A firm that is customer-centric is one that puts the customer at the center of its product design, marketing, and product delivery. Basically, this kind of business puts the customer first, so to say. Customer centricity demands that organizations provide customers with exceptional service and experience during and after sales so as to develop the competitive edge and maintain the customers in addition to raiding sales figures. Customer centricity involves ensuring that customers are truly satisfied. Many organization research their most important and valuable clients and target them with offers at relevant times. In order to accurately accomplish a customer-centric marketing strategy, customer research from various sources and channels is required.
Customer centricity requires knowing that all customers are not the same and that a “one size fits all” approach is not the way. It requires that an organization knows what each of the valued clients likes or how they like their products or commodities.
Valuable and invaluable customers
It is vital that organizations realize that not all clients will yield profits; or rather there are those who will yield more profits than others. Organizations, therefore utilize customer analytics in order to obtain data and so as to segment the consumers. A measure of customer valuability, called the “customer lifetime value,” is used in these efforts. Loyal customers and those easy to keep are assigned higher scores and the company works to cultivate a positive relationship with them.
Characteristics of customer-centric companies
Companies with a business approach a marketing that is customer-centric normally have these characteristics:
They use data from the customers to determine most valuable customers
Segment customers based on the lifetime value score of the customer
Have an all-around culture that is customer-centric
Keep the customers involved from the start, offering any and all help
They encourage customers to be innovative
Have the customer at the center of their marketing model.
Benefits of customer-centricity
Customer centricity is a very successful marketing approach. Customer-centric organizations enjoy loyalty from the customers and have high customer retention rates. This is because they ensure that their clients are completely satisfied by providing exemplary customer service and experience. The result is an increase in the bottom line of the organization and guaranteed future sales and profits.
Satisfied high-end customers that have received customized experience and service are more likely to refer other high-end clients, hence growing the company’s client base.
Focusing on customer retention has been shown to be a prime way to increase profits. In fact, studies show that customer-centric organizations are sixty percent more profitable as compared to companies that don’t focus on customers.
