How to stay Customer-Centric during 2022?

Covid-19 has indeed changed the customer experience in far more ways than one could imagine. It has disrupted in-person experience to a level that it resulted in a digital space that’s louder for many than ever before. While it has already re-shaped the business landscape; the pioneers of customer experience are deploying strategies not just for the present, but to prepare for the future too.

Many companies aim to be customer-focused but struggle to know what it actually looks like and how to truly make customers the center of their businesses. Customer experience is continually evolving as technology and customer demands change. Just because a company was once customer-centric doesn’t mean it still is in 2022.

What does it mean to be customer-centric in 2022? Consider these 5 essentials of customer-centric companies:

1. Have Customer-Centric Leaders First

Bob Garratt in his famous book The Fish rots from the head subtly describes the root cause of an organisation’s failure i.e., the man sitting at the top. True customer-centricity starts at the top. The most customer-centric leaders set the example to ingrain a customer focus into the culture and make customers central to every decision the company makes. Truly customer-centric leaders systemize customer-focused leadership and development in their organizations to train the next generation of leaders how to serve and connect with customers.

I still remember my pay slip tagline in one of the organisations I worked for. It said: “Customer pays your salary. Look after them well. If you won’t, someone else will”. This is an attitude organisations work with and they are bound to succeed because they have Customer First philosophy ingrained at the top.

2. Anticipate Customer Needs

Henry Ford once said: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Ford knew what the customer wanted before the customer knew they even wanted it — that’s a game-changing business move. We can see similar styles of future-forecasting in Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. These visionary CEOs pushed the envelopes on what people would want in the future, giving the world the very best products that people could ever imagine to receive.

While most customers are able to accurately provide an account of what they want today, gauging what they want on a longer time horizon is extremely difficult for most people. They rely on companies to do that work for them to anticipate their needs — and make helpful suggestions accordingly.

3. Stay Accessible

Here is a unique example of Zappos — the online shoe retailer with a completely opposite approach to customer success. Zappos identifies that when a customer wants to talk to them, they should make it as easy as possible. Note how they include their phone number prominently on the top bar of every page with the note “Available 24/7.”

Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, describes his rationale for that decision as: “A lot of people may think it’s strange that an internet company would be so focused on the telephone, when only about 5% of our sales happen by phone. But we’ve found that on average, our customers telephone us at least once at some point, and if we handle the call well, we have an opportunity to create an emotional impact and a lasting memory … Our philosophy has been that most of the money we might ordinarily have spent on advertising should be invested in customer service, so that our customers will do the marketing for us through word of mouth.”

4. Meet Customers Frequently

One of the biggest epidemics facing modern organizations is the loss of feedback from in-person meetings. Looking back 50 years, before the advent of the Internet and our diversified global economy, it was far easier for a business interact with an end customer. Direct, human contact happened on a daily basis simply because it was a necessary part of commerce. If you wanted an item, you went to a store, talked to a salesperson, and bought it in-person. That feedback could be used by a business to improve the consumer experience.

Today, in most businesses, this is not the case. The other advances from the digital economy have provided great benefits. While our potential touchpoints for feedback are far greater due to technology, there is less in-depth contact. How do we combat this? By bringing back the in-person experience. It may seem old school, but hosting in-person events can be beneficial in your quest to customer centrism. By hosting an event, you provide value to two parties: the customers and the brand.

5. Look Beyond Purchase

At the end of the day, in business, our goal is to get customers to purchase our products or services. However, when customers buy once, we’ll want to ensure they buy again. After all, studies show that it costs nearly five times more to attain a new customer than to retain an existing one.

One example of this can be seen with the industrial clothing company, Rocky Mountain Industrial Supply (RMI). RMI sells flame-resistant clothing to labor crews operating in industrial worksites like oilfields and mines. In addition to its clothing, RMI creates added value for its customers by providing them with free safety certification courses. Customers take these courses to receive credible certifications that will qualify them to operate a product or piece of machinery. This not only helps customers avoid costly mistakes but also gives them the tools needed to excel in their careers. As they take more courses and enhance their skill set, customers begin to rely on RMI to assist with their long-term goals.

Bottom Line

Building a customer-centric organization in today’s digital world is increasingly complicated. While new technologies have allowed companies to roll out changes quickly, there’s now an expectation from customers for greater customer attention. A customer-centric brand proves quite the opposite case. Every team member listens to customers and is aligned on that goal. In turn, the company builds products that meet customer needs, anticipates customer wants, and they provide a level of service that keeps customers coming through the door and advocating for the brand.

Precisely, customer-centricity is a way of doing business that fosters a positive customer experience at every stage of the customer journey. It builds customer loyalty and satisfaction which leads to referrals for more customers. Anytime customer-centric organisations makes a decision, they deeply consider the effects and the outcome will have on their customers.

About the Author

Muhammad Sajwani is the Founder and Managing Director of Evolve HR which aims at transforming, enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan, Evolve HR thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders. As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.