Customer Centricity has been a topic for years. It is nothing new. If we add the era of „the customer is king“ to this, it is even an ancient topic.
BUT I think that customer centricity is more important in 2021 than ever. Why?
Here are my personal top 10 reasons:
TRANSPARENCY Today, customers are not bound to a company because of the wide availability of information. Customer experiences are exchanged in real time, all details about products, services and their alternatives are available anytime and anywhere.
GLOBALISATION Customers are no longer bound by distance. Products and solutions can be purchased worldwide, and competition is wider than ever.
CHANGING EXPECTATIONS In a world where you can buy virtually anything from multiple vendors, the importance buying experience is growing. Expectations regarding information availability, comparability, sustainability, customer- and after-sales service and much more have increased.
MORE COMPLEX CUSTOMER JOURNEYS The multitude of ways in which customers come to a purchase decision and the actions after the purchase have changed and are more complex. The paths for search, decision, purchase, and feedback are more diverse than ever.
MORE CUSTOMER TOUCHPOINTS The number of contact points between companies and customers has increased significantly. In addition to the classic POS and off- and online advertising media, more and more new social media plat-forms, sales and communication channels are blending into the mix.
CHANGED PURCHASING BEHAVIOR More than ever, purchases are being made digitally. This applies to B2C as well as B2B. The last few months have greatly accelerated this development. This creates a new opportunity for direct sales.
SPEED Disruptive events create a new speed of change in customer wishes and preferences. COVID19, environmental catastrophes, political events or (technological) innovations strongly accelerate changes.
SEARCH FOR TRUST „In an uncertain world, people look for trustworthy partners“, they say. This also applies to the customer. The security and reliability of business relationships is gaining new momentum.
CONSTANT CHANGE The customer is not static, but changes continuously. He adapts to the environment and new opportunities. The available technologies reduce the barriers for new solutions and constantly provide new opportunities for the customer.
DATA Be customer-centeric because you can! We have more data available than ever before to analyze customers, more (digital) tools to interview them, to understand their customer journey and touch-points, to get their opinions.
Customer Centricity is (technically) easier than ever and it is more important than ever!
Those who do not stay on the ball, specifically stay in permanent dialogue with customers, systematically evaluate customer data, draw new conclusions and – very important – are open to their own changes, will find it hard to survive. Because there will be others who do it and they will win the finals!
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