Beyond CX: Why customer centricity is a strategic imperative

CX on its own tends to focus on the design of experience outcomes, while ‘customer-centricity' is the deeper strategic posture of placing the customer at the core of all decisions. The two overlap, but one is mindset and culture; the other is outcome and design.

What is customer-centricity?

Customer-centricity can be defined as a strategic and cultural approach to doing business. The customer is considered at the core of all decisions.

Customer-centricity is beyond simply good customer service. It is about building a sense of belonging for your customers through understanding their needs, wants, pain points, and then creating products, services and interactions around those specific needs and preferences.

But it’s not just about the product or service. It’s about how you make the customer feel, how seamless or clunky their journey is, and how well you meet their needs and expectations.

Elements of customer-centricity

Some of the key elements of a customer-centric approach are shown below.

Empathy and understanding

Listening to customers and seeing from their perspective

Personalised and relevant

Tailored experiences and treating people like individuals

Predictive and proactive

Solving problems before they arise, providing service before it is asked for

Customer empowerment

Customers have the tools, knowledge and autonomy for self service

Organisational alignment

Culture, processes and technology are aligned to deliver on the promise

Continual improvement and feedback

Customer-centricity is an ongoing journey of actively seeking and adopting feedback

Why put the customer at the core?

Customers expect their wants, needs and opinions to be reflected in their relationship with brands. This includes all aspects of their journey, from marketing to purchase experience to interactions with customer support.

It is clear that being customer-centric is something that is expected. However, creating a customer-centric organisation is not just beneficial to the customer.

Organisations that take a customer-centric approach can expect increased loyalty, brand reputation and subsequent financial returns. It’s a solid foundation to becoming a strong competitor within your market.

Research shows that:

• Customers spend more and stay loyal when they feel heard

• Personalised services receive 40% more revenue than generic services

• Customer-centric businesses become market leaders

Key takeaway

Customer-centricity It is the reason organisations invest in CX, design, cultural and strategic changes. If CX is the 'what customers experience' then customer-centricity is the organisational architecture and philosophy that enables it.

When organisations embed the customer in to decision making, their services become more relevant and return long-term value for both the customer and the organisation.