Customer centricity - being customer centric - seems to be one of the buzz words again in business circles.  But what does it mean and is it worth it?

Every business has customers.  Those businesses that cannot readily identify who those customers are and what they want have a longer journey in front of them than those businesses who do have an understanding of their customers’ expectations.  Being truly customer centric means looking at your business from your customers’ perspective.  What are the right products and services and how would they be made available so that they suit the customer?  A business that is commencing the customer centric journey makes this customer outcome the starting point then works back through their business all the way to the supply chain, modifying and changing as necessary.

So why would you bother?  Fifteen years ago the way a business understood and interacted with its customers was a key differentiating factor.  But things started to change.  In New Zealand we had been swamped with cheap imports and we had been educated that price was more important than service or quality.  We started to ride the prosperity wave that meant there was always another customer on their way with money to spend – we didn’t need to try to win to over each and every one.  Customer service, customer insight, customer centricity were almost non-existent.

Many businesses have what I call a “production mindset” – they view their business, their opportunities and their customers from the perspective of what they do produce; not from what they can produce.  They look at what they make and then go and look for someone to buy it.  The customer centric approach is to look at what customers are wanting from their industry and then producing it.  The really smart businesses take an even broader view and consider opportunities from other industries.

Right now we are spoiled for choice for household consumables at a time when families are really feeling the pinch.  Oil has breached the USD120 mark and the world price for commodities has stretched those households’ budgets.  These customers are going to be more discerning about what they buy – lost of choice and a constrained demand means that some businesses will miss out.  If your business deals with household consumables and you are not engaged with your customer base your business is at risk.  There are parallels in every business sector across the country.

So, is the customer always right?  Should a business supplying theses households just drop their prices because the customers wants to spend less?  Absolutely not!  At the risk of offending customer centricity purists I have to say the customer is not always right.  A business that puts the customer first is one that first considers the needs and expectations of the customer and then works that into their business mix.  The voice of the customer must be heard when making business decisions but not to the exclusion of all else.  So do you customers have a voice at your decision-making table?

By Ross Denton - Ology Coach, New Zealand

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