Have you heard of this strategy? Applying it can bring greater satisfaction to your consumer and, consequently, returns to your business. However, it is necessary to know how it works to assess whether it is worth using it in the company.

With that in mind, in this text you will learn what customer centric is, which companies use this strategy and its importance. Read on!

WHAT IS CUSTOMER CENTRIC?

The term customer centric already allows a better understanding of this concept. In a literal translation, it means customer at the center. In this way, it is possible to define it as the centralization of the company’s planning in the client itself.

Here, it is no longer enough to consider that “the customer is always right” — it is necessary to think even further. In the customer centric, the entire strategy of the company, from the first contact with the customer to post-sales, is focused on the consumer.

Thus, issues such as engagement, purchase journey, loyalty, conversion strategies and other measures are developed with the consumer in mind.

To do this, you need to have a solid strategy that can be realistically put into practice. Therefore, one of the first attitudes towards the practice of customer centricity is to carry out a behavioral study of the company’s target audience.

In this way, the company will know the needs of its potential consumers, their pain points, what they want, what difficulties they encounter in the services offered, etc. Knowing this information, strategic planning becomes more effective.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Customer centric can be used as a general business strategy or just for launches of certain products or services. In any case, the idea is for the customer to think and be pleased with the brand and all stages of the sales funnel.

The objective is to retain the consumer. That is, make him be loyal to your brand and not be attracted by the competition. With this, in addition to guaranteeing a conversion, the company knows that the customer will return to consume its products or services.

These practices also enhance engagement and word-of-mouth marketing. Soon, loyal consumers can bring more customers to your business.

WHICH COMPANIES ADOPT THE CUSTOMER CENTRIC?

To understand the relevance of the customer centric strategy, it is possible to verify success stories. Did you know that large companies of worldwide relevance started to adopt the practice in their routine?

See the main examples!

AMAZON

The CEO of Amazon, one of the largest companies on the planet, has already revealed in several interviews the importance of the customer centric for his business. He said, for example, that you need to be obsessive about your customers.

For him, if you need to choose between focusing on your competitors or your customers, always choose the latter. Thus, it is possible to notice the importance of customer focus at Amazon, and how it works a lot with after-sales and loyalty.

APPLE

Apple is another company known for putting the customer at the center of its strategies. In this sense, it is possible to observe how consumers of the brand tend to keep buying devices made by the manufacturer.

Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple who died in 2011, has already indicated that it is necessary to start projects thinking about the customer experience. Then the technology must be turned to that experience to develop the product or service.

MCDONALDS

McDonald’s, one of the largest fast-food chains in the world, has a recent experience with the customer centric. The brand applied this strategy to find out what its customers were looking for and their main criticisms of the service.

In this way, the company used a consumer behavior study to stand out from the competition, which had been gaining space. As a result, it adopted new services and products to keep up with customer demand.

For example, McDonald’s stores added more healthy and sustainable options to their menus, in addition to automating several services.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF PUTTING THE CUSTOMER AT THE CENTER?

You already understood how the customer centric works, its importance for loyalty and important examples of the application of this practice. Now it’s critical to know that there are some challenges that must be overcome when putting customers at the center of the business.

One of the main difficulties in this scenario is to adapt the company’s strategies to customer demands. After all, the customer centric must be applied as an organizational culture — and that depends on the studies carried out.

Thus, by understanding what your consumer wants and what their pains are, there must be an adaptation to implement the strategy. This requires changing routines, seeking new ways to provide the service or even launching new products.

Still, given the relevance of the concept, it is essential that all sectors, employees and management are focused on the customer centric. It’s no use for the customer to perceive marketing actions focused on the consumer if the after-sales service does not seek loyalty, for example.

So a big challenge when implementing this culture is to make all sectors of the company aware of its importance. Furthermore, it is necessary to have strategies for each area of ​​the business and a general plan that integrates the actions taken.

HOW TO START APPLYING CUSTOMER CENTRIC?

Interested in applying the customer centric strategy to your business? So you need to adopt customer-oriented practices. There is no general roadmap of what to do for this. This is because each company and segment has different needs and expectations.

However, there are tips that can help implement the idea. The first is to apply studies with your target audience and consumers. To do so, it is worth resorting to questionnaires and questions on social networks or even in person.

But remember never to be invasive when dealing with customers. Ask if they want to answer the questions and if it’s possible to send the questionnaire. Questions should be related to customer satisfaction, criticism and pain. With this, it will be possible to adopt strategies to meet the expectations of the public.

The next step is to create a customer-focused organizational culture. So plan according to this concept, from marketing actions to after-sales. Be sure to base your planning on the data collected and always try to maintain close contact.

Do you understand how the customer centric works and the importance of this strategy? It is worth remembering that you can apply it little by little, distributing the strategy in different stages to start building customer loyalty more assertively.