Being customer-centric is easy to say, hard to do.
Walker Information, a loyalty consulting firm, says it comes down to three things:
- Leadership: companies are either "just formed that way" at the beginning or new leadership can affect a change in communications, incentives and culture.
Comment: Couldn't agree more. In the 10+ years I've been researching this topic, I can't think of one example of a customer-centric company that doesn't have a customer-centric leader.
- Infrastructure: being customer-focused is "built in" to the way the company operates. On new initiatives, a managers will ask, "Is this good for our customers?"
Comment: Truly customer-centric organizations don't think about it, they just act that way due to the culture, processes and reward systems.
- Action: Customer-focused companies create action on a regular basis on the front lines of the business.
Comment: This is the tricky and most important part, in my view. Management must translate the customer-focused concept into discrete actions that employees can take every day.
A short video is available here [1]. Well worth a listen.
Why does this matter? Walker Information claims that its clients out-perform the market [2]. And isn't that the point of being in business?