"Customers Are Kings: This is Why Customer Centricity is Important for Your Business"

"Customers are Queens and Kings" – you've probably heard this statement if you work in the marketing, sales or service industries. The implication is that customers are always right and their views and needs are prioritized. This is the foundation of customer centricity, which puts customers and their wishes at the center, implying your company's strategies are aligned with them. This makes sense as consumers are ultimately the ones who should be buying your products at the end of the day. If you truly understand their concerns, your product is not just any product – it's the solution to the buyers' problem.

To implement this as effectively as possible for your company, in this article, we will talk about what you can understand by customer centricity and what customer-centric marketing is all about. We then introduce you to the elements that make up customer centricity and why it is important for your company. We also discuss its importance in the B2B sector and take a look at the best practices you can follow. Finally, we present the factors you can use to measure the success of your customer centricity and let you know which softwares can support you in this.

What does Customer Centricity mean?

The term Customer Centricity describes a company philosophy that puts your customers at the center of your company's direction and related decisions. Your customers thus form the starting point of your value chain. At every step in product life cycle and new product development, you consider the wishes and needs of your consumers. By becoming customer-centered, you ask yourself at every change what benefits your customers receive from it and how the development of the products affects them. Customer Centricity, therefore, describes more of an attitude that guides your employees' actions than a strategy or an applicable method of work. However, these values should be reflected in your sales and marketing concepts, and in customer support and all other areas that deal with customers.

What is customer-centered marketing?

But what can you understand by customer-centered marketing? Customer Centricity is more of a strategy, but it manifests in certain actions towards your customers that run throughout your entire company. It has to be internalized by all employees so that it doesn't come off as insincere and makes your customers feel genuinely appreciated. This can be manifested in various actions. For example, customer-centered marketing can take the form of quickly answering inquiries, having a friendly phone call, providing a detailed representation of product benefits on your website, or showing leniency in case of issues with your products or their shipment. The basic principle for you is to make it as pleasant as possible for your customers and for them to have an unforgettable good experience with your company and your brand.

To ensure the best possible care for your consumers, it makes sense, in addition to a Customer Service Tool, to also use a Customer Relationship Management Tool, or chose a software that combines the two areas. This allows you to keep track of the needs, desires and inquiries of your customers and respond to them as quickly as possible. You will notice: Satisfied customers are loyal customers, and they will recommend you. Customer Centricity can therefore not only help you improve your existing customer relationships but also to prepare future ones well.

In customer-oriented marketing, your customers are always at the center of decisions.

These are the components of Customer Centricity

Does the principle of Customer Centricity still sound a bit abstract and you're finding it hard to implement it? No problem. To make company-wide customer centricity more tangible, let's look at the components that make up Customer Centricity: Customer Value, Customer Journey and Customer Experience.

Customer Centricity consists of the Customer Journey, the Customer Experience and the Customer Value.

Customer Value defines the benefit your customers gain from your product. This includes the problem solution it provides and how easy it is to implement. If your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is therefore a real added value for your customers, it stands for your Customer Value. The Customer Journey, on the other hand, represents the various purchase phases that your consumers go through – from the offering phase, through information searches to the purchase decision and post-purchase care. Examples of this phase of Customer Centricity can include direct speaking to your customer at Point of Sale, personal consultations, showing leniency with complaints and returns, or including them in a loyalty program.

The third element, Customer Experience, defines the shopping experience you offer to your customers. If this was positive, they'll most likely recommend you and will shop with you again because they know they can rely on you and your products and will find exactly what they're looking for. Your customers can make recommendations both in written form on product pages of your company, on social networks and in forums and communities, as well as in personal conversations. These experiences are then used by other potential customers to inform themselves about usefulness of your products before the purchase. As part of the strategic approach to customer centricity, this recommendation power of your customers is also known as Customer Empowerment.

When these three elements harmonize with each other, your customers experience an optimal shopping experience that has been created based on their needs.

3 reasons why Customer Centricity is important for your company

Many companies still follow proven strategies focusing on price and thus company's profit. When applying these strategies, you run the risk of your products getting copied by competitors or your prices being undercut. But also external circumstances like changing trends or shortages of raw materials can disrupt your planning. Here lies the first reason why customer centricity is important for your company.

• Customer centricity can't be copied: Establishing true customer centricity in your company requires a great deal of effort – but it's worth it. Competitors might copy your services at Point of Sale, but won't be able to offer the same comprehensive experiences your customers receive from involving all departments in your company. Because Customer Centricity is not just a buzzword – all parties must live it to be authentic. This can't be copied.
• Satisfied customers are loyal customers: Because you know your customers well and know their problems, and take time to solve them as best as possible, they receive the ideal service. So why should they take a risk and change to another provider? With every positive experience with your company and your products, the chance that your satisfied customers will recommend you increases.
• You give yourself a competitive advantage: If you talk to your customers and know how they prefer to conduct their business, which functions are important to them and how you can best stay in touch with them, you'll become aware of trends quickly. For example, it may turn out that consumers only want to inform themselves about your products online but want detailed and personal advice before the purchase, which they take advantage of onsite. If online purchase drops completely, you don't have to invest money in this sales channel, but can focus your attention on building the competence of your advisors. Since you know your customers, you'll not miss out on any developments and can consider these in strategic planning. Regular feedback and communication with your customers also have the advantage that you can continually optimize your products and tailor them to the users.

This is the significance of Customer Centricity in the B2B sector

Customer Centricity Marketing is not only crucial in Business-to-Customer (B2C) but also in Business-to-Business (B2B) sector. Regardless of whether you sell printers and the related accessories or machines for production areas – the relationship with your business customers will probably be long-term, as you can also handle follow-up orders or repair services with proper customer care. This means more revenue for your company. For this reason, it is especially important in the B2B sector that you know your customers and their needs, wants and problems. If you offer them the appropriate solutions along with first-class service, a stable and profitable business connection will develop from which both sides benefit. Studies have even found that companies that pursue the strategic approach of customer centricity can generate 60% more revenue than companies that follow another strategic direction.

The orientation towards your customers has a direct influence on your economic success.

These are the Best Practices in the area of Customer Centricity

Surely everyone knows companies that score with their customer centricity and are therefore particularly popular with their customers. The leading company in the area of best practices for customer centricity is Amazon. More chairs than employees present are placed in meetings. Why? According to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, this is to symbolize the most important person in the room: Your customers. This ensures that customers are at the center of every change. The online giant also shows a lot of generosity to its customers in case of complaints. In addition, Amazon's business model revolutionized online trading at the time of its establishment. The company understood what consumers need and what they don't need. The shopping experience is almost always positive, as virtually every product with a name and reputation is available on Amazon. The ordering process is child's play and delivery is conveniently made to your own front door.

Another well-known Best Practice Candidate is the streaming service Netflix. Here, series and movies are recommended to you that the recommendation algorithm has identified as suitable based on your preferences and your previous streaming behavior. You can store shows on a list so you don’t lose track of them, you’re automatically informed when new seasons are available, or you can take a look at the “Currently popular” list if you’re looking for other shows. But Netflix also involves you in the production of new movies or series by observing which genres and topics appeal to a large number of users and therefore promise success.

Starbucks is also one of the most successfully implemented examples of customer centricity. The focus here is on the personalization of the Customer Journey. You are addressed by your first name, which makes you feel valued and comfortable. To the salespeople, you are not just any customer, but feel a bit like home. You can then enjoy your favorite beverages in a personalized cup while enjoying free WiFi. Images of Starbucks coffee cups often end up on social networks. This speaks for the coffee chain's great popularity among its customers.

Using these factors, you can measure the success of your customer centricity

But how do you now measure whether your customer centricity is successful? For this, you have different key performance indicators at your disposal. The Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) defines how much your customers are worth to your company. For this, you relate the costs you put into maintaining relationship with your customers to the revenue you generate from them. Since you bind your customers in the long term with a successfully implemented customer centricity, the CLV is higher than with other strategic approaches, even if the costs of maintaining the relationship may be higher. These will automatically be amortized over the duration of your connection. Moreover, the CLV helps you to uncover particularly profitable segments. You can then use these findings for the refinement of your customer centricity.

Another key factor that you can use to assess your customer centricity is the Net Promoter Score (NPS), also known as the Customer Centricity Score. It refers to the willingness of your customers to recommend your company and your products. To get the NPS, you form the difference between customers who leave you very good ratings and those who leave bad ones. This directly tells you how satisfied your customers are with you and your services.

These customer service software's support you in implementing your customer-centered marketing

Now that you've learned about the benefits, success factors and the importance of Customer Centricity, we want to give you some tools that can help you implement customer-centric marketing in your company. Detailed reports and user ratings can be found on our software rating platform OMR Reviews.

From the customer service software sector, we can recommend the following tools. If you want to learn more about customer service tools, then simply read our article on the 7 best customer service software.

Sinch Engage

Flixcheck

Front

HelpSpace

iAdvize Conversational Plattform

Also, software from the CRM sector can support you in implementing your Customer Centricity. You can find a comprehensive article on the subject of Customer Relationship Management on OMR Reviews. Focus on your customers is paramount for your success.

CentralStationCRM

TecArt CRM

1Tool

Customer centricity is a significant success factor for your company. Although implementation means a rethinking throughout the company and moving away from personal or competitor-driven approaches, it will pay off. Because your customers will recognize that you understand them and that they find solutions to their problems with you. This not only has a positive impact on their day-to-day lives but also on your account balance and the number of your loyal customers. So, let's get started with your customers!