A business strategy that really puts the customer at the center goes beyond thinking about their wishes when designing an offer. Together with those who build the offer, all business divisions must convert to a “customer centric” vision. The common goal must be, in short, to build a relationship, in its various forms, as personalized as possible with the customer. A long and lasting relationship that starts from the proposition, passes through the purchase, distribution and continues with the after-sales service.
All studies on new consumer behavior agree. The contact with the brand must not be subordinated to the medium: it is he who must be found, and noticed, in all the places frequented by consumers, online and offline. And it is the brand that must go to track down its target in the digital places where it “gathers”, communicates and shares experiences and emotions (including purchases). In addition, Millennials and Gen Z introduce new elements such as trust and some values (such as environmental sustainability) which, if not above, are at least on par with pure pricing.
New consumers are looking for a lasting relationship with the brand, a loyalty that leads to a percentage growth on the turnover of the recurring purchases component, also in light of the fact that acquiring new customers in a global market is increasingly complicated.
Thus, being customer centric, which precludes being data driven, means changing your point of view and activating all the technological tools necessary to search for consumer niches, cultivate them and convince them to create a relationship, not only aimed at pure sales but to determine a “Choice of field”. Because the consumer today does not buy a product but wants an emotion.
The disciplines of a customer centric strategy
The free Playbook Guide to digital transformation created by Salesforce emphasizes 5 “customer centric disciplines” that have applied companies that have already converted to the paradigm, let’s see them in summary.
1. How to make decisions. Being customer-focused means sensing, anticipating and responding to their changing desires. This is why it is essential to be “data driven”, that is, to use the right technological tools, applications and digital services, to interpret the data collected and build a complete and unique “dossier” on the customer, to which all company divisions have the right to access. The knowledge of the individual behavior, not only in the relationship with the company, will allow, even with the help of AI, to make the right decisions.
2. How to engage customers. According to Salesforce analysis, the commercial division of companies tracks customer satisfaction more than any other metric. And the customer experience in the relationship with the brand becomes a priority. The way in which customers are involved in all phases of the relationship is fundamental to building an experience. Demonstrating that you know their expectations, to foresee them, to satisfy them and to always remain by their side, is possible thanks to data and technological tools, and thanks to an approach that aims at listening and not imposing. Amazon “listened” to its customers when they showed impatience with too many clicks to close a transaction, leaving the cart. And activated one-click purchase.
3. Working methods. When we talk about a complete and unique “dossier” on the single customer to which all company divisions have the right to access, we are thinking of a single technological platform but also of a single team, horizontal with respect to the company divisions. In the team that manages the customer there will be the commercial and marketing figure who work closely with the assistance service operator and with the data analyst, who is responsible for interpreting the data provided by the platforms. Becoming customer centric, therefore, is everyone’s business in the company, it is a change of cultural paradigm and requires time and application.
4. How to adopt technologies. For a customer centric vision, a new technology is needed or an adaptation of the existing one. This is why we start from an assessment of what is present, transforming technology into the primarily responsible asset of the business. We will then proceed to a simplification of the processes, eliminating or redesigning those that are not appropriate. The cloud will be the new working and data sharing environment and the customer management platform, an extended CRM, will be the only digital hub on which the data of all the other applications converge, through integration. A new “digital governance” will also have to be envisaged. A single model for managing application processes and distributing changes and improvements dictated by the changing needs of the market and proposed by all company teams.
5. How to make a contribution to society. The events of 2020 required an acceleration of corporate strategies towards a more socially responsible model. The commitment to the environment, the initiatives towards employees and the company are now definitively parameterized and affect the economic value of a company. Therefore, the corporate impact on the surrounding ecosystem cannot be underestimated. And it is also shown that a company that curates concepts such as equality, sustainability and philanthropy will reap the rewards in terms of turnover. This (also) because they are actions that have a strong impact on consumers, the first and only arbitrators to refer to. And they have an impact on the employees themselves and on the company’s image towards new talents. Because a company that looks after its employees is a company where you work peacefully and, therefore, well.