Customer-centric companies like Alibaba and Amazon have become benchmarks as COVID-19 put e-commerce into hyperdrive.
One of the key traits of these companies – and others like them such as Airbnb, Uber, and Just Eat – is a highly scalable platform. Quite understandably, other businesses want to emulate their success. But they want to take a shortcut by simply investing in a commerce platform and other technologies.
This misses the most important lesson the disruptors offer: Put customers first. We can learn more from them about customer-focused leadership than about technology.
Customer-centric companies: It’s a mindset
Excellent customer experience – fast, relevant, and personalized – is critical for all industries today. COVID has made exceptional customer experience even more of a priority as it’s transformed physical relationships into digital ones.
Many older companies are struggling to dance to this new worldwide drum beat of digital change, and they often do so by trying to match the young companies with new technology investments.
But great technology is not enough for business success today. We can learn more from the rising stars about building customer centricity than about building tech platforms.
Their true differentiator is a culture with an all-pervasive customer focus. They all have a business strategy that’s based on putting customers first in order to mass-produce positive experiences and build long-term relationships.
The transitional journey for many companies is fundamentally about culture and mindset. The key elements must be customer-focused leadership, design of experiences, and feedback culture for continuous improvements.
As companies adopt a customer-centric mindset, their long track records, many customers, and massive competence remain great assets.
Reality check: The looming experience gap
That said, we’re looking at an experience gap. Interesting studies show that managers truly believe they are running a customer-centric company, while the customers have a completely different opinion!
The hard truth is that customers don’t want to experience how we are organized, and they don’t want to experience organizational silos and disconnects that can make life so exhausting.
As a customer you look for convenience, you choose the channel for communication, and you have probably already chosen mobile as your preferred device.
Customer demand for faster, easier, and personalized experiences isn’t limited to the B2C world. B2B buyers expect the same kind of digital experiences and personalization they encounter in their personal lives.
Customer-centric companies need C-suite buy-in
Peter Drucker’s famous words about culture eating strategy for breakfast are very true here. The key ingredient for a company to embrace hyper customer centricity is C-suite support.
Corporate leaders must be aware of the need for a customer-centric “mindset” across the organization. This mindset should spread throughout the processes and permeate any corner of the organization.
This is where technology plays its role! Putting the customer first requires a company act as one and create end-to-end seamless and personalized experiences across marketing, commerce, sales, and service.
A detailed and comprehensive “stack” of technology is needed, as the customer experience is comprised of the whole array: The product, price, service, communications, people, billing, and logistics.
Tear down the barriers to customer-centricity
Right now, the technology stack for customer centricity is getting wider.
In top management, you should consider some common challenges and ask these questions when it comes to customer-centricity:
- Do we have functional silos preventing the sharing of customer data?
- Do we have every aspect of customer data handled fast, reliable and secure?
- Do we systematically and intelligently collect data about customer experiences?
- Do we do that every channel and every part of the customer journey?
The EU has led the way in terms of privacy and democratization of personal data. To some, all their data rules may appear as another barrier for getting data to support hyper customer centricity.
To me, it’s closer to the contrary. Trust is a fundamental building block in sustainable customer centricity, and you cannot expect trusted relationships if you start out by messing with your customers data.
This is not rocket science, and a lot of excellent established companies have respect, knowledge, and deep, trusted customer relationships in their DNA. They just need to add more digital!
