CUSTOMER CENTRIC
To become customer centric , you need to start from the top . Your top management plays the most important role in driving change across the organization . They set the tone for how the rest of the company works , and their implementing a customercentric culture is no exception . The management team should first determine key performance indicators for customer centricity , then develop strategies and policies for the rest of the organization to follow to meet these performance targets .
Key performance indicators might include your company ’ s net promoter score , customer lifetime duration , customer lifetime value , average journey completion time , customer effort score , task completion rate , escalation rate , customer churn rate , average resolution time , and daily complaint numbers . If you ’ re not sure how to measure these , ask us .
Once top management is on board and you ’ ve developed policies and determined key performance indicators , you will need to cultivate empathy across your organization . This applies to everyone and not just to customer-facing employees . Everyone contributes to the customer experience , so everyone needs to understand the selling process from the customer ’ s point of view .
Encourage employees to spend time going through customer calls and reviewing your customer persona . Explain to them how their work impacts the customer experience and organize regular team meetings where you share customer stories and what you ’ ve learned by interacting with them . This will keep everyone aligned with the customer-centric approach and bring back-end employees in sync with what ’ s happening on the front end .
When you hire new employees , assess their ability to empathize as part of the screening process . Those unable to express empathy are not likely a good fit for your new customer-centric organization .
Once you have an empathic culture , you need to shift the focus of the organization from sales to relationships . Sales are important , but they are driven by the relationships you develop with your customers . The problem with focusing on sales is that figures are objective targets that pay no mind to emotions and feelings . Because your customers are human , you need to prioritize the relationship you build with them and the way they regard your organization . When you focus on relationships with your customers , sales follow because your customers feel seen and understood and this makes them want to buy from you .
Empower employees to go the extra mile for your customers and provide them with the tools they need to do so . Encourage them to understand the bigger picture and why they are doing what they ’ re doing and reward them for their efforts . Customers will pick up on it when employees are aligned with customer-centric initiatives and have been given the free will to enhance their experience .
As a customer-centric organization , you need to actively collect customer feedback about their experience and act on it . Many organizations collect feedback , but surprisingly few take action . Fifty-two percent of people believe companies need to take action on the feedback provided by customers , and not making use of this feedback is one of the main reasons companies are unable to succeed at customer centricity . When you receive feedback from customers , use these insights to influence your approach and to build new roadmaps for your processes going forward .
Customer centricity focuses on long-term initiatives . Developing relationships with your customers doesn ’ t happen overnight , and it will take time to see the results of your new processes . The good news is that these initiatives gain momentum over time . Once you begin seeing results , they will typically escalate because your retention will increase and more and more customers will be referring business to you .
Building a customer-centric culture is a team effort . It requires commitment from everyone in your organization to drive excellence in the customer experience . This is why , if you ’ re committed to doing business this way , you must shift your focus , cultivate empathy , and actively respond to your customer base .
When you develop a marketing strategy with Tulip Media , we ’ ll encourage you to try out all these initiatives because we want to see you succeed . Your success is our success . If this is something that you ’ re interested in , we encourage you to book a demo with us at TulipMediaGroup . com to learn more .
Stacey O ' Brien is the VP of Everything at Tulip Media Group and best-selling author of The Ultimate Culture . Stacey has excelled in the business management space for over 20 years . Stacey ' s first book , co-authored with Erika MacLeod is available on Amazon : tm . media / ultimateculture
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