The pandemic has changed how people shop and businesses need to adapt. Instead of just focusing on products, businesses need to pay more attention to what their customers want. Customers today have a higher awareness of their personal preferences and needs, requiring businesses to be more attuned to their requests and expectations. This is best explained through the concept of “customer centricity”, which means putting customers at the center of everything a business does.
As stated by Forbes, customer centricity is the ability of businesses to understand the customer’s personal situations, perceptions, and expectations. This principle emphasizes the importance of customers in every phase of business operations, even encouraging businesses to invest their resources into technology, operations, and human resources from various departments in order to meet customer expectations over time.
A key factor in adopting a customer-centric approach for businesses lies in their marketing efforts. To excel, businesses must craft marketing strategies tailored to address specific customer segments, delivering more personalized and pertinent communications. Furthermore, it’s essential for businesses to also consider how each marketing activity can provide an experience that can help customers feel cared for at every step of their journey. This approach enhances the overall customer experience and maximizes returns on marketing investments.
Benefits of Customer-Centric as a Marketing Strategy
A customer-centric marketing strategy is a method that places customer needs and preferences at the forefront of all activities related to advertising (Ads), sales, and product or service promotion, essentially at each phase of the customer journey.
Implementing customer-centric marketing strategies is crucial for businesses throughout the various phases of the customer journey, recognizing the distinct informational needs at each stage. During the Awareness stage, for instance, captivating advertisements should capture customer attention instantly. In contrast, the Consideration stage demands more comprehensive information and thorough product comparisons.
By adopting tailored approaches at each of these stages, businesses gain deeper insights into customer behavior and are able to facilitate more informed and streamlined purchasing decisions.
Moreover, here are three compelling reasons why embracing a customer-centric marketing strategy is important for businesses:
1. Develop More Relevant Products
Businesses which focus on customers certainly think about every stage before creating their products. They may conduct thorough customer research which involves a deep understanding of customer needs, preferences, problems, and expectations. From this research, businesses can then design products that are well-suited to the specific needs of each customer segment.
In product design, customer-centric businesses have the potential to integrate their processes with technology, such as data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). These technologies can be instrumental in enhancing the ability of businesses to comprehend customer behavior patterns.
Additionally, customer-centric businesses consistently listen to customer feedback. This provides valuable insights into what is appropriate and what needs to be improved.
2. Increase ROI by 15-20%
In line with the explanations from the previously mentioned points, businesses that can adapt their products or services to the needs of their customers can certainly experience an impact on the Return of Investment (ROI) from their marketing activities. This is supported by data from McKinsey, which states that companies with a customer-centric and data-driven marketing approach can increase marketing ROI by 15 to 20%, or even more.
3. Increase Profits
By increasing ROI, inevitably, a customer-centric business will enjoy an increase in its profits. Research by Deloitte and Touche found that customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies that are not customer-focused. In fact, 64% of companies led by CEOs who prioritize customers are also more profitable than their competitors.
How Can Businesses Implement Customer-Centric Marketing Strategies?
How do you implement a customer-centric marketing strategy? Here are several steps you can take to become a customer-centric business:
1. Conduct 1-to-1 interviews with current or former customers
Interviewing current or past clients one-on-one is the most direct and in-depth way to learn their needs, issues, preferences, and experiences. Businesses can obtain deeper insights into clients’ stories and perspectives through these direct connections, which are difficult to capture from data or surveys alone.
2. Ask specific questions in surveys for feedback
Sending out surveys with clear and specific questions allows customers to give detailed feedback. By asking the right questions, you can learn about what customers prefer in terms of product features, service quality, and other factors that affect their buying decisions.
3. Use tools like social media monitoring tools and Google Alerts
Tools like Google Alerts and social media monitoring help you keep tabs on what’s being said about your industry. This information gives you insights into trends, sentiments, and issues that might be affecting how customers see your business. By staying informed about public conversations, you can adjust your strategies accordingly.
4. Take part in meetings with your sales team
Participating in meetings with your sales team and potential customers lets you see firsthand how these interactions go down. This helps you understand the common questions, concerns, and specific expectations that customers have. This knowledge can shape your future marketing efforts.
5. Create a customer-centric technological infrastructure
Building a customer-centric infrastructure, such as Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and an omnichannel platform, is crucial to implementing a customer-centric business model. Here are some examples of how CSAT and Omnichannel Platform can benefit businesses:
- Measurement of Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
Understanding the level at which customers are satisfied with your products and services is critical to becoming customer-centric. Businesses can better assess and manage customer satisfaction levels through the use of CSAT measurement. Businesses can use CSAT assessment to gather input from customers about their experiences with products, services, and interactions with the company.
Businesses can use CSAT assessments to discover areas where customers are satisfied and pain points where they need to improve. This enables businesses to modify their tactics in response to customer preferences.
- Omnichannel Platform
Omnichannel solutions integrate several channels of communication and engagement with clients, such as phone, email, social media, and other communication platforms. Businesses can learn more about client communication preferences and individual channel preferences by integrating data from numerous channels. This helps businesses in delivering messages and information in the most effective manner.
Businesses may send more tailored and relevant communications to clients by integrating data from numerous channels. This offers a more beneficial experience for clients and makes them feel more valued.
Businesses can also gather useful data and integrate it with their marketing strategies through the establishment of infrastructure like CSAT and omnichannel platforms. This enhances customer satisfaction and makes businesses more responsive to client needs, which might inspire them to use more efficient tactics all year round.
Qiscus Omnichannel Can Help You Become a Customer-Centric Company!
Businesses can connect with all types of communication channels that can support them throughout every customer journey with the Qiscus Omnichannel platform.
Utilize the Qiscus Omnichannel Platform to learn more about your customers’ behavior, in relation to marketing objectives, including lead generation, customer support, engagement and conversion, and customer marketing!
Interested in trying out the Qiscus Omnichannel Platform Demo with our team? Contact us here to kickstart your journey to become a customer-centric business!
