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We’ve all heard term ‘customer centric’ banded around, but what does it really mean?
There is still a school of thought that believes you can only put profit OR customers first, hopefully we can dispel that myth.
What does it mean to be customer centric?
At its simplest level, customer-centric means creating a business approach that puts your customer at the core of your business.
This is more than simply offering great customer service, it’s offering a great experience which starts when someone first becomes aware of your business, throughout the purchasing process, and continues post-purchase.
Putting your customer at the core of your business, combined with the processes and strategy of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) gives you a full 360 view of the customer. By combining data, process mapping, and customer insight, you will in turn, enhance the customer experience.
For example:
- You can use customer data to understand buying behaviour, interests, and engagement
- You can identify opportunities to create products and services for your best customers
- You can use customer lifetime value to segment customers based on top-spending customers to create loyalty programmes.
Brands that are committed to customer-centricity truly believe that the customer comes first; have marketers who understand what customers want; use customer data to capture customer insights; and use this data to define customer experiences.
You should focus on customer’s wants and needs and develop products and services around that. Build relationships that are designed to maximise the customer’s product and service experience and implement strategies that keep profitable and loyal customers.
How do you measure your customer centricity?
While, at first, becoming customer-centric seems like a simple objective. It can soon feel nebulous and hard to quantify. Here are some metrics to help to measure your progress towards customer-centricity.
Churn rate
The churn rate will indicate how well you are meeting your customers needs by calculating how many are leaving you as a proportion of your total customers. New customer acquisition is tougher and more expensive than retaining customers. Putting the customer first will reduce the likelihood of them leaving. This has a direct financial benefit to the business.
Customer lifetime value
This is the value a customer provides, normally revenue, for the length of time they are a customer, less the cost to acquire them. Understanding the full value of a customer will help you prioritise retention and justify the cost to acquire and maintain that customer.
NPS
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a measure of how happy your customers are based on one simple question: “How likely is it that you recommend [your company, product or service] to a friend or colleague?”
The NPS score provides a measure of your customer’s overall perception of you. You should also ask the follow-up question: “What is the one thing that would help improve this score” to provide actionable insight.
If you want to discover how to create a customer centric framework, why not take advantage of the free lesson we have available this week?
Free Lesson: Create a customer centric communication plan
Looking to take a qualification?
Here are some of our qualifications that will help you to develop your customer centric approach:
IDM Award in Customer Data Strategy
IDM Award in Email Marketing Strategy
IDM Award in Digital Marketing Strategy
Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing