Customer Centric Strategy: Put Your Customers First

The majority of entrepreneurs are driven by a desire to respond to a need or problem that has never been solved – and if so, in a different way. As service and product offerings are constantly evolving, there is a growing need to adapt to customer demands as well as those of competing companies. To achieve this, companies need to listen carefully to their customers and put them at the heart of their business strategies. A unique and memorable customer experience tailored to the specific needs of your target clientele is a great asset to set you apart from the current market!

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However, customer-centric strategy can be a real challenge for a company and its organizational culture. How can we consistently listen to clients while meeting their specific needs? And how can we adopt the best strategies to create a customer experience that meets their expectations? In our article, discover 9 tips on the subject!

Customer-centric strategy: what is it?

The concept of customer-centric strategy is defined by an organization that places the customer at the heart of its business strategy. In this context, their goal is not only to better satisfy their customers but also to analyze their needs in order to better meet them.

For example, a company focused on customer-centric strategy will put its customers at the heart of all their decisions related to their services, products or even their different experiences. These decisions, based on the concrete needs and desires of their target clientele, show consumers that they are trustworthy since they are constantly listening to their customers. A good customer-centric strategy is an investment for customer acquisition and loyalty!

Why is it important to have a good customer-centric strategy?

As discussed above, an organization that uses a customer-centric strategy is defined as a business that places the customer at the heart of its various strategies. Of course, such an organization will be more aware of its client’s specific needs and will be able to offer them a better experience as a result.

According to the study conducted by PWC, 86% of customers would be willing to pay more for a better customer experience. On the other hand, according to another survey conducted by Zendesk and ESG, companies focusing their organizational culture around customer satisfaction are on average 60% more profitable. These statistics prove the importance of the customer at the heart of your company’s strategies!

Thus, a business having a good customer-centric strategy will benefit from several advantages:

• A customer relationship based on listening and trust;
• An optimal customer loyalty rate;
• Better customer satisfaction;
• A positive reputation;
• An increase in revenues;
• Greater ease of attracting new customers;
• And more!

Remember that your business aims to meet the specific demands of your customers. To achieve this, you need to know everything about your target clientele in order to offer them the best possible service. That’s why it’s important to have a good customer-centric strategy!

How to create a good customer-centric strategy?

9 tips to improve your customer-centric strategy

Now that you know the many benefits of a customer-centric strategy, you must apply it. How can you put the customer at the heart of your organization’s strategy? To shed light on the subject, here are 9 best practices to follow to put your customers at the center of your business decisions.

1. Always listen to your customers through multiple channels

Imagine: you discover a new company and want to start doing business with it. However, when you try to find out about their products and services, you notice that they never respond to online reviews. In the same vein, it never answers questions asked on its social networks, its website, or even on online review platforms. Intrigued, you try to call the organization to learn more about their expertise, but come across an outdated number.

Despite the quality of its services, the company failed to update its information following its recent relocations. Discouraged by the lack of communication on the part of the company and annoyed by disinformation, you finally decide to turn to a competitor.

Keep in mind that to put in place an excellent customer-centric strategy, it is important not to neglect any point of contact. Here are some tips:

• Always respond to reviews on your online review platforms;
• Indicate on your website as well as Google My Business the information of your company (address, hours of operation, telephone number, email address);
• Update regularly your information on your website;
• Create a powerful website to transmit your information clearly and accurately;
• Set up a chatbot to redirect your users to your teams of experts according to specific criteria;
• Have a powerful CRM to facilitate the transmission of information from one customer to another;
• Have a fully dedicated customer service team to provide your customers with fast and efficient support.

Remember that by improving your customer-centric strategy, you will be able to better identify the concrete needs of your customers. Ensure feedback from your customers across all channels and respond to them to maintain a trusted customer relationship that will last through time!

2. Educate your teams on the importance of having a customer-centric approach

A good customer-centric strategy is not just about a memorable experience, but also about an organizational culture focused on customer satisfaction. To that end, to create a high-quality service, what better way to do it than to make your employees aware of the importance of a customer-centric approach?

Your employees are the heart of your business. With this in mind, in order to provide exceptional service, you must first employ talents who are committed to the satisfaction of your customers. A team of motivated, high-performing, and professional employees will be much more likely to give their best to satisfy your customers. With such a service, you will be able to conquer new customers while retaining your current customer base!

Beyond talent, don’t forget to motivate your teams to optimize their performance at work. Did you know that InputKit gives you the ability to automatically share positive feedback from your satisfied customers with your employees? In this way, you can not only make your teams accountable for the service they provide but also show them how much their skills are appreciated. This is an essential asset to improve your customer-centric strategy with the help of your employees!

3. Have a dedicated customer support team

In order to have a good customer-centric strategy, you must first show them that they are your priority. To do this, you need to make customer support an absolute mission, an attraction that will give your customers a WOW effect when they need advice from your team of experts.

To achieve this, select a team of motivated and high-performing employees who are sensitive to customer centrism, qualities necessary for exceptional service. Then dedicate this team entirely to your customer support so that it can focus exclusively on the needs and expectations of your customers. A fast, proactive and quality support will certainly show your customers that they are at the center of your priorities!

Looking to improve the quality of your customer support? Why not prioritize direct contact points with your clients to show them that you are taking concrete action to ensure their complete satisfaction? For example, be sure to answer all notices and questions on your website. In case of customer dissatisfaction or confusion, quickly invite users to call you or make an appointment with a professional on site. Remember that actions are better than speeches: a phone call, an appointment with a manager, an exchange with an expert: these are tangible and visible gestures of commitment!

Also, to improve your customer-centric strategy, why not offer your employees additional customer support training? For example, rely on feedback received over the past few weeks and then encourage your employees to work on a regular basis to continuously improve the support provided to your customers. Conferences, trainings, latest trends, new technologies: there are many ways to be up to date in the field while raising your teams’ awareness of the importance of a good customer-centric strategy. Customer support optimized with the latest technology and offered by a team of experts in the field: this is a great way to maintain a customer relationship based on trust and proactivity!

4. Be empathetic and flexible

Imagine: you have a favorite restaurant that you visit regularly. You love it so much that you decide to bring your family. However, one of them is allergic to peanuts. You try to warn the staff, but in return, the waiters and cooks refuse to pay particular attention to the dishes prepared for your table. You point out that this is an exception, that you often come to this restaurant, but the employees deny you this service. Outraged, you finally decide to leave the restaurant to invite your family elsewhere. Decidedly, this channel has just lost one of its most loyal customers as well as several potential customers.

This is a great example of a bad customer experience. When thinking about customer-centric strategy, it’s important to be empathetic and flexible. Every human being is different: we all have our own specific needs to meet. With this in mind, a company that is able to meet specific demands with flexibility is a real gesture of empathy and commitment to its customers!

In practice, customer experience is first and foremost about ensuring complete customer satisfaction. An exceptional service provided by a company that has a good customer-centric strategy will better retain its current customers. It’s a must to stand out from your competitors while showing your customers that their well-being is your priority!

5. Be transparent about your processes

In order to get an excellent customer-centric strategy, you must of course listen to their needs. However, beyond feedback, you also need to reassure your customers by showing them that their comments are considered and listened to.

For your customers, it can be extremely discouraging to take their time regularly to share their opinions, only to realize that the company completely ignores them. To avoid giving such an impression, always be transparent about your internal processes.

Always take the trouble to respond to online reviews, both positive and negative, in order to show users that their opinion has been read and considered. In the event of customer dissatisfaction, concisely explain to the customer how their feedback will help you improve in the future. When an improvement proposal or flaw is raised, take the time to explain what internal processes are in place to improve your company’s customer experience. Stress that despite the delays, feedback is always appreciated and considered by your organization. Keep this advice in mind when thinking about ways to improve your customer-centric strategy!

6. Survey your customers before developing new products and solutions

Putting in place a good customer-centric strategy also means listening to your customers in order to take their opinions into account and optimize your services and products accordingly. It is important to analyze the concrete needs of your customers and the offer of your competitors in order to create added value to your services.

With a solution like InputKit, you can automatically survey your customers at the right time to involve them in the creation of your new products and services. With the answers you get, make informed decisions based on concrete needs to create products and services that meet your customers’ expectations.

By showing that you are listening to their feedback, you can implement unique products and services to meet their specific needs. This is a great example to follow to improve your customer-centric strategy!

7. Implement targeted changes quickly

When thinking about customer-centric strategy, it’s important to emphasize that you listen to their needs. In order to achieve this, you must be responsible, honest and trustworthy. To this end, it is advisable to implement the targeted changes as quickly as possible to create an experience based on your customers’ real expectations.

According to Khoros, 79% of customers want a quick answer if needed. Moreover, according to the same source, 77% of customers want employees to communicate better with each other so as not to have to repeat themselves. These statistics prove the importance of fast service and good communication within customer satisfaction!

Be honest and transparent in order to build customer loyalty. In case of delays, offer compensation to the customer and keep them informed of your progress. If dissatisfaction occurs, rectify the situation as quickly as possible by proactively offering solutions to the problem being addressed. Such a strategy will allow you to better retain your existing customers while creating a good reputation!

8. Follow key customer experience metrics

According to Harvard Business Review, 80% of companies rely on customer satisfaction indicators to improve their service. This statistic clearly shows the importance of monitoring the evolution of customer satisfaction in order to improve the continuous customer experience!

With software like InputKit, benefit from a powerful and centralized dashboard to track metrics you care about in real time:

• The Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), which is defined by a customer’s overall satisfaction with a service rendered.
• The Customer Effort Score (CES), which translates into the level of effort a customer provides before obtaining a product, information or service.
• The Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is defined by the likelihood that a client will recommend you to their entourage.

By continuously analyzing these metrics, you will be able to monitor the evolution of your customer experience in order to implement concrete solutions based on relevant results. This way, you will create the best possible experience based on your client’s feedback and metrics. This is a must-do to ensure excellent customer loyalty follow-up!

9. Use your positive stories for your marketing

Did you know it’s important to place customer-centric strategy at the heart of your company’s marketing strategy? By showcasing your ambassadors, you can show your existing customers how much they are appreciated while attracting new prospects to your organization!

Here are some ideas to put your customers first:

• Share your best customer stories in video format on your social networks;
• Take photos of your most loyal customers and post them on your social networks and in-store;
• Ask your customers to share success stories related to the good service of your company;
• Display your positive feedback on your website with a Review Widget, like the one offered by InputKit;
• And more!

When you put your customer ambassadors forward, you show your prospects that you are a trustworthy company. Indeed, these success stories and photographs affirm that your priority is customer satisfaction. They prove that you take pride in offering a quality service established by a professional and kind team. With this in mind, such a practice will greatly benefit your brand image as well as your customer relationships. Remember this valuable advice when thinking about customer-centric strategy!

How does InputKit can help you improve your customer-centric strategy?

If you’re struggling to improve your customer-centric strategy, InputKit is the solution for you!

With our customer experience evaluation and improvement software, send fully automated and personalized satisfaction surveys to your customers at the right time, one to two hours after a service is rendered. With our 45% response rate by email and 57% by text as well as our anonymous response functionality, you’ll be sure to know your customers’ true opinion. This way, you can save many hours of management time to create an experience that will satisfy your customers’ expectations.

Did you know that our turnkey solution has a centralized and efficient dashboard? With our many performance metrics (KPIs), get an overview of customer satisfaction in your company. Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), Customer Effort Score (CES), customer service, employee professionalism, and more: get the straight facts about what your customers think about your business. This feature, combined with our real-time notifications, will allow you to make informed decisions based on real facts. Such monitoring is essential to improve your customer-centric strategy. This is definitely a great way to better meet their expectations and show that your organization is trustworthy!

How does InputKit put your employees at the center of business strategy?

With InputKit, improve your customer-centric strategy by building a high-performing, motivated and ambitious team. With our employee evaluation and motivation solution, you can automatically share the positive feedback from satisfied customers with your teams. This way, you can empower them by showing them the direct impact their services have on the lives of their clients.

In addition, sharing such feedback is very motivating for your employees. By sharing positive feedback and relevant proposals with your employees, you can show them that their good services are appreciated by your customers. This is a great way to better motivate them at work while showing appreciation. This way, you can improve your customer-centric strategy as well as your employees’ experience!

Schedule a free InputKit demo to improve your customer experience

While it can be difficult to put in place a good customer centric strategy, follow our best advice on how to become a customer centric expert!

Build a team aware of the importance of customer satisfaction and dedicate it entirely to customer support. In the same vein, always listen to your customers’ feedback through multiple channels. In addition, regularly send satisfaction surveys to involve your customers in the creation of products and services. This approach will allow you to differentiate yourself from your competitors while offering your customers a unique and fully personalized experience according to their concrete needs. This will definitely allow you to acquire many positive feedback that you can use to promote your products and services!

To show your customers that they are a priority for you, be empathetic and flexible to ensure their satisfaction. In the same vein, always be transparent about your company’s internal deadlines and processes to show your customers that they are considered and listened to. To achieve this, follow your customer satisfaction metrics to make informed decisions based on concrete indicators. After that, make the required changes quickly to rectify any customer dissatisfaction. This is a good example of an excellent customer-centric strategy!

Now, do you need additional support to make the necessary changes to an exceptional customer experience? If so, feel free to schedule your free and customized InputKit demo. Our team of customer and employee experience experts will be happy to help you create an experience that meets your expectations!