Most companies would consider their culture to be customer centric, but what does that phrase actually mean? A customer centric culture is putting the customers needs and wants above all else, which in turn creates a sense of brand loyalty from the consumers.
THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT
This phrase has been often misrepresented in business as people believe it enables rude and entitled behaviour in some customers. However, if used correctly, it allows your business to truly listen to the customer’s concerns, which in turn could lead to a product or sales improvement.
REWARD BRAND LOYALTY
A customer centric culture must always reward consumers for the continuous support of their business. The most common approach is to implement a loyalty scheme which rewards points for each repetitive sale. A report from Accenture states that 57% of people spend more on brands or providers to which they are loyal.
PEOPLE OVER PROFIT
As climate change and other social issues are at the forefront of our culture, many consumers are actively supporting companies that are seeking to help with these problems. According to Deloitte, nearly 1 in 3 consumers claimed to have stopped purchasing certain brands or goods because of the company’s ethical or sustainable track record.
INCREASE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
Customer engagement is the interaction with customers to strengthen their relationship with your brand. A great way to increase engagements is through webinars. Driving customer engagement through webinars is an effective way for businesses to directly share their vision and values to the customer, while engaging in a two-way communication.
LISTEN TO CUSTOMER’S FEEDBACK
This is an obvious but important step in creating a customer centric culture. We live in a data driven society, so it’s critical that you implement steps to learn what the customer likes and doesn’t like about your services.
WORLD CLASS CUSTOMER SUPPORT
In line with the customer engagement strategy, many businesses lose customers due to their customer support. We all have that one customer service experience which has turned us against a particular company. Do not make your company one of those experiences.
CUSTOMER REFERRALS
Finding new customers is always harder than retaining existing ones. That is why a good customer centric company will incentive their existing customers to help spread the word. Tesla, the largest car manufacturer company has built their business with a 0% marketing budget.
COMPANY CULTURE
The customer centric culture must come from the top. As founders or directors it is your job to make sure the company is focused on these values. Jeff Bezos is known to randomly test the business’ customer service experience in order to improve it.
EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
In order to build an effective customer centric culture, you need to first make sure that your employees’ needs are being taken care of. Too many companies are customer first, employee second and this can lead to a toxic work environment which ultimately affects the customers.
HIRE THE RIGHT PEOPLE
The employees are the company, so you need to make sure you hire the right people for each position. Your hires have to be perfectly aligned with the company’s values or you will fail in your pursuit of building a customer centric culture.