CUSTOMER CENTRICITY is a great…actually it is AWESOME! Even though it is kind of technical sounding term, it is great at describing one key thing…EVERYTHING IN YOUR COMPANY STARTS AND ENDS WITH THE CUSTOMER. It’s building all your processes (and experiences) with the customer in the center of everything, rather than your product or service being your primary focus. My term for Customer Centricity is a bit simpler…CUSTOMER OBSESSION.
Regardless of the term you prefer, the concept is the same…building your business around the customer so they love what you do for them, receive an incredible experience, and encourage them to spread word-of-mouth about you. This is what separates you from your competitors…because they still believe they can differentiate themselves based on their product or service offering. This used to work really well 10+ years ago…but today, differentiating on products and services means you have to be the very best in playing the “commodity game” of price and terms. And with global competition, it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to win at this game in the new Customer (Internet) Economy.
If you least accept the concept of Customer Centricity (hopefully you have bought into how powerful this is for your future), there are 3 C’s that are critical to being successful today and into the future. Focus on developing these 3C’s and continually work on making them better and better will not only allow you to beat out your competitors and be completely differentiated, your customers will be love and talk about you. And since customers are the only group that pays you money, it just makes sense to focus on them…which is one of the many reasons why I have focused in this area for the past 20 years.
So what exactly are the 3 C’s you need to allow Customer Centricity (or Customer Obsession) to work for your company? Here they are with a brief explanation to get you started…
- Consistency…One of the most critical ingredients to the formula for Customer Centricity is being consistent. As we phrased it in our book (Creating and Delivering Totally Awesome Customer Experiences) without consistency you have “Random Acts of Excellence and Chaos.” This isn’t good…it causes the customers anxiety and stress because they don’t know what to expect. And when customers are confused, they defect (leave). But there is a way to get consistency…treat the Customer Experience like a process. We created a model for this called Customer Experience Mapping™ where we break down the desired experience into a detailed series of Touch Points delivered to the customer…every time. By creating these “Maps” we can be very consistent in delivering the desired experience to our customers. Not only do they enjoy knowing what to expect, but what we deliver is AWESOME and INCREDIBLE so their response is WOW!
- Creativity…Once you have Consistency, the experience doesn’t just stop. It actually is a “living breathing component” of your organization that is constantly being improved. As employees deliver this REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE to your customers, they will naturally come up with improvements on how to make it even better. These are captured, discussed, and evaluated for how they could improve our customer experience even more. This process of new ideas, creativity, and improvement is all about INNOVATION. Being open to innovation and improving the experience continually takes it to another level…a level your competitors could only hope to reach some day. So even if your best competitor decides to create their own incredible customer experience (which they usually won’t because it takes focused effort), you are always “one-step ahead” of them because you are continually innovating. This creativity and innovation is what keeps you in the top spot in the customers’ mind.
- Culture…Last, and certainly not least (actually this should be number one) is about Culture. Creating a Customer Centric company is analogous to having a CUSTOMER CENTRIC CULTURE. They work together and can’t be separated. If you are want to be Customer Centric then you have to have Culture that lives this every single day. If you want to have a Culture that is focused on your customer, you have to have a Customer Centric Strategy. One can’t exist (or happen) without the other one being in place. And this Customer Centric Culture has to literally ooze throughout the organization in every employee…it has to be the core of why every employee does what they do…it is the foundation built on the values of the leadership team and the company. As I like to say, Customer Centricity becomes part of the “DNA” of your company…it is WHO YOU ARE, NOT WHAT YOU DO.
When organizations have a strong commitment and passion towards these 3 C’s they are allowing themselves (and their customers) the joy and benefits of being Customer Centric. This is a lifestyle, a way of living inside and outside of your organization. When everything is built and created with the customer in mind it actually simplifies most decisions. Now, instead of asking questions about efficiency and effectiveness internal to the organization, we can simply ask, “How does this impact our customer? And does it enhance or detract from the awesome customer experience we give them today?” Based on the answer to these questions, you will have a much clearer direction of how to make the right decision.
One thing happens when an organization becomes Customer Centric…it also becomes more efficient and effective. By obsessing over your customer, your employees find more efficient and effective ways to deliver this experience and make things better on the inside of the company as well…including the roles of your employees. Human beings are great at finding better ways to do something when given the freedom to be creative. This gives them the ability to find the most efficient and effective ways to deliver an awesome customer experience. But it doesn’t work in the other direction. If you focus on efficiency and effectiveness first, usually the customer experience is not improved…in most cases it is worsened because we care more about ourselves than the customer. But put the customer in the center of the company and employees find the most efficient and effective ways to give them an awesome experience.
Do you want to become Customer Centric? This is the first question to ask your leadership team. Are you willing to change your company (perhaps significantly) to one that obsesses over your customer? Are you willing to “stay the course” and be consistent and unrelenting in delivering a remarkable customer experience? Are you willing to invest in your customer by creating this type of organization? Are you willing to change your culture to one that is “all in” on putting your customer first above everything else and allowing them the freedom to create really awesome experiences?
If you can answer YES to these questions…welcome aboard!! You have just made a decision to eclipse your competition and are well on your way to becoming a REMARKABLE COMPANY. Congratulations…now the hard work begins…but also the incredible rewards your customers will bestow upon you with their wallets and their loyalty (and Advocacy). Let your journey begin…today is DAY ONE!
