What does it mean to be a truly customer-centric company? Many companies around the world call themselves customer-centric, but few know the real meaning of being customer-centric. Why is this, and how can you initiate the change?

One definition of a customer-centric policy could be: ‘All decisions, actions, and policies at all levels within an organization need to be linked to an overarching goal of complete customer satisfaction.’ Breaking this down a little further, we can see those customer-centric organizations make all their decisions – from the boardroom to the shop floor – with their customers’ needs in mind.

Looking at a real-life example of poor customer-centricity in Hong Kong – A marketing team for a well-known chain of stores decides on an electronic billboard campaign at a large sporting event. The campaign announces in bold letters Thirty Percent Off – if you mention a particular word at the store. However, the fine print in the advertisement mentions that this applies to only one item. The ad shows once every hour and for around fifteen seconds at a time. Spectators are not given enough time, in the distracting environment, to take note of these details. Given this is at a sporting event where there are many distractions, does this campaign have customer centricity in mind, and what would the ultimate results be?

The above campaign causes confusion and frustration amongst many customers – they went to the store, expecting to receive the said discount and were bitterly disappointed when informed of the promotion details. So what was the intent of the marketing team? Perhaps to get customers into the store in the hopes they would purchase other items when they were there. The real result was that the store managed to get customers to go out of their way to avail of a promotion that was not what they had in mind. Are those customers likely to purchase, and will they recommend the store to others? In the majority of cases, no.

Now, what of the store management and staff? Did they know about the promotion, and were they able to handle the upset customers? In this case, no in both instances. A customer-centric store should be informed of all promotion well before they go to market. Store managers should be able to turn customer complaints into valuable opportunities to build lifelong fans.

It is well known that the majority of the Hong Kong population prefer to avoid conflict, and hence when faced with upset or irrational customers, they are stumped and quite literally stand there with a mouth full of teeth. Customer-centric companies have trained and informed staff. Managers know how to handle these situations with sensitivity – they ensure that unhappy customers leave the store satisfied.

In all respects, the above example did not reflect a customer-centric company. In their values statement, they say – Achieving customer satisfaction by delivering a quality experience for our customers each time they shop with us. On this occasion, they fell well short on this value proposition.

So, what can companies do to improve on their customer-centricity?

Firstly: Embed the policy in the core values of the company, and every single employee, from Shop Floor Cleaner to CEO needs to understand, learn, and live those values.

Secondly: All staff need to be continuously trained on how to work with customers and build relationships. After all, people buy from people and, in particular, from people they like.

Lastly: Review, Reassess, and Improve. Your customers are your best source of information – find an easy way to get their feedback, take it to heart, and make the changes the public demands. Always ask yourself, are these changes based on the fundamental question – is this good for my customers?

To be a customer-centric organization starts from the top and filters down to every level. It does take time, and it does take effort. For those who want to survive and thrive in this competitive climate, there is no other option.

Without customers, what do you have?