit. Or a red frown with a message to slow down if you are speeding.

I have witnessed people approaching these devices and slowing down whether or not they are speeding. And they don’t speed up after they have passed them either. How’s that for having a positive influence on behaviour?

Also, if the drivers are like me, they also get a feel-good feeling for being congratulated for not speeding. I find these by far the most efficient at controlling traffic speed and fluidity, but of course the Police don’t get any money.

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What This Has to Do with Your business

So why is this example relevant for you and your own customer first strategy? Well, ask yourself what you really want for your business?

In the case of the police, I am assuming that they want to reduce the speed of drivers in certain areas and make the roads safer for everyone. In this case, the customer-centric approach, which has by far the most success at slowing drivers down to within the speed limit along a larger portion of the road, is the information panel. If that is their objective, then the Police in every country should adopt these new style radars.

But if those who consider speed checks to be a mere money-making operation are right, then the Police will continue to use one of their other options. And they must accept the negative consequences on so many levels, not just on their image or speeding in their localities.

So, take a hard look at your own business actions and ask yourself what you really want for your business? If you are sincerely customer centric, you will stop any practices that you know your customers wouldn’t like.

Half filled packaging – gone. False claims and promises – deleted. Getting credit card details for free trials in the hope customers will forget to cancel and you can automatically charge them for a service that haven’t specifically requested. Not any longer! These all might get you that first sale but you won’t get you happy and loyal customers who become advocates for your brand.

I dedicated a whole post to the ways that companies try to cheat their customers. If you’d like to read it click on this link and see many more ways of cheating the customer that you should avoid: “https://c3centricity.com/how-to-cheat-your-customers/”

[bctt tweet=”What do you want for your business? If you are sincerely customer centric, you will stop any practices that you know your customers wouldn’t like.” username=”Denysech”]

If you don’t want to cheat your customers – and who would as it is not a viable long-term business model? – then you must objectively evaluate your current practices. Ask yourself what you want your customers to think and feel about your brand. What are the objectives you have for your business and your customers? What changes in your customers’ attitude or behaviour are you looking to encourage? How does your brand provide a solution to your customers?

These questions are just a small selection that we use in our highly successful 7-step insight development process that is called CATSIGHT™.

If you’d like to know more about it, or get trained in insight-development and adopting a customer first strategy, then check out our new courses in the C3Centricity Academy. You could learn how to develop actionable business insights in under two hours!

Why Your Company Needs to Adopt a Customer First Strategy

Posted on June 12, 2022May 29, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Denyse Drummond-Dunn · What a customer first strategy means today

“Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts to get new episodes as they become available.”

Every few days there seems to be yet another customer service disaster that fills the newspapers and swamps our online social media feeds. The mistakes companies are making in serving their customers are becoming ever more frequent, at least it appears that way to me. You too?

I find this strange, since almost every organisation, big or small, recognises the importance of satisfying their customers. They all talk about customer centricity but very few actually go beyond voicing their opinions. Why do you think that so many organisations continue to struggle?

After all, a customer first strategy is not that difficult, at least in theory. Just think customer first in everything you do. So how come most businesses get it spectacularly wrong? I think the reason is because they don’t see the immediate return and it costs – a lot of – money to implement.

[bctt tweet=”A customer first strategy is not that difficult, at least in theory. Just think customer first in everything you do. So how come most businesses get it spectacularly wrong? ” username=”Denysech”]

Reasons for adopting a customer-first strategy

There has been enough research done to prove that the return on a customer first strategy is significant. Here are just a few of the numbers I found.

86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience. But only 1% of customers feel that vendors consistently meet their expectations. CEI Survey
The price premium for great customer experience is real—and it’s big, up to 16% PWC
89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company after experiencing poor customer service. RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report
By 2020, customer experience was expected to overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. I haven’t heard if it did! Customers 2020 Report
A 10% increase in customer retention levels results in a 30% increase in the value of the company. Bain & Co

[bctt tweet=”A 10% increase in customer retention levels results in a 30% increase in the value of the company. (Bain & Co) What’ stopping you?” username=”Denysech”]

Those numbers would make any CEO sit up and take notice! But will it make them act? What’s holding them back from investing in their customers rather than (just) in the products and services they offer?

I believe that those numbers can no longer be ignored. It’s time every CEO started initiating a move to a more customer centric organisation. NO more excuses; this has to be (OK, one of) your top priorities!

If you’re ready to put your customers first, then why not sign up for the C3Centricity Academy and follow the course on the topic? FIND OUT MORE.

Marketers are too busy building brands

However, an analysis run by IBM on research carried out in the UK last year by the Callcredit Information Group gives a different reason. They found that the majority of marketers is feeling overwhelmed by all the data that is available to them these days. Their explanation for this is that:

“Only 29% of marketers believe they have the necessary skills to analyse data, with 44% planning on investing in further training over the next two years to boost confidence within their organisations around the handling of information.”

[bctt tweet=”Only 29% of marketers believe they have the necessary skills to analyse data, with 44% planning on investing in further training over the next two years. (IBM/CIG)” username=”Denysech”]

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According to a Forrester report, 44% of B2C marketers are using big data and analytics to improve responsiveness to customer interactions. But of equal importance in terms of top two mentions, is the desire to generate insights. ( Source)

[bctt tweet=”According to Forrester, 44% of B2C marketers are using big data and analytics to improve responsiveness to customer interactions. But of equal importance, is the desire to generate insights. ” username=”Denysech”]

It disappoints me that despite the constant flow of data into companies most companies still lack insights into their customers. As I’m often quoted as saying:

“We’re drowning in data but thirsting for insights.”

Marketing is clearly so busy using data to manage pricing, distribution and communication channels, that they are not using the information to also get to know their customers better.

This conclusion is confirmed by a Forbes article which mentions that marketing is using big data to provide answers to

“which content is the most effective, how to increase conversion rates and customer lifetime value.”

It would be good if they used it to increase satisfaction and loyalty too, no?

Big data has actually done customer understanding a disfavour since organisations are hardly increasing their spend on market research according to ESOMAR’s latest industry figures. The industry grew 6% in 2021 and is expected to grow around 8% this year. As the graph below shows, these are the first increases after several years of stagnation.

Global Market Research Revenue Growth — Source: Statista

Now compare this to the more than 22% increase recorded for ad spend in 2021!

But there is some hope. A recent report on the KPIs used by marketing showed that Marketers are using a variety of metrics to measure the impact of their brand marketing activities. In surveying more than 560 global brand managers and CMOs, the analysis concludes that new customer acquisition (75%) and social media engagement (72%) are the two primary ways they use to determine the success of their brand marketing efforts.

However, there is still a lot of room for improvement. A 2016 Spencer Stuart survey shows data analysis and insights are one of the three main areas where CMOs need the most development as a leader. Unfortunately, they are also the skills which more than a half of them say are most difficult to find when building a team!

Market research is seen as a cost, not an investment

Companies still need market research to understand their customers. Yes, there is a wealth of information flooding into organisations with the IoT, but those numbers don’t tell you their “why.” That’s where market research comes into its own. It needs to provide more answers and not just the mere statistics researchers seem comfortable dropping on the laps of executives and marketers alike.

I believe that (a large?) part of the issue is also the researchers themselves. They’re often not very sociable, speak a language others don’t always understand and yet they also seem afraid to voice their own opinion let alone make recommendations.

[bctt tweet=”I believe the issue of lack of recognition is due to researchers themselves, who are afraid to voice their own opinions let alone make recommendations. #MRX” username=”Denysech”]

This was confirmed in The Vermeer Millward Brown Insights 2020 research. It clearly showed the advantages of a senior market research position at board level. But to get there, most researchers need new skills. The critical capabilities which were said to highlight the biggest differences between leaders and laggards were in business acumen, creative solution thinking, storytelling and direction setting.

It seems a real pity to me that the very people who should benefit from the explosion in data availability are not profiting from it. As if their needed skills are not enough, there is also a real opportunity for them to lead the customer first strategy in many organisations.

Customer services are seen as complaint handlers

I don’t think Nestle are the only ones who had this image at that time, now more than a decade ago. Have things changed since? Not much in my opinion. I still find similar perceptions in many organisations today, which thankfully become my clients through a desire to make those much needed improvements.

You only have to look at companies which excel at customer care to realise the business benefits of putting the customer first, Amazon, Southwest, Zappos to name but a few. And recent Temkins research concluded that SaaS companies can expect to double their revenue within 36 months of adopting a CEX strategy.

“According to Forrester, 72% of businesses say that improving the customer experience is their top priority. A study from NewVoiceMedia indicates that companies lose more than $62 billion due to poor customer service. No company can afford to be a customer service laggard.”

The Forrester report from which Shep quotes was from an ongoing analysis that has been run each year since 2010. The key findings from the 2016 report showed:

In all five sectors they covered, companies with higher customer experience (CX) scores outperformed their rivals in revenue growth
CX leaders showed an annual growth rate of 17% compared to just 3% for the others.
The cable and retail industries beat the field in CX by 24% and 26%, which is a huge boost to the bottom line.
Even in the sector with the smallest range (airlines), there was a 5% difference between companies.
This also translated into subscriber growth – in the cable industry leaders grew internet subscribers by 23.9% more than others and video subscribers by 13.9%

Along with the previously mentioned statistics, I can see no reason for a company not to invest in a customer-first strategy. If you can think of any yourself, then I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

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In Conclusion

A customer-first strategy needs an organisation to recenter itself behind this company-wide objective. It can make a real difference in terms of both sales and profits to those who follow this direction. But it is essential to have executive support and true commitment from every employee to think customer first.

[bctt tweet=”A customer-first strategy needs an organisation to recenter itself behind this company-wide objective, to make a real difference in both sales and profits.” username=”Denysech”]

This will take skill upgrades for both marketing and market research departments to translate the data and information gathered into actionable insights.

And it will mean every employee having the chance to regularly get up close and personal with customers. This is the only way for them to understand the role that they play in satisfying and delighting them. After all, that’s what we all want, whether we are buyer or seller isn’t it?

Are you ready to adopt a customer-first strategy? If so, then check out the C3Centricity website for your first steps. Also, why not answer our free mini C3C Evaluator tool (https://c3centricity.com) and see just how good your customer-first strategy really is? It’s always better to know from where you’re starting and what changes to prioritise in order to have the most and fastest impact!

The 6 Best Ways to Show you Respect Customers

Posted on May 15, 2022September 20, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

I was recently asked to speak about how to build relationships with clients, in this case for a realtor association. In preparing for the interview, I got to thinking about customer privacy and how important it is to build a mutually beneficial relationship to respect customers.

Customers don’t want to be automatically segmented and followed as they go about the web, viewing different sites. An article on Business2Community by Owen Ray says that

“The tracking cookie is crumbling. Smart cookie-blocking technology led by Apple’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) and Firefox’s Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) now block third-party cookies by default, and even Google’s Chrome will soon get controls that let consumers block cookies.”

If you want to understand more on the topic of cookies I highly recommend this two-part article.

Companies that are truly customer centric know that it is important to build a mutually beneficial relationship where there is something for both parties in exchanging information and services. Many businesses ask far too much of their customers, with little if anything in return. I believe this is one of the major reasons that customers today are becoming sensitive to what and to whom they give any information about their interests, habits, needs and wishes. And why cookies are rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

I, therefore, thought it was useful to review the major points to keep in mind, when a business wants to collect information about its customers in order to offer products and services that better meet their wants and desires.

1. Ask Permission to Gather Information

This should be a no-brainer and yet I still find myself on lists to which I didn’t intentionally, if at all, subscribe! You too?

Whether you are connecting with your customers by mail, phone, email or the web, you need to first request permission to ask any questions and to gather the information you are looking for.

Not only should you ask for their consent if you are not in direct personal contact, but when connecting via email or the web, you should also double-check that permission. You have to ensure that the agreement has been given by your customer and that they are still ready to provide the information.

Being attentive to privacy when starting to build a relationship is vital and shows you respect your customers.

This also means asking them to confirm their consent not once, but twice. Double opt-in as it is known, ensures that your customer is correctly identified and that they have indeed themselves agreed to provide or receive information, or to be put on your mailing list.

Far too often I see requests where the permission is encouraged by using colourful buttons to click, or an implied criticism if you don’t, with phrases such as “No, I have enough sales” or “No, I don’t want to save money”.

2. There Must be Mutual Benefit

When your customer has agreed to provide information you need to thank them immediately. This can be as simple as offering coupons for your products, some valuable information not easily available elsewhere, a free guide or e-book on a relevant topic, or special privileges such as club membership or express shipping. Something that shows them that they were right to agree and that you value their information.

Another thing to keep in mind is not to overwhelm them by asking too many questions in one go. Since your objective is to build a long-term relationship with them, keep it simple to start with.

You can complete the information you require through several contacts over time, with the same customer. This also has the added advantage of keeping the conversation more frequent than it might otherwise have been. Ask just enough to be able to identify your priority metrics and then refine your understanding of them as you gather more information.

[bctt tweet=”Your objective should be to build a long-term relationship with your customers, so don’t gather more information than you can immediately use. #CEX #CRM #CustomerService #CustomerSatisfaction” username=”Denysech”]

3. Make them Feel Special

More and more CPG companies and brands now offer a loyalty program, especially to their higher-value consumers. These provide more targeted privileges and even give the opportunity to preview new communications or product concepts. In general customers love to give feedback and it has the benefit of building a closer tie to the brand as they feel ownership of those launched.

This is probably one of the more intimate and bigger win-win relationships that can be developed with your customer.

But it does take a dedicated team within the company to manage such a club, as these customers are naturally the most demanding for services and constant information updates. So only set one up when you know you can satisfy their needs, as otherwise they can feel frustrated when they perceive they are not getting the attention they think they deserve.

Over the past couple of years, we have started to see new types of member offers. Sephora launched a members-only social platform, which encourages shoppers to share beauty tips and advice, and to comment about any new products bought, not just those from their stores.

Nike has taken things to the extreme by opening an entire members-only store concept, Nike Live, in Los Angeles.

Both of these provide exceptional recognition to their members, making them feel a part of an exclusive program, which is exactly what they are!

4. Keep the Relationship Fresh

Once you start building the relationship with your customers, you must continue to interest them by offering news, information, photos, videos or articles of interest. This can be quite a strain on internal resources, so you may want to (also) consider including user generated content (UGC) on your website.

Not only does this ensure continuously updated content, but also involves the customer in what is shown, so that it remains relevant and of interest to them. People love to post and comment, so include message boards, tip sharing platforms or photo albums, whatever is relevant to your targeted customers.

Beauty, fashion and pet-care brands were amongst the first to make use of UGC, as they are in very visual industries. Who doesn’t want to share a photo of themselves when they are looking especially beautiful, or show how cute their cat or dog is?

One great example comes from L’Oreal. Their DermaBlendPro brand encouraged users to share photos or videos of how the brand had transformed their look, by hiding disfiguration or tattoos. They clearly understood that happy customers make the best brand ambassadors, and this was clearly proven by the thousands of entries and immense buzz the brand received on social media platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram.

5. Ask their Advice – Frequently

For your customers to appreciate how much you value them and their business, involve them in it, by asking for feedback on how you are doing. If you have new ideas or plans, share details with them or enable them to vote for new flavours, concepts or advertising ideas.

You can also enable them to preview the ads or products before everyone else, but do make sure you provide them with some great information about it too, so that they can share it with their friends and family members. This will make them feel like the special and valued customer they are, and also help you spread the word – for free!

6. Always Offer a Simple Way Out

Once you have made the connection with your customers, recognise that they might change their minds at any time and want to unsubscribe from your club or mailing list. Make this as quick, simple and pain free as possible. This shows respect for your customer and their time, and also enables them to leave with a positive opinion of you and the brand. You never know, they might change their minds and stay after all, or come back again in the near future.

From making the unsubscribe link in tiny font to pale and almost illegible, to using button colours to mislead, many brands think that this will stop people from unsubscribing. It may, but it is more likely just to irritate them and label your communications as spam.

Even large companies get this wrong. Apple may provide full details of all the different ways to connect on their contact page, but it is laid out in an overwhelming block of text that is so off putting I doubt anyone hunts to find the information they need – see below.

Another example used by Swiss airlines and their parent company Lufthansa almost had me agreeing to give all my information, not just the necessary data to make my experience more comfortable. Their coloured button draws the eye and without reading you could end up making the same mistake I almost did.

With so much choice available to customers today, it is our responsibility to build an engaging and respectful relationship with them. If there is no trust, there may soon be no sales!

What other ways do you show respect for your customers? Please share your best examples below. Of course, if you have come across a bad example that frustrated that, then please share it too. Let’s name and shame!

How Your Business Can Quickly Adopt a Customer First Strategy

Posted on April 19, 2022May 29, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Why would you want to quickly adopt a customer first strategy?

Well, every few days there seems to be another customer service disaster that fills the newspapers and goes viral on social media. Amongst the most notable recent examples include United’s Flight 3411 incident disembarking passengers by force and Walmart refusing to match their online prices in-store. These types of incidents almost only ever happen when an organisation doesn’t adopt a customer first strategy, so the solution is relatively easy.

Every single organisation, big or small, recognises the importance of their customers today. They talk about customer centricity but very few actually go beyond voicing their opinions. Perhaps yours is one of these? Do you know why this is? What’s stopping you from taking the necessary actions?

A customer first strategy is not that difficult to implement. Just think customer first in everything you do! So how come most businesses get it spectacularly wrong?

I think one reason, and probably the most common, is because they don’t see an immediate return on their investment. You see, it costs money to make changes in internal processes and procedures.

Another possible reason is because some organisations have hesitated to start for so long, they now feel that they have been left so far behind that they don’t know where to start. What do you think?

The good news is that if you’re in one of these situations, then help is at hand. Read on because this article shares some of the most useful tips I’ve seen on the topic of adopting a customer first strategy.

[bctt tweet=”A customer first strategy is not that difficult to implement. Just think customer first in everything you do! #CEX #CRM #CustomerFirst” username=”Denysech”]

REASONS TO ADOPT A CUSTOMER FIRST STRATEGY

There has been enough research done to prove that the return on a customer-first strategy is significant. Here are just a few of the most noteworthy numbers I found during my research online; if you are still not sure it’s worth it, then this data will no doubt convince you.

86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience. But only 1% of customers feel that vendors consistently meet their expectations. (Source: CEI Survey)
74% of consumers have spent more due to good customer service (Source: Entechus.com)
89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company after experiencing poor customer service. (Source: RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report)
49% of consumers have left a brand in the past year due to poor customer experience. (Source: Emplifi)
Companies earning $1 billion+ can expect to earn an additional $700 million within 3 years of investing in CEX. (Temkin Group now Qualtrics)
A 10% increase in customer retention levels result in a 30% increase in the value of the company. (Source: Bain & Co)

Those are numbers that would make any CEO sit up and take notice! But will it make them act? What’s holding yours back from investing in your customers rather than (just) in developing and marketing the products and services you offer?

I believe that those numbers can no longer be ignored. It’s time every CEO started to adopt a customer first strategy. NO more excuses! This has to be (one of) your organisation’s top priorities!

[bctt tweet=”It’s time every CEO started to adopt a customer first strategy. NO more excuses! This has to be (one of) your organisations top priorities! #CustomerFirst #CEX #CRM #Customer” username=”Denysech”]

MARKETING IS TOO BUSY BUILDING BRANDS

With so much information available today, marketing is being challenged to demonstrate its ROI. This might explain why marketers are still putting their efforts into brand building, sometimes to the detriment of their customers, consumers and clients.

However, an analysis by IBM on some research carried out in the UK by the Callcredit Information Group gives a different reason. They found that the majority of marketers are feeling overwhelmed by all this data. Their explanation for this is that

“only 29% of marketers believe they have the necessary skills to analyse data, with 44% planning on investing in further training over the next two years to boost confidence within their organisations around the handling of information.”

It surprises me that despite the constant flow of data into companies they still lack insights into their customers. As I’m often quoted as saying:

“We’re drowning in data but thirsting for insights.”

Marketing is clearly so busy using data to manage such things as pricing, distribution and communication, that they are forgetting that they could be using the information to get to know their customers better. This conclusion is confirmed by a Forbes article which mentions that marketing is using big data to provide answers to

“which content is the most effective, how to increase conversion rates and customer lifetime value.”

It would be good if they (also) used it to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, no?

Big data has actually done customer understanding a disfavour, since organisations continue to increase their advertising budgets far faster than that for market research.

According to the latest numbers the global market research industry is expected to grow 8.1% in 2022, from $76.42 billion in 2021 to $82.62 billion. This growth is mainly due to companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the impact of covid, since previous year’s growth had been significantly lower around the 2-3% level.

However, organisations continue to grow the advertising budgets faster. Ad spend rose by a whopping 11.2% in 2021, although as you can see in the graph below, traditional advertising fell by 15.7% as companies transfer the lion’s share of their budgets to digital.

But there is some hope. A recent report on the KPIs used by marketing showed that Marketers are using a variety of metrics to measure the impact of their brand marketing activities. (OnBrand Magazine study) In surveying more than 560 global brand managers and CMOs, the analysis concludes that new customer acquisition (75%) and social media engagement (72%) are the two primary ways they use to determine the success of their brand marketing efforts.

However, there is still a lot of room for improvement. A 2016 Spencer Stuart Survey showed data analysis and insights are one of the three main areas where CMOs need the most development as a leader. Unfortunately, they are also the skills which more than a half of them say are most difficult to find when building a team!

So if CMOs can’t develop insight about their customers, shouldn’t market research be more not less important to them? After all, it’s the one profession that spends its whole time trying to understand the market and customers. So what’s going wrong?

[bctt tweet=”If CMOs claim they can’t develop insights about their customers, shouldn’t market research be more not less important to them? So why do they continue to increase advertising budgets faster than MRX’s? #MRX #MarketResearch #Advertising” username=”Denysech”]

MARKET RESEARCH IS SEEN AS A COST, NOT AN INVESTMENT

Companies still need market research to understand their customers. Yes, there is a wealth of information flooding into organisations with the IoT, but those numbers don’t tell you their “why.” That’s where market research comes into its own. It needs to provide more “why” answers and not just the mere statistics they still seem comfortable dropping on the laps of executives and marketers alike.

It seems a real pity to me that the very people who should benefit from the explosion in data availability are not profiting from it. As if their skills that are so highly valued today are not enough, there is also a real opportunity for them to lead the customer first strategy adoption in many organisations.

CUSTOMER SERVICES ARE SEEN AS COMPLAINT HANDLERS

I don’t think Nestle were the only ones who had this negative image at that time. I still find similar perceptions in many organisations which thankfully become my clients through a desire to make changes.

[bctt tweet=”Customer care centres are often seen as mere complaint handlers; just a group of women who spend their days on the phone talking to other women! #CRM #CEX #CustomerSatisfaction” username=”Denysech”]

You only have to take a look at companies that excel at customer care to realise the business benefits of putting the customer first: Amazon, Southwest, Zappos to name but a few. And research consistently proves the benefit of such a strategy to a company’s bottom line.

An excellent article by Shep Hyken called “Ten customer service and customer experience trends for 2017” details the essentials of a forward-thinking customer-first strategy and what it means today. In it, he mentions that

“According to Forrester, 72% of businesses say that improving the customer experience is their top priority. A study from NewVoiceMedia indicates that companies lose more than $62 billion due to poor customer service. No company can afford to be a customer service laggard.”

The Forrester report from which Shep drew these quotes was from an ongoing analysis that has been run each year since 2010. Although it is a couple of years old now, the conclusions are still just as valid. The key findings from the 2016 report showed:

In all five sectors they covered, companies with higher customer experience (CX) scores outperformed their rivals in revenue growth
CX leaders showed an annual growth rate of 17% compared to just 3% for the others.
The cable and retail industries beat the field in CX by 24% and 26%, which is a huge boost to the bottom line.
Even in the sector with the smallest range (airlines), there was a 5% difference between companies.
This also translated into subscriber growth – in the cable industry leaders grew internet subscribers by 23.9% more than others and video subscribers by 13.9%

[bctt tweet=”According to Forrester CX leaders showed an annual growth rate of 17% compared to just 3% for the others. #CEX #CRM #CustomerCare #CustomerSatisfaction” username=”Denysech”]

IN CONCLUSION

So to answer the title of this article, a customer first strategy needs an organisation to recenter itself behind this as a company-wide objective. It can make a real difference in terms of both sales and profits to those who follow this direction. But it is essential to have executive support and true commitment from every employee to think customer first.

It will take skill upgrades for both marketing and market research departments to translate the data and information gathered into actionable insights. And it will mean every employee having the chance to get up close and personal with customers on a regular basis. This is the only way for them to understand the role they play in satisfying and delighting them.

[bctt tweet=”A customer first strategy needs an organisation to recenter itself behind its adoption as a company-wide objective. #CEX #CustomerFirst #CustomerCentricity” username=”Denysech”]

Are you ready to adopt a customer-first strategy? If so, then it’s time to identify the priority changes you should make by answering our proprietary C3C Evaluator tool. Complete it now and then book a free half-hour strategy session so we can go through the results together.

This post is based upon and is an updated version of one first published on C3Centricity in 2016.

Technology is not a Disruptor, but a Powerful Customer-First Strategy is!

Posted on December 21, 2021May 29, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Technology is often seen by marketing as a disruptor of business as usual, but it isn’t. Technology is in fact an enabler, at least when used properly and appropriately. So what is disrupting business as usual? It’s the customer, especially in industries that are not customer-centric.

Technology as enabler, not disruptor — Source: Marco Pacheco
Executive Director JP Morgan

It was Marco Pacheco, Executive Director at JP Morgan who first inspired me to talk more about this aspect of a customer-first strategy, when he shared the slide on the right on LinkedIn a few years back.

I had already been speaking about the need for businesses to prepare for the dramatic change that was coming thanks to technological innovation. However, it was Pacheco’s slide that made me realise why I was so keen on companies adopting a customer-first strategy and running scenario planning.

His five simple examples brought it home more powerfully than I have ever done before. That’s why I wanted to share it with you. The summary says:

Netflix did not kill Blockbuster, ridiculous late fees did.
Uber did not kill the taxi business, limited taxi access and fare control did.
Apple did not kill the music industry, being forced to buy full-length albums did.
Amazon did not kill other retailers, bad customer service did.
Airbnb isn’t killing the hotel industry, limited availability and pricing options are.

In conclusion it states that:

“Technology by itself is not the real disruptor. Not being customer-centric is the biggest threat to any business.”

That’s music to my ears!

[bctt tweet=””Technology by itself is not the real disruptor. Not being customer-centric is the biggest threat to any business.” #Quote #CustomerCentricity #CustomerFirst #CEX #CRM #CustomerSatisfaction” username=”Denysech”]

Looking again at the five examples he gives, there are a number of specific aspects of customer-centricity that are highlighted. In my opinion they show the following advantages for the customer:

freedom of choice
transparency
trust
being valued

If you don’t want to see your own industry fall victim to start-ups that better provide these, then now is the time to act. Or rather if you’re not already on your journey to adopting a customer-first strategy, you’re probably already seeing a slowing, if not actual decline, in your growth and profitability.

[bctt tweet=”If you don’t want to see your own industry fall victim to start-ups that better provide for customers, then now is the time to adopt a customer-first strategy. #startups #Business #Technology” username=””]

The Future of Many Industries is Unthinkable

By this I mean that change is happening so fast that it is difficult for organisations to even imagine the future. This is why I encourage my clients to develop plausible future scenarios, rather than merely follow trends. Only by doing so, can they be prepared for every possible risk and opportunity. Identifying one, most likely future is unlikely to deliver the variation that will no doubt happen. For more on this topic, read “5 Business Success Factors (So You’re Ready for Anything!)”

As I mentioned at the beginning, technology is an enabler that permits industries to provide more of what their customers want. There are already many examples of ones which have been helped or radically altered by technology and science. For example:

TELECOMS now make as much money from selling (geo-localisation) data than they ever did from selling phones and lines.

Already back in 2015, data accounted for 44% of Verizon’s profits, as shown in this Adage article.

Don’t you think their business model changed – dramatically – as a result of this? Of course it did!

In the 2015/17 period the Verizon group bought both AOL and Yahoo’s internet business. This was further proof of their prioritisation of data usage as they tried to access the digital advertising market quickly. But they made several mistakes.

These were both later sold in 2021 as part of their media group disposal, although they did retain a 10% share. During this five-year period, while their revenue has remained stable, their share price rose 25% confirming support of their new business model.

FOOD companies are shifting from machine-made to do-it-yourself meal-kits. In fact, to be precise, the industry is being ever-more disrupted by start-ups offering replacements to the mass-produced, less-than-healthy products that Nestle, Mondelez, Kraft Heinz and Danone have been churning out for decades.

Companies like Blue Apron, Green Chef, HelloFresh, Martha & Marley Spoon, Plated, and Sun Basket all offer healthier and fresher alternatives.

In response to their challenge, the largest food manufacturers are trying to compete by lowering “bad” ingredients and increasing “good” ingredients in their mass-produced brands. However, take a look at what they are doing in detail and you will see that in most cases their “improved” products are no better for us. They still have far too much sugar, salt and trans fats, despite being reduced. They also still lack fresh ingredients, which we all know are far better for nourishing a living body.

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BEVERAGES manufacturers are getting into entertainment in a big way. They have always sponsored or promoted events, bars and cafes. Coca-Cola is probably the best known for this with sponsorships including American Idol, Apple iTunes, BET Network, NASCAR, NBA, NCAA, and the Olympic Games.

But some drinks manufacturers are going much further and have now started including media development too. As a great example, think about Red Bull which today is seen more as an entertainment company that just happens to make a drink!

TOBACCO AND CIGARETTE manufacturers have been fighting to protect, even save, their industry for decades. Andre Calantzopoulos, the former CEO of Philip Morris International, declared in a Radio 4 interview a few years ago that

“I believe there will come a moment in time where I would say we have sufficient adoption of these alternative products … to start envisaging, together with governments, a phase-out period for cigarettes.”

Coming from one of the largest global cigarette manufacturers, this is huge! But he is (hopefully) right. The future of the tobacco business is in heating rather than burning it, at least short term. Longer term I believe they need to look to other ways of providing personal pleasure that does less harm to the user and to their environment.

PHARMACEUTICALS have for years been moving investment from sickness to wellness and health. An excellent article on the topic mentions that:

“The transition from current ‘high-risk, high-margin’ business model to ‘low cost high volume’ nutria business model is dependent on many factors and also advised to move into less regulated markets like animal and consumer health.”

The line between Food and Pharma is blurring as companies expand and invest in the “other side” of nutraceuticals.

[bctt tweet=”The line between Food & Pharma is blurring as companies expand & invest into nutraceuticals. #Pharma #Tobacco #Cigarettes #Neutraceuticals” username=”Denysech”]

Which will win out in the long run? Your guess is as good as mine, but I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

TRANSPORT. Will there even be a viable automobile business in the future? How many manufacturers will survive as the market for personalised road transport collapses?

As people move from ownership to rental, and from self-drive to driven, the industry will need to move into alternative modes of transport to make up the shortfall in their businesses. What do you think?

McKinsey wrote a great analysis of the future of the industry that is worth a read. It summarises the opportunities and challenges as:

Focussing on digital, with digital sales offering contactless test-drives, and car home deliveries, that proved effective during the covid shutdown for one Chinese car manufacturer.
A shift to recurring revenue streams, since before covid, 34% of Generation Y consumers expressed a preference for rental and ridesharing products, showing how recurring revenue streams could become very important to automotive players.
Optimize asset deployment through strategic partnerships, as rapidly growing and hugely inventive tech players—from EV (Electric vehicles) makers to autonomous vehicle (AV) innovators challenge the slower-moving traditional automobile industry.
Embrace zero-based income statements, since the pandemic has devastated the auto-industry growth, which showed a 15% decline in 2020. This will catalyze much-needed changes such as the consolidation of production facilities, the elimination of low value-added activities and the reduction of investments in noncritical new assets.
Build resilience into the supply chain by using data and analytics-driven demand and supply-chain transparency, which will result in new, faster processes and more agile practices.
Establish a strong decision-making cadence which should include faster decision-making, execution discipline and clear accountability.

Although these came from an analysis of the automobile industry, I think that most of them apply to mostl industries going forward, don’t you?

Harnessing technology to enable companies to adopt a customer-first strategy

A 2016 Forrester report shows that while 72% of businesses say improving customer experience is their top priority, only 63% of marketers prioritize implementing technology investments that will help them reach this goal!

It therefore makes sense that I include in this post some of the best examples I have found to start you thinking about your own situation. (If you want to know just how good your customer-first strategy is, click the button below to find out.)

How are you harnessing technology to provide your customers with greater freedom of choice, trust, transparency and the demonstration that you value their business and loyalty? Here are some inspiring examples and ideas:

Amazon uses technology to identify suggested products to their clients. Many others have followed this great example and we are now bombarded with “people like you also bought…” proposals. Like it or loath it, they do come in useful occasionally, don’t they? It also shows that the company is using your data for your good and not theirs (alone).
Your websites can provide your customers with a wealth of information. It can also provide a platform for them to share their tips, ideas and associated facts which would be useful to other users, as well as ask questions. Petcare, Personal Care and Homecare br>ands make use of this in particular. Check out P&G and Mars Petcare for a couple of the best.
Insight development today uses more than information from market research. Therefore technology is used to enable quicker and deeper integration and analysis of all the information flowing into an organisation. Machine learning adds further value by understanding the relationships between the data which may have previously gone unnoticed. Many of the global CPG companies are going this, including Unilever and Coca-Cola.
Social Media has become the new customer services department because replies are almost instantaneous. Pizza Hut is a great example of this, answering any customer complaints in record time. Other brands react more slowly and then feel the wrath of their customers who are today expecting immediate answers to their questions. Make sure that’s what you offer!
Chatbots are providing additional resources to the already overworked customer services departments. Findings from recent research in the UK show that many high street brands offering live chat and chatbot technology consistently performed better in customer sentiment analysis.

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These are all examples of ways that are already being used so you can benefit from the experiences of others. But the world is moving fast and you need to also be exploring further new territories where technology can help.

[bctt tweet=”The world is moving fast and you need to be exploring new territories where technology can help your business. #BusinessStrategy #Technology #FutureofBusiness #FutureTrends #NewTechnologies” username=”Denysech”]

Earlier this year ZDNet highlighted five technologies that touched on technological changes that could impact customer service and experience. They were:

1. Two-way video

2. Augmented and virtual reality

3. Virtual assistants

4. Messaging

5. Connected devices

As you can see, all five technologies are enablers of improved customer satisfaction, which will lead to increased relationship building and trust. Customers view them as novel and useful today, but it won’t be too long before they are seen as the norm. Are you using them? If so, what experiences have you had, as I’d love to hear more about their uses?

Another recent article, this time on Jacada, spoke about the “4 Technology Trends set to Improve Customer Experience in 2017.” (See their diagram on the right) In it they highlighted ChatBots, Big Data analytics, Mobile customer support and messaging Apps.

In this article they pulled out the larger areas around how technology can help with mass connection and analysis of the resulting exchanges.

What both these articles highlight is the need for marketing to harness technology in order to build relationships with their customers. If they do so, they can set their brands apart from the competition. If you are not already doing so, then you have little time remaining to catch up before being left seriously behind.

It conclusion, it is clear that technology is an enabler and can and should be employed to improve the customers’ experience. We live in a fast-paced world where we expect instantaneous responses from brands, and information at our fingertips where and when we need it. Technology is the only way we can meet these increased customer demands, by collecting, analysing and then actioning the learnings from these contacts.

Which of these are you working with today? I’d love you to share your experiences – good and bad – below.

Interested in using technology to help you integrate multiple data sources and develop actionable insights? Then we should talk. Book time in my calendar for a complementary Advisory session.

How to Measure Customer Centricity the Right Way

Posted on April 13, 2021May 29, 2023 by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Denyse Drummond-Dunn · How to measure customer centricity the right way

As a customer-first strategist (just like you I hope), I spend a lot of my time searching how to better measure customer centricity for my clients. I also do a lot of analyses on what customers really want today. I’m always trying to understand the exact solutions customers need, desire and dream of having.

My regular searches include customer service, customer satisfaction, customer care and similar topic areas. Google is my best friend! However, I recently came across some surprising facts, which prompted this post. I believe they show a serious problem in the business of looking after our customers today. Read the article and then let me know whether or not you agree with my analysis.

CUSTOMER CENTRICITY

Wikipedia, another online friend of mine, doesn’t have a definition of customer centricity! If you look up the term, you get redirected to customer satisfaction! Try it for yourself and see.

My other go-to source for definitions is businessdictionary.com which defines customer centric as:

“Creating a positive consumer experience at the point of sale and post-sale.”

It then goes on to say

“A customer-centric approach can add value to a company by enabling it to differentiate itself from competitors who do not offer the same experience.”

Now although I find the definition limited, since it refers only to sales and post-sale activities, I do like the fact that it mentions three important elements of customer centricity:

A positive customer experience
Adds value to a company
Enables differentiation

This clearly identifies three huge benefits of becoming (more) customer centric:

1. A positive customer experience has been shown to increase both loyalty and advocacy. As we all know, it costs five times more to acquire a new customer, as it does to keep a current one. Therefore loyalty is an incredibly valuable benefit for a brand.

According to recent research by Bain & Company, along with Earl Sasser of the Harvard Business School increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by between 25% and 95%. OK a very wide range, but I’m sure we’d all be happy with even a 25% increase in profits, wouldn’t we?

One further piece of research, this time from Marketing Metrics, shows that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70%, whereas the probability of selling to a new prospect is less than 20%.

Clearly placing more attention on keeping our current customers satisfied brings greater rewards than going after new ones. And yet that is what most companies set as a priority. Any ideas why?

[bctt tweet=”A positive customer experience has been shown to increase both loyalty and advocacy. #CEX #CRM #CustomerSatisfaction #CustomerFirst #CustomerCentricity” username=”Denysech”]

2. Adding value to a company also increases the ROI of its marketing investments. This is something that marketing is constantly challenged to prove these days. With the risk of seeing their budgets cut if they are unable to provide convincing arguments to their bosses.

Luckily, what’s good for the customer is good for business. You can see many more facts and statistics about this in Forrester’s report “The Business Impact of Customer Experience.”

[bctt tweet=”What’s good for the customer is good for business. That’s adopting a customer-first strategy. #CustomerFirst #CustomerCentricity #CEX #CRM #Business” username=”Denysech”]

3. Enabling differentiation in this complex world is invaluable in standing out from the competition. In so many industries, product performance and services are almost identical. So how can you be seen as different – and thus also more valuable to customers?

By the care you give your customers and the added value of your customer service, that’s how. And knowing what your customers really want, need or ideally dream of.

It has been shown that most customers are willing to pay more for excellent customer service. You can read a summary of this and more in the summary report of the American Express research.

[bctt tweet=”Enabling differentiation in this complex world is invaluable in standing out from the competition. #CEX #CRM #CustomerService #Differentiation” username=”Denysech”]

I would also add that what customers really want today is a seamless experience from pre- to post-purchase, as well as from online to offline. That’s how you deliver satisfaction and build loyalty.

Find out how good your own customer-centricity is.

Take the FREE quiz now.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND UNDERSTANDING

There is no denying that customer-centricity is important. However some companies are (too?) slow to adopt best practices in this area, which concerns me for a number of reasons:

It is now proven that it is important for the business, so what is stopping companies from quickly adopting a more customer centric approach? The longer they wait, the more they risk being beaten by a more customer-friendly competitor. It’s no longer (just) about product performance.
Customers are complaining – a lot – about the way they are being treated. Why are companies not accepting these criticisms as the gifts they are? Acting promptly before the issue becomes a social media viral discussion is essential today.
Customer service is confused with customer satisfaction. Companies are happy when their customers say they are satisfied, but they should be looking not just to satisfy them but to delight them too!

As mentioned before, the research that prompted this post was a google keyword investigation of terms related to customers. Having seen the strong positive trend for the word customer, I then wanted to understand what it was about customers that was of interest. I found that both customer service and customer care showed almost identical positive trends.

However, when I looked at customer satisfaction and customer understanding the trends were flat and worse, minimal. (You can see the trend graph below with service in green, care in blue, satisfaction in red and understanding in yellow)

These trends suggest to me that companies search how to improve their customer service and care, but not about how to understand their customers or increase their satisfaction!

How can this be? Surely an interest in customer service should come from an increased understanding of how to deliver customer satisfaction? Apparently not.

And this is when I realised that perhaps businesses are more interested in the process than the real benefit of customer centricity. That is a serious flaw in their thinking in my opinion. What do you think?

To confirm my hypothesis, I looked into customer satisfaction levels and their trends. After all, many more companies are interested in customer service these days. So you would think it should have a positive impact on customer satisfaction.

According to the latest report from The Institute of Customer Service on customer satisfaction across Europe, retail, insurance and banking are the three best performing industries.

This was a surprise to me because they used to be the most heavily criticised. However this suggests that they have taken action, albeit because they had little choice, and that most other industries continue to ignore what their customers really want. You can see the Infographic overview above; click on it to see the full-sized original.

I then went back to Google to find ways which were suggested for increasing customer satisfaction. I found more than two million articles on how to do it, but very few on the results. Again, extremely worrying.

According to the US ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) Q4 2020 report, customer satisfaction continues its decline started back in 2018. It is now at its lowest level since 2005, exacerbated of course by the covid pandemic.

The UK is showing a similar negative trend. The January 2021 UKCSI is 76.8 (out of 100), 0.1 points lower than January 2020 and the lowest level since July 2015.

No doubt influenced by the covide pandemic, customer satisfaction with the Public Services (National) sector has risen by 1.5 points, whereas that of Banks & Building Societies, Tourism and Transport have all fallen by at least 1 point compared to January 2020.

THE KEY TAKEAWAYS

So what does a business need to do to deliver what their customers really want today and increase their level of satisfaction? There are seven facts that become apparent from this analysis:

Businesses should always provide a positive customer experience and do whatever it takes to satisfy, but ideally delight them.
Companies must go beyond the mere process of customer-centricity, to truly put their customers at the heart of their organisation.
Customer centricity adds demonstrated value to a company; it should be a no-brainer to become a top business objective.
Customer centric improvements are happening too slowly in most industries, especially when customers are becoming increasingly demanding.
Providing customer service doesn’t guarantee customer satisfaction.
A positive customer experience increases loyalty and advocacy.
Excellent customer service enables differentiation and even higher prices.

In summary, people want businesses to listen and understand them. When a customer takes the time to contact a company because they are unhappy, they expect a satisfactory outcome as a minimum. Those organisations who go beyond, to deliver delight, will see their reputation improve, as well as an increase in their customers’ loyalty and advocacy.

Customers also want companies to be open and transparent. They want answers to their questions and immediate responses to their criticisms. They have a right to know the source of ingredients, the ingredients themselves, their country of origin, the charities the company supports, or the organisation’s policies on waste, water and sustainability.

What customers really want today is to have their questions answered (almost) immediately, especially on social media. They expect things that go wrong to be put right – quickly, with an equally rapid explanation and apology.

So how are you doing? Are you living up to your customers’ expectations? Are you delivering what your customers really want? How have you made progress in this area in the past year or so? Please share your success stories below.

You can no longer wait! You’re getting left behind by your competitors who are taking action today! If you need help in catalysing your organisation in adopting a customer-first strategy and aligning your business to what your customers really want, then you need see the free content from the latest course from C3Centricity: