6 key tips on how to truly work customer-centric (with template)
In today’s business landscape, becoming customer-centric isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a necessity. Companies strive to understand and meet their customers’ needs, recognizing that superior customer experiences can be a key differentiator in a competitive market.
According to Gartner, 81% of companies say they expect to be competing mostly or completely on the basis of Customer Experience (CX) in the future.
In this article, we want to highlight that being customer-centric is complex and requires comprehensive work for change. However, this is not a sign to stop reading. In this post, we bring up ideas and inspiration for how to start working with customer journeys and through that become more customer-centric. We start by increasing the understanding of the customer lifecycle and then look at mapping customer journeys.
Understanding and Meeting Customer Needs
What does it truly mean to be customer-centric? It’s about more than just offering good customer service; it’s about deeply understanding your customers, their journeys, and their pain points.
First of all, what are the benefits of working with customer journeys?
Working with customer journeys leads to better results in terms of revenue growth, decreased churn, and increased CLV (Customer Lifetime Value). It also leads to more satisfied and loyal customers as well as fewer complaints.
From an internal “way of working” perspective mapping up and working with customer journeys creates a context and a structure for the work that needs to be done. It allows employees to get a better understanding of the bigger picture and how their work is connected to the overall customer experience, this in turn leads to higher motivation and commitment.
Identifying different types of critical moments for the customer
Companies that succeed with being customer-centric often know what their customer lifecycle looks like and what critical moments it includes. They have mapped up different customer journeys connected to the critical moments which gives them a clear picture of how well they meet the customers’ today but also where they need to improve. Simply put, these companies have connected and fully understood how an improved customer experience affects their business outcomes.
Mapping customer journeys means taking a starting point in different critical moments for the customers. Start by looking at what critical moments you have in the customer lifecycle and map customer journeys related to these moments.
There are three different types of critical moments:
- Private-life moments: Personal events or milestones in a customer’s life. Such as moving or having a child.
- Societal moments: Happenings, crises, or trends shaping society such as financial crises or extreme weather.
- Company-based moments: Moments related to your company e.g. contract ending, price change, etc.
In all three types of critical customer moments, there are a ton of possibilities for you as a company to be more relevant in the customer’s life. To identify these moments you need to put yourself in the shoes of the customer – this is something that comes naturally when working with customer journey mapping.
How to map customer journeys and being customer-centric
A fundamental aspect of customer-centricity is mapping out customer journeys around the different types of critical moments described above. There are many different customer journey models with stages such as initial purchase, growth and retention, and additional purchases. Within these broad stages lie multiple moments that shape the customer experience:
- Discover: Customers recognize a need
- Explore: Customers research their options
- Buy: Customers make a purchasing decision
- Use: Customers utilize the product or service
- Ask: Customers seek support or information
- Engage: Customers deepen their interaction with the brand
Mapping customer journeys around the critical moments of the customer’s lifecycle enables organizations to gain insights, identify opportunities for improvement, and enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction.
When looking at these different moments put yourself in the shoes of the customer and then look at the wanted outcome for your company. Elaborate on where you are strong today and where you need to improve. Prioritize where you can make the biggest impact and start there. Sounds difficult? Here is a template that will help you get started.
Continuous Improvement and Adaptation
Customer-centricity is an ongoing process that involves:
- Customer Journey Mapping & Analysis: Continuously map, analyze, and refine customer journeys.
- Prioritization: Prioritize initiatives based on their impact on the potential business value and customer experience.
- Implementation: Implement changes and enhancements to optimize the customer journey.
- Customer feedback: continuously ask your customers for feedback to make sure your work is in line with what your customers think.
6 key tips on how to truly work customer-centric
Finally, here are our best key tips to keep in mind:
- Avoid Perfectionism: Strive for progress rather than perfection in your work with customer journeys.
- Focus on Action: Don’t get bogged down in endless discussions about tools and methodologies; focus on taking meaningful action.
- Beware of Analysis Paralysis: Don’t let the pursuit of data analysis hinder decision-making; use data to validate hypotheses and drive action.
- What customers say they will do and what they do is not always the same. Test small and look at the data and reactions from your customers. Let that verify your hypothesis and scale up.
- Embrace Persona Thinking: Utilize personas to gain new perspectives and insights into customer behavior.
- Look Beyond Company-Centric Moments: Don’t solely focus on company-based moments, make sure to consider the broader context of customers’ lives and societal trends as well.
This blog post is a collaboration together with Jenny Lagergren from Vattenfall and is based on the event hosted by Wednesday Relations. Read more here and reach out if you’re interested in knowing more about this presentation.
Authors:
Jenny Lagergren
Vattenfall
Business Developer
Malin Wahlberg
Wiraya
CEO
malin.wahlberg@wiraya.com
