Customer Centricity – What is it?
Many business owners say that their business is customer centric …
“We are all about the customer … We put the customer at the heart of everything we do … We put our customers first.”
But what does being customer centric actually mean? How do you know if you have a business that is customer centric? And what’s the difference between being customer focused and customer centric?
Because while being customer or client focused is about creating a consistently above average experience for your clients and being focused on meeting and exceeding expectations, being client centric is about putting your clients at the heart of everything you do to improve the CLV – Client Lifetime Value.
Here are five simple ways your business can demonstrate customer centricity.
- Use Customer Data to segment your client base
Do you understand your client base in terms of value and life stage segments? Segmenting your client base is essential in order for you to deliver targeted marketing offers based on their lifestage, tenure, purchase history and most importantly, value.
Sounds obvious but some of the most well-known in the country are still marketing to their customers as one big target audience. And are seeing their market share slip as a result.
Invest some of your marketing budget this year in conducting research to better understand your market and your customer base. It will enable you to make better marketing decisions, meet the needs of a changing market and out-innovate your competitors.
Seeing your brand through the eyes of your customer is one of the quickest ways to improve your business.
- VIP client events
Once you’ve segmented your client base and identified your high value clients, consider running some exclusive events for these customers. You can make these purely social events or educational, like a VIP shopping night, but include opportunities for your team to interact with clients, not just their own.
- Proactive Follow Up Process
When a new customer has purchased from you, when does the next interaction or transaction take place? If your answer is when they contact you, you’re missing out on an opportunity to be proactive.
Consider a process where all new customers receive a follow up phone call. Or, if that feels like too much of a commitment, consider putting an automated text message or email in place that checks in with your customer and invites their feedback.
Positive or negative, you want to know about it and you want your customers to always feel that they can deliver that feedback and ideally in a number of ways – email, online survey or social media.
- Surprise and Delight
The other benefit of establishing an automated email follow up is it gives you an opportunity to deliver a surprise gift or incentive for your customer to purchase again within a certain timeframe. This post purchase gift is a great way to enhance the customer experience and maximise positive word-of-mouth.
- Make your clients the stars
Many experts will tell you that your staff members the most important part of your business. And while they are critical of course, the real stars of your business are your customers. But what do you do to make them feel that way?
Letting your loyal customers know they truly are the star of the show could be the way you feature them in your social media feeds – you could highlight a customer of the month for example. A hair salon I visited in Perth recently even had a wall of fame for clients who had been with the salon for five years or more. This sends a powerful message to those clients that their loyalty is valued but more importantly, it says to their newer clients that they’re a business that clients stick with.
And don’t forget to recognize and celebrate milestones. Nothing says customer centricity quite like a surprise client gift to celebrate the 12- month anniversary of them being your customer.
