Why it’s not enough to be customer-focused, you need to become customer centric

Are you prioritising your customers or clients needs and putting that at the heart of everything you do in your business? If not, you are probably leaving money on the table.

Read on to understand why it is critical to understand your customer needs and adopt a customer-centric approach – across ALL areas of your business.

In today’s digitally advanced world, customers have more power than ever before. They can easily access information about your product or service and share their opinions with others. Being customer-focused means trying to understand what your customers want and creating products or services to appeal to them. But being customer-centric means putting your customer at the forefront of every decision you make. It means seeing the world from their perspective, understanding their pain points and interests, and then ensuring your product or service to help them solve their problems.

So, ask yourself – are you just customer-focused or are you truly customer-centric?

Customer-focused companies look at their customer to try and figure out what to sell and how to appeal to them; customer-centric companies think like their customer. They try to see the world through the lens of their customers point of view, understanding their pain points, motivations and interests and creating products or services to serve them and solve their problems. If you are customer focused, you will most likely be assuming what customers want and then trying to deliver products or services you think they might be interested in, which is actually a product-centric approach.

If you are a customer-centric business, you will be actively observing and asking them to try to understand what they truly need, relentlessly focused on seeking out and solving these problems and determining how to deliver the most value for them within that.

Why does this matter? Think about it this way. The function of a kettle is to boil water, but consumers don’t buy one simply to stand there and watch it boil away. They buy one (primarily) to make a hot drink to enjoy or to use the boiling water to do some other task with. The kettle enables them to enjoy a nice cuppa and book perhaps for a quiet moment or to make several at a time to share with guests they have over. Then when it comes to choosing one kettle over another factors such as the length of the cord, colour and size all come into play, they may even forgo a kettle altogether and have one of the instant hot water taps plumbed in because their pain point is they simply don’t want to have to wait for the kettle to boil; or they may be into minimalism and not want another appliance cluttering their kitchen bench!

Of all the product flops that have come and gone over the years, generally it’s because the product or service itself was made the star rather than the customer and the WHY behind WHAT problem or question it solves for them.

Adopting a customer-centric approach in your business enables you to:

• Unlock growth opportunities by constantly seeking out and addressing your customers’ needs and pain points.
• Spot opportunities for new features, offerings, and even completely new products and services that fulfill unmet needs.
• Prevent wasted time, effort, and money on creating products or services that your customers won’t buy.
• Differentiate yourself from competitors by seeking to innovate and solve your customers’ problems.
• Build customer loyalty and advocacy by continually improving the customer experience based on feedback.
• Gain  a deeper understanding of your customers’ journey and how to intercept them at key decision-making moments.
• Future-proof your business by remaining relevant and viable in a rapidly changing marketplace.

If you take the approach of seeking out and taking action on your customers (and especially your ex-customers) feedback and using this to innovate and improve your products and/or services then you will be ahead of the curve. Adopting a practise of continual improvement refines the customer experience for prospects and your existing customers, helping to cement the likelihood of repeat business and their advocacy. They will start to tell the world about YOU! You will better understand your customers journey

The decision making pathway to purchase is no longer a linear one. In customer centricity, the core concept is to understand how people move in and out of relationships with products and services and tap into the how and why they make decisions to buy. As a business owner, you will know already it costs far more money, time and effort to constantly keep having to attract new customers. Therefore, if you can ensure you are in the right place, at the right time with the right message you can ensure a seamless customer experience and gain your customers ongoing loyalty.

Having this deep knowledge of your customers pain points and problems and how you can solve them then also enables you to translate this into your marketing efforts, calling out to your ideal customers and clients.