Focusing on Customers... The Key for Success!

Businesses everywhere big or small are under pressure of the 'make and sell' model, scared to death of the next coming technological disruption. Yet while they will acquiesce in realizing how important improving the overall customer experience is... that path to adoption and implementation can seem like an impossible goal.


Tragically what happens is that many people blame technology as being the "disruptor" that has either closed or is "the" threat to a lot of businesses and industries. Nothing could be further from the truth. The inability to keep up with the ever evolving expectations of customers is at the heart of the problem and why you always see a technological disruption. Here's 5 examples of that....

Here's 5 examples of that....

  • Netflix didn't kill Blockbuster, ridiculous late fees did.
  • Uber didn't kill the taxi industry, limited access, and fare control did.
  • Apple didn't kill the music industry, being forced to buy full length recordings did.
  • Amazon didn't kill kill other retailers, bad customer service, overpricing and bad customer experiences did.
  • AirBnB isn't killing the hotel industry, limited availability and pricing option (as well as price gouging during holidays) are.
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The transformation plan must spell out phase driven change management initiatives, which will transport the organization into the future. Each phase builds on the foundational work completed in previous stages to move successfully toward an ideal state of total customer-centric models. An example of an area impacted by thing change transformation to track would be Data Management (since insight is so dependent on a single, unified view of the customer) laying out the steps required to improve the quality of the database.

The secret to success of any customer-centric experience transformation is to keep the sights of the project trained on the far horizon while marching forward at a steady measured pace. Catching up with customers may seem like a challenging journey, even an uphill climb at times, but the real danger is in falling too far behind and becoming another Blockbuster.

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Making customers feel appreciates and heard is something that cannot really be taught per se, as it is an instinct rather than a process exercise. It has to flow into every level of a company's mission statement.

Success has to be measured by the degree of customer-centric satisfaction and loyalty. Give them a good experience and they will be your best marketing investment.
 
Nothing sells like word of mouth. We can try every neuro-marketing an cognitive/behavioral psychology trick in the book - spend 25% of our budget in social media marketing and still get it wrong.

All those feelings of loyalty extend to their employees, who see greater meaning in their work. Having a motivated and enthusiastic workforce is the best way for businesses to show a happy face to customers.


Overcoming the failures mentioned above begins with creation of a unifying vision for how the brand creates both value for people and give them the experience with that brand that they want to have. The expression of it has to come from the heart, instead of the soulless, canned corporate mission statement that is cocktail of buzzword vomit. It has to be a catalyst for successful change – the clarion call to make the commitment form doing a good job to excellence; a inspirational statement of purpose which inspires and energizes people – makes them proud to say who they work for and why.

Focusing on the customer-centric journey as your road-map to success, throws a spotlight on the obvious fractures in the customer experience: those pain points, service anomalies, disconnected processes or operational black holes which cause the most grief. But those are just a few things that will address the decline in customer loyalty.

Creatively going outside the box, is required to achieve success: a place where customers feel they are being treated respectfully and consistently as the relationship evolves over time. Following some else’s lead will feel forced and disingenuous- so don't do it. =You can glean from the success of others, but do not fall into the trap believing the lie that "one size fits all" it doesn't.

More than that, the experience must become synonymous with the parts of their lives that matter the most. A simple analogue is the relationship between sports fans and their teams; between concert goers and bands; between wine lovers and wineries: shared obsessions that lead to a passionate and purposeful connection.

There is a challenge in instilling a customer first thinking approach. The instinct of most businesses is to take the traditional, linear top-down approach to goal-setting, declaring lofty plans for growth. Thus the CEO is trapped between two diametrically opposed forces: customers intolerant of being plundered and business responsibilities which are insistent on maximizing profits to stay in business. The only way to cure this business myopia is to draw the link between brand health and customer loyalty. After all, customer loyalty, as most CEOs now realize, is the litmus test for market success. Loyal customers matter – more than ever.

Culture, strategy, organizational structure, planning, operations, technology – everything should be examined thoroughly, comparing current state to what is going to be defined as the new “best practices”. A total revamping of everything is typically needed to change how the business operates both on the macro and micro level. To make this transition happen smoothly, the proposed changes must stretched out in carefully planned phases to minimize the shock waves. Remember change doesn't mean progress, how you change determines how you succeed.

The transformation plan must spell out phase driven change management initiatives, which will transport the organization into the future. Each phase builds on the foundational work completed in previous stages to move successfully toward an ideal state of total customer-centric models. An example of an area impacted by thing change transformation to track would be Data Management (since insight is so dependent on a single, unified view of the customer) laying out the steps required to improve the quality of the database.

The secret to success of any customer-centric experience transformation is to keep the sights of the project trained on the far horizon while marching forward at a steady measured pace. Catching up with customers may seem like a challenging journey, even an uphill climb at times, but the real danger is in falling too far behind and becoming another Blockbuster.