10 Ways to Improve Customer Centricity Today

Many of you know that it is vital to continuously improve your customer centricity. You must put the customer clearly at the heart of your business in everything you do. But that’s easier said than done, because your customers are constantly changing.

I think that’s why many businesses struggle to improve their customer centricity, because they don’t know where to start. Am I right? If so, then this article is especially for you. 

This week I want to share ten simple actions to accelerate your organisation along its path to improved customer centricity. 

 

#1 Review the description of your target audience

Complete this 4W persona template for customer centricityLet’s start at the very beginning – with the customer of course!

Do all your brands have a clear description of their target audience? These days we tend to refer to these as personas or avatars. Whatever you call yours, they should be precise, detailed and ideally visual as well.

If you haven’t yet developed your persona, or you know it is not as complete as it could be, why not use our new C3Centricity 4W™ Persona Template? Complete the who, what, where and why for each of your brands and finally understand who you are aiming to attract.

I suggest you also complete one for your company if it appears predominantly on your packaging or communications. I did this for a client and found that some of their brands were positioning themselves in opposition to their company image. As you can imagine, this was getting them nowhere and in fact damaging both their brand and their company image!

Include in your own persona template not only demographics and consumption / purchasing habits, but also information about where your customers do these things, what values they have that you can tap into, and what emotions motivate them to use your brand.

If your current persona doesn’t include all this information, it is probably time to update it – and why not with our 4W™ template?

 

#2 Optimise how you connect with your customers

Do you know the best way to contact your target customers, as well as their preferred place and time to connect? You should after completing your updated persona template.

Review how you communicate with your customer and what information exchange there is at that time. Is it a one-way or two-way discussion? Are you in a monologue or a dialogue?

Obviously the second communication style is what you should be aiming for. You can learn far more about your customers when they are ready to share their information with you. And that comes when they trust you to keep their data safe and know that you only collect what you need to give them a superior experience. Make sure that’s what you are doing.

[bctt tweet=”Review how you communicate with your customer and what information exchange there is at that time. Are you in a monologue or a dialogue? Which would they prefer? #BrandBuilding #BrandCommunication” username=”Denysech”]

 

#3 Identify the needs your brand is addressing

Do you know what needs your customer has and which of them you are tapping into?

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Which customer need are you solvingThey certainly have several needs, but you should be aiming to address only one of their needs.

If you attempt to address more than one need at the same time, and especially if they are not sequential, your customer will get confused as to what solution you are helping them solve. Clarity is definitely the name of the game when it comes to brand positioning.

Mixed brand messages on what the brand can do for your customer, will leave them perplexed. This will, in turn, reduce the likelihood that they will be convinced your offer can offer a real solution.

Knowing where your brand sits on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has one additional benefit. It can increase the success of regional and global launches by identifying groups and cultures with similar levels of a specific need.

 

 #4 Make your customers everyone’s responsibility

Who in your organisation is thinking about your customers? Is customer care only on the objectives of one or two departments? Perhaps you think it’s only for the customer service employees or merchandisers and promoters to do.

It should, in fact, be on everyone’s annual objectives. Each employee should get the chance to watch, listen and engage with your customers on a regular basis. This will help them to understand how their work fits into the company’s overall objective to not only satisfy but to delight customers too.

Every employee has a role to play in customer centricity and connecting with the customers on a frequent basis and sharing experiences across departments will ensure that they understand this.

That said, I do have one suggestion before allowing everyone to go out and watch / listen to customers. It is to ensure that they get a detailed brief of the do’s and don’ts of customer interaction. Read more about these in our top rated article “The 5 Essential Rules of Customer Observation for Greater Business Success.”

[bctt tweet=”Before allowing employees to watch / listen to customers, ensure they get a detailed briefing of the do’s and don’ts of customer interaction. #CEX #CRM” username=”Denysech”]

 

 

#5 Plan for the unthinkable

We have all had a lot of new experiences in the past few years: the covid pandemic, the war in Europe, dramatic climate changes to name just a few. So how has your business coped? Many companies have gone out of business because they never prepared for such events.

Now while many of recent events were unthinkable, and accepting that it’s impossible to prepare for any and every situation, thinking about the impossible can make your business more resilient.

So how have you prepared your business and protected its planned expansion? Do you know how future events may impact it and what you would do in each situation? How would you react to new laws, new customer demands, or their new sensitivities such as ecology, sourcing of ingredients?

It is obviously far better to plan for such events before they happen, so that you can quickly react to challenges as well as opportunities. That’s why I am such a big fan of plausible future scenario planning. By thinking the unthinkable, even if they never happen, you will have thought through your responses and actions which will certainly be useful to cope with future events that do occur.

 

#6 Review how customer centric your plans are

Are your customers clearly identified and described in your plans, as well as the customers of your major competitors? Do people know who they are targeting with each brand product and service offer? Obviously developing a persona is the most valuable first step, but there is more you can do.

Review your plans and consider how your customers will react to each of your planned actions; not just the outcomes you are hoping for, but a true detailed analysis based upon your understanding of them and their desires.

Have you planned any actions to surprise and delight them? Or are you relying on the “same old” activities, copy / pasted from last year? You’d be amazed how many marketing plans remain practically the same for years and years, with no thought given to improving them! Your customers are changing so your plans need to reflect this.

You see, people today get bored very quickly and expect better than they were previously offered in most things – communications, promotions, products and services.

Also, if you’re not careful you can actually “train” your customers to anticipate your actions. This results in a declining interest in what you are offering and even a change in habits when yours become too predictable. Many categories have witnessed customers planning to only purchase brands when they are on promotion, as a result of too frequent and regular or seasonal discounts their customers have come to expect.

That’s why you must plan at least one unexpected WOW action each year, so your customers remain surprised and delighted.

[bctt tweet=”Plan at least one unexpected WOW action each year for your brand, so your customers remain surprised and delighted. #BrandBuilding #BrandPromotions #Brand Communications” username=”Denysech”]

 

#7 Expand your thinking about innovation

Just as I encourage you to rethink your tactics and actions, I also want you to rethink how you innovate.

Are you blocked in an innovation box, relying on your internal technical expertise and skills? If you understand your customers well, you can offer them new products and services that will be more successful, because you know what will surprise and delight them, what their needs and desires really are.

For example why not innovate by adding sensorial experiences to the brands you already offer? This will distinguish them from the competition and give an additional reason for your customers to buy. Consider adding sound to taste, colour to services, touch to packaging, aromas to retail displays.

With the decline in differentiation today, give your customers more reasons to stay with you and they will become loyal advocates.

To find more ideas about improving your innovation read “The Best Ways To Improve Innovation With Better Ideation & Insights.”

[bctt tweet=”With the decline in differentiation today, give your customers more reasons to stay with you and they will become loyal advocates. #Polysensoriality #Innovation #BrandAppeal” username=”Denysech”]

 

#8 Stop testing your communications to death

Customer centricity means observing your customersIf you regularly run copy-testing and communications analyses, I can feel your shock as you read this suggestion! But why not review the process you use to develop your advertising? I bet you are running on habit rather than thoughtful advertising development. Am I right?

If you spent more time and resources reviewing how to connect with your customers, and then tested early stage work up-stream with them, you would be more likely to develop winners.

This process would also reduce or totally replace your usual last-minute tests just before airing them, when in most cases it is already too late to change anything. You are then forced to launch what you know to be inferior communications and relaunch the improved version at a later date. I am sure you have noticed this from other brands, no? Customers notice this too.

 

#9 Define your image

Your brand has an image but it might not be what you think it is!

Make sure you are measuring each of your brand’s images at least annually and not only on the attributes that you want to perform well on.

Review and update the attributes you use to measure the perceptions of your category and ensure you rate what is (also) important to your customers, not just to you.

Attributes that cover both your competitors’ strengths and the total category will provide a much more thorough understanding of your own image, its strengths and opportunities for improvement. You might even find a new or adapted positioning that no-one else is currently occupying!

 

#10 Update your KPI’s

You know that well-used phrase “what gets measured gets managed” Well, are you measuring what needs managing or only the metrics that you can easily gather?

If you know your customers well, who they are, what they do, what they think of you and your competitors, and then compare this data to where you want to take your brand, the metrics you need to be measuring become evident.

Far too many organisations run their business using financial and sales-based metrics, which gives an incomplete view of the company. Add customer metrics too, such as communications, engagement, product ratings, and you will get a near 360 degree view of where you are today. Then you’ll be ready to take actions that will have the most impact.

 

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I hope this list has helped you to define a few areas that need revision in your organisation. Even actioning just one of them will improve your customer centricity. Of course completing them all will ensure that your customer is really at the heart of your business, as well as in the hearts of all your employees.

If you would like to know just how customer centric you are today, why not complete the C3C Evaluator™ assessment tool? It will help you to identify where you are today, as well as how to prioritise any needed changes in your organisation, to get you to where you want to be. 

If you’d like some help or further ideas about making your organisation more customer centric, please contact us here:

https://c3centricity.com/contact

The Risks of Not Knowing All 12 Essential Elements of Your Target Customer

I think it’s pretty clear to everyone in business that NOT knowing your target customers costs a lot – sometimes the business itself! (Think Kodak, Nokia, Borders)

So let me ask you this; how well do you really know your own target customers? Are they men, women, younger, older, Fortune 100 companies, local businesses? If you can at least answer that, then you have the basics, but how much more should you know about them?

Well I can help you there, with these 12 essential elements of a customer persona or avatar. 

 

 

Background

I was recently working with a local service provider that was looking to improve their online presence. They were keen to have more impact on social media and had asked for advice about the best platforms, optimal frequency of publishing and possible content ideas.

They are a new client for me, so I think they were a little surprised when I didn’t get straight into the “sexy” topic of social media. Instead, I started by taking them through the basics of target customer identification. Lucky for them that I did!

When we had finished the exercise, we had actually found five different targets for them to address, rather than just the two they had been addressing until now. This clearly would have an impact on both where, what and how they communicated online.

It is for this reason that I always recommend that every brand and business completes a target persona and regularly updates it every time they learn something new about their customers. I also encourage you to keep it handy, ideally always visible on or around your desk. That way you will always be thinking customer first whenever you are working on a new project.

So let’s imagine that we’re having our first meeting together and I’m asking a few (well 12 actually!) questions about your customers. How many can you immediately answer?

 

The 12 Essential Elements of a Target Customer Persona

C3Centricity has designed a simple template that helps clients have all the essential information about their customers in one place, summarised on one page. It’s called the 4W™ Persona Template; if you haven’t already done so, you can download it, together with a detailed workbook explaining exactly how to complete it. Just click on the image below.

I would highly recommend you download it right now, before continuing to read, so that you can follow along with the one-pager in front of you.

 

Here are the 12 essential elements you need to have at hand in order to complete the template:

Customer persona template
Click the image to learn more about the 4W™ Persona Template & download the workbook.

1. WHO – DEMOGRAPHICS: This is usually a “no-brainer” and is how most organisations describe their customers. However it’s not really original and definitely not competitive, although they are an essential foundation.

But there is so much more you should and absolutely must know about your customers, so read on.

2. WHAT THEY USE: Whether you are offering a product or providing a service, you need to know what your customers are currently using. And not only for your category, but in adjacent categories too.

In some categories, customers can replace a brand by another in a different category. Think about food or beverages. A customer could replace a cola by a still fruit drink, or a pasta dish by a pie. You therefore need to understand what your customers would use, if anything, when your product or category is unavailable.

[bctt tweet=”Whether you offer a product or provide a service, you need to know what your customers are currently using. And not only for your category, but in adjacent categories too. #Brand #Marketing” username=”Denysech”]

3. WHAT THEY CONSUME: Here we need to understand what types of information and media your customers are consuming. What do they read, watch, listen to, both in work and in their spare time?

Which social media platforms do they use, and what websites do they consult on a regular basis? Which are their favourite influencers, the companies, brands or people that they follow online?

4. WHAT THEY DO: How do your customers spend their time? What type of lifestyle do they have? What are their hobbies? What do they do all day, and in the evening, and at weekends?

It would be ideal if you can create a detailed timeline of their average day, so you have a feel for their moments of stress, boredom or relaxation. This makes it much easier to see how your brand might fit into their lives.

[bctt tweet=”Create a detailed timeline of your customers’ average day, so you have a feel for their moments of stress, boredom or relaxation. This makes it easier to see how your brand might fit into their lives. #Brand #Marketing” username=”Denysech”]

5. WHAT THEY BUY: This is where you describe their current category purchasing habits. How frequently and what quantity do they buy? Are they loyal to your brand or do have a portfolio of brands from which they choose?

Do they have regular daily, weekly or monthly buying habits? Do they do research before buying or repurchasing? Do they compare and if so how, where, and why?

6. WHERE THEY CONSUME: Is the category consumed in home, in work, during leisure activities? Is it used locally, regionally or is it more used on vacation?

Are your customer with friends, with their partner, with colleagues when they consume the brand? Are there certain surroundings more conducive to consumption? If so, what makes it so?

7. WHERE THEY BUY: Do your target customers have certain places and times when they tend to buy? Is it an habitual or impulse purchase? Is it seasonal? Are they buying at a certain place at certain times of the day, as they go about their daily lives?

Are there only a certain number or style of outlets where your brand is available, or can your customers buy it wherever they are? Do you limit distribution to particular retail types, like supermarkets, specialty stores, or professional service stores? Are they the same ones your customers frequent? And what about the category in general? Do some brands limit distribution?

8. WHERE THEY READ/WATCH/HEAR: From where do your customers get information about the products and services they consumer? Is it from manufacturers, from friends, their family or their colleagues?

Do they access it online, in print, on radio or via TV? Are your customers at home, in work or on the road?

Remember that today “read” covers not just traditional media but new media as well. Which websites, social media channels and people do they follow, like, listen to and value the opinion of?

9. WHERE THEY SEE: One reason to target a specific group of customers is so that you can better and more effectively  communicate with them. Where are they most likely to be open to receiving your messages? What media, at what times, on which days?

Do they use different media for different purposes? For example, do they review websites in work for information, then look at other sites in the evenings and at weekends for entertainment? How does this difference impact your brand?

10. WHY VALUES: What values do your customers have that you are addressing with your product or service, and which explain why they are using your brand rather than another? Do they have other values that are not currently being addressed, either by you or your competitors?

If so, could they be highlighted in communications to attract more customers? In other words, do these values offer the possibility of a differentiated communications platform or even product / service concept? What resonates with them in particular about the category, your brand, your competitors’ brands?

11. WHY EMOTIONS: What is the emotional state of your customers when they are considering a purchase or use, both of the category and your brand?

Clearly identified emotional states enable you to more easily resonate with your customers through empathising with their current situation. You are also more likely to propose a solution that will satisfy their need or desire when their emotional state is precisely as you have identified.

12. WHY MOTIVATIONS: What motivates the customer to consider, buy and use the category and their brand choice? Emotions and motivations are closely linked, both to each other and to the customer’s need state.

By identifying the need-state you want to address, you will  be better able to understand your customers and increase the resonance of your communications with them.

[bctt tweet=”What motivates your customers to consider, buy and use the category and their brand choice? Emotions and motivations are closely linked, both to each other and to the customer’s need state. #Brand #Marketing” username=”Denysech”]

 

Final recommendations

If you can answer all twelve of these questions in detail, then you certainly know your customers intimately. But I have a word of warning before you sit back and relax on your laurels.

Remember that people are constantly changing and what satisfies them today, is unlikely to satisfy them tomorrow. Therefore you need to keep track on all four layers of your customer description, to stay ahead of the competition, as well as to satisfy and hopefully delight your customers just as much going forward.

[bctt tweet=”People are constantly changing & what satisfies them today, is unlikely to satisfy them tomorrow. Track the changes to stay ahead of the competition, & satisfy, delight your customers. #Brand #Marketing” username=”Denysech”]

As already mentioned at the start of this article, by completing a detailed description of their target audience for my client, we were able to identify a couple of new segments that their services could address. Although their demographics were similar, their emotional and need states were quite different. This gave us the opportunity to successfully respond with slightly different service offerings for each group. 

The 4W™ Persona Template is one of the best ways to develop an avatar or persona for your brand. Our clients love it, so I know you will too. It can be downloaded together with a detailed workbook explaining how to complete it, by clicking the button below.

Download 4W template

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it with your peers and colleagues. They will thank you for it, especially since it includes a link to a free workbook on developing brand personas / avatars!

10 Ways to Immediately Improve Your Customer Centricity

We all know that adopting a customer-first strategy is essential for business growth and profitability. However, customer centricity has become even more important today, as a result of all the changes in our customers’ behaviour following the global covid lockdown. We are now even more impatient and demanding of businesses, and quick to complain publicly when things go wrong, or rather when we are not totally satisfied.

All companies need to put their customers clearly at the heart of their organisation. But I know that many struggle, even in more normal times, to be customer-centric. They just don’t know where to start. Am I right? If you’re in this situation yourself, then this article is for you. In it I share ten simple actions to accelerate your organisation along its path to an improved customer-first strategy.

 

#1 Review & Revise the Description of your Target Audience

Do all your brands have a clear description of their target audience? These days we tend to speak about personas or avatars.

Complete this 4W persona template for customer centricityIs it as complete as it should be? If not, then regular readers will know about and probably use the C3Centricity 4W™ template for storing all this information. You can download it and get the accompanying workbook for free here.

In your avatar, you must include not only your customers’ demographics and consumption / purchasing habits, but also information about where they do these things, what values they have that you can tap into and what emotions motivate them to purchase and use your brand.

 

#2 Assess the Optimum Way of Connecting with Your Customers

Do you know the best way to contact your target customers, as well as their preferred place and time to connect?

Review how you communicate with your customers and what information exchange there is at that time. Is it one-way or two? Are you in a monologue or a dialogue?

Obviously the second is what it should be. You can learn far more about your customers by listening, especially when they are ready to share their information with you.

For an original take on engaging your customers see “You’re missing out on a Free Communication Channel!” (Any guesses what it is?)

[bctt tweet=”Review how you communicate with your customer and make sure its a dialogue not a monologue. #Brand #Communications #Marketing” username=”Denysech”]

 

#3 Identify the Needs Your Brand is Addressing

Maslow's hierarchy of needsDo you know what needs your customer has and which of them you are tapping into?

They certainly have more than one need, but you must identify and address only one at a time.

If you attempt to address more than one and especially if they are not sequential, your customer may be confused.

Mixed brand messages on what the brand can do for them, will leave your customers perplexed. This will, in turn, reduce the likelihood that they will be convinced your offer can meet their needs and objectives.

Knowing where your brand sits on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has one additional benefit. It can increase the success of regional and global launches by identifying cultures with similar levels of a specific need.

For more on this, please see “How to Take Local Brands to Global Success: The 5 Rules to Fortune.”

[bctt tweet=”Knowing where your brand sits on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has an additional benefit. It can increase the chance of success of regional & global launches. #Brand #Values #BrandEquity” username=”Denysech”]

#4 Make your Customer Everyone’s Responsibility

Is customer care only on the objectives of one or two departments in your organisation? Perhaps it’s only for the care centre employees or merchandisers to do.

It should, in fact, be on everyone’s annual objectives, to watch, listen and engage with your customers regularly. This will help them to understand how their work fits into the company’s objective to satisfy and delight the customer. It will also increase a more customer-centric approach to work in general.

Every employee has a role to play in customer centricity and connecting with the customers on a frequent basis and sharing experiences with colleagues will ensure that everyone understands this.

[bctt tweet=”Every employee has a role to play in customer centricity and connecting with customers on a frequent basis. #Brand #Marketing #CustomerCentricity #CustomerFirst” username=”Denysech”]

 

#5 Plan for the Unthinkable

Do you know where your business is going? Do you know what might happen in the future and what you would do in different situations? How would you react to new laws, new customer demands, or their new sensitivities such as ecology, sustainability, sourcing or ingredients?

It is better to plan for such events before they happen, so that you can quickly react to challenges as well as possible opportunities.

I am in favour of developing plausible future scenarios, rather than merely following trends. Why? Because everyone follows trends, so they provide no competitive advantage. However, by developing scenarios, they will be unique to your organisation and provide a clear path to answer all possible future opportunities and threats.

For more on scenario planning read “5 Business Success Factors (So You’re Ready for Anything!).”

[bctt tweet=”Developing plausible future scenarios, rather than merely following trends provide a competitive advantage that trends don’t provide alone. #Scenarios #Trends #Brand #Marketing” username=”Denysech”]

 

#6 Review Your Business Plans for Customer Centricity

Are your customers clearly identified and described in your plans? What about the customers of your major competitors?

Review your plans by considering how your customers will react to each of your scheduled actions. Not just the outcomes you are hoping for, but a true detailed analysis, based upon your understanding of them and their desires.

Have you planned any actions to surprise and delight them, or are you only relying on the “same old” activities, repeated from year to year?

People get bored quickly so they could become immune to repetitive offers. Some brands can also “train” their customers to expect their promotions because they have become too predictable. Their customers then wait for the promotions before purchasing, often in quantity. They may also eventually become less interested in the offers as they become perceived as of a decreasing value. Plan at least one unexpected WOW action each year to shake up your customers and make them take notice in a fresh, new way.

[bctt tweet=”Are you relying on the “same old” promotions, year to year? If so you are training your customers to expect and only buy when you are on offer. Surprise & delight are the solutions. #Brand #Marketing” username=”Denysech”]

 

#7 Expand Your Innovation Thinking

Are you caged in an innovation box, relying on your internal technical and expert skills? If you know your customers well, you can offer them more successful innovations, perhaps through additional sensorial experiences.

Consider adding sound to taste, colour to services, touch to packaging, aromas to retail displays. Give your customers more reasons to stay with you and they will become more loyal.

For some true inspiration on new ways to approach innovation read “The Best Ways To Improve Innovation With Better Ideation & Insights.

 

#8 Stop Testing Your Communications to Death

Customer centricity means observing your customersI can feel your shock as you read this, but why not review your process for the development of your communications?

If you spent more time and resources reviewing how to connect with your customers, and then reviewed early-stage work up-stream with them, you would be more likely to develop winners.

It would also reduce or totally replace your usual test protocol of testing just before airing. In this case it is usually too late to change anything and you will be forced to air a less than optimal advertisement, while you work on a revised edition.

 

#9 Define Your Image

Your brand has an image but it might not be what you think it is. Make sure you are measuring it regularly and not only on the attributes that you ideally want to perform well on. You need to include attributes important to your competitors, as well as to the category in general.

I so often see biassed attribute lists which, while providing exaggerated, over-positive images, lull companies into a false sense of security. When you are not measuring what is important for your competitors, you will always come out on top.

Another advantage of using a wider range of attributes is that the coverage of the total category will be more complete and you may even find a new or adapted positioning that no-one else is currently occupying.

If you’d like to read more about brand image measurement, be sure to check out “What you need to know about Brand Image, Personality & Archetypes.

 

#10 Update Your KPI’s

You know that what gets measured gets managed. Well, are you measuring what needs managing or only the metrics you can easily gather?

If you know your customers well, who they are, what they do, what they think of you and your competitors, and then compare these to where you want to take your brand, the metrics you need to be measuring become evident.

Too many organisations rely on financial KPIs alone. Make sure you are not one of them, by adding metrics to cover customer awareness, satisfaction and perception as a minimum.

[bctt tweet=”Too many organisations rely on financial KPIs alone. Make sure you are not one of them, by adding metrics to cover customer awareness, satisfaction & perception. #Brand #Marketing #KPI” username=”Denysech”]

 

I hope this list has helped you to identify a few areas that need revision in your organisation. Actioning even just one of them will improve your customer centricity and your profitability too (according to research).

Of course completing them all will ensure that your customer is really at the center of your business, as well as in the hearts of your employees.

If you would like to know just how customer centric you are, complete the C3C Evaluator™ assessment. The mini-version is free! The Evaluator™  will help you to identify where you are today as well as how to prioritise any needed changes in your organisation. 

For further inspiration on making your organisation more customer centric, check out our new course on Udemy. It’s called “A Customer-First Strategy for Accelerating Brand Growth.”

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