We read about it every day: high interest rates, fluctuating corporate valuations and geopolitical tensions, including the upcoming US presidential election in 2024.
In these difficult and uncertain times, companies now more than ever need to do this, that or the other. But let’s be honest: the future is never certain. Experienced business leaders must always play to win. To do this, they must set a focus: either the product or the customer.
Do you look inward or outward first? If you have the (hands down) best product and the means, creativity and technology to keep it number one, focus on the product. Otherwise, I strongly recommend focusing your strategy and investments on the customer.
To determine if your company is customer-centric, you must first listen.
“That’s good!” you say. “We are customer-focused.”
This may sound too obvious to mention. Hardly any manager believes or admits that their company is not customer-focused. After all, it is written in the mission statement. But as customers, we know that many of these mission statements, while well-intentioned, are wishful thinking at best.
So if we can’t rely on the mission statement to judge our customer focus, how can we determine if our organization is truly customer-centric? In my experience as a Customer Experience (CX) leader, I’ve discovered many ways to determine whether or not an organization is truly customer-centric. They boil down to three simple principles: listen, observe, and ask.
Step 1: Hear
To determine if your company is customer-centric, you must first listen.
• Do leaders actually talk about customers? I once heard the leader say the word “customer” twice in an hour while saying “demands” 28 times at a town hall meeting. The team understood what was really important to this leader.
• Who in the organization addresses the impact of strategies and changes on the customer? If no one does, or if it is the responsibility of front-line staff to constantly protect the customer, then your organization is not customer-centric. If, instead, senior-level leaders understand, address and prioritize customer impact, that is a good sign.
As CX leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure the company thinks and talks about customers.
• Are customer opinion metrics (beyond Net Promoter Score) widely shared and discussed? Are customer success stories shared regularly? One approach that has worked for me has been to ensure that every group meeting has a customer agenda item. This has allowed my team to share results and opportunities and to increase customer knowledge among team members.
Step 2: Observe
Next, look at how the organization works.
• To what extent, if at all, do leaders and managers consider customer needs when prioritizing projects and planning? Projects should be prioritized as follows:
1. Required for regulatory, legal or business reasons. These must come first. Your customers may not say it, but first and foremost they want you to stay in business. However, try not to put the next two tasks on hold completely. Can you outsource these tasks or hire contractors to keep them going?
2. Win-win: projects that generate high returns for both customers and the company.
3. Profit: Projects that generate a high return for customers, but the return for the company is less obvious or even has a negative return on investment. But remember: if customers win, you win in the long run, even if there are short-term losses.
• Is there a dedicated CX team or is the customer experience everyone’s responsibility? If something is everyone’s responsibility, it’s really no one’s responsibility. A dedicated CX team develops customer strategies, drives customer centricity, and aligns the organization with the customer. As CX leaders, it’s our responsibility to make sure the organization thinks and talks about customers.
For example, when we worked at a lender, we had a few customers every year who were at risk of default. It was only a few customers, so it wasn’t a huge financial problem, but it was extremely painful for those customers and their customer care teams. Advanced analytics allowed us to predict which customers were heading in that direction and intervene before it became a problem. We converted at-risk customers into very loyal customers and improved the customer care teams’ experience. Without a customer care team, this wouldn’t have happened.
• Do leaders have regular contact with customers (at all levels, not just the big ones)? Without regular interaction, you become the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand. I advise leaders to meet with at least one customer every month and spend some time in sales and customer service every year.
When you choose to be customer-centric, make sure it’s not just lip service – your customers will notice the difference.
• Is there a comprehensive listening program designed to understand customer experiences, expectations and perceptions? Such programs could include:
1. Voice of the Customer (VoC): VoC programs can include interviews, surveys, focus groups, and customer advisory boards. Other valuable sources include any conversations your team has with the customer – capture call center logs and your customer relationship management data.
2. Transaction monitoring: Analyzing customer interactions and transactions provides valuable data on customer behavior. This can include monitoring purchasing patterns, service usage, and feedback from various touchpoints. Transaction monitoring helps identify trends and pain points that can be addressed to improve the customer experience.
3. Secondary, syndicated and social research: Leveraging existing data sources and social media insights can provide a wealth of information about customer preferences and industry trends. Syndicated research reports, market analysis and social media listening tools can help companies stay on top of overall market dynamics and customer sentiment.
4. Targeted research: Conducting specific research projects tailored to unique customer segments or specific business questions can provide actionable insights. This can include customized surveys, focus groups, and experimental studies designed to test new concepts or collect detailed feedback on specific topics.
5. Voice of the Employee (VoE): Frontline team members know a lot about customers, their preferences and problems. Don’t miss out on this important source of knowledge.
Step 3: Questions
This is pretty obvious. Your customers are the best judge of whether your company is customer-centric. As mentioned above, both formal and informal listening is critical to identifying your development and areas for improvement and differentiation.
In summary, not every business needs to have a customer-centric strategy. If you have the best product and the means to outperform the competition, focus on the product.
When you choose to be customer-centric, make sure it’s not just lip service – your customers will notice the difference.
By actively listening to their customers’ feedback, monitoring and adapting their business practices to customer needs, and asking directly for customer feedback, companies can ensure they remain relevant and competitive.
By implementing robust VoC and VoE programs and dedicating resources to understanding customer experiences, ambitious mission statements can be transformed into actionable strategies. Ultimately, companies that put their customers’ needs and experiences first are better positioned to succeed, regardless of external uncertainties.
