Is your organisation customer centric?

14 Mar 2019

Customer-centric organisations understand the unique problems and expectations of their customers as well as the context of those needs. They then consistently deliver products and services that meet those expectations.

The pace of technology innovation has accelerated and is empowering people. Customers, users and employees expect more, complain more, are more willing to switch suppliers or employers — and share far more about their experiences.

Win at every interaction with your customer

Gartner has predicted that by the year 2020, poor customer experiences will destroy 30% of digital business projects.

“Your business results depend on your brand’s ability to retain and add customers,” says Olive Huang, research director at Gartner. “You must win at every interaction the customer has with your organisation, whether that be a marketing campaign, a call to a contact centre, an invoice, or a delivery reliant on the supply chain. Every department must play its part in a coordinated fashion.”

Not only have people become empowered by technology, but the next generation to enter the workforce — those born between 1995 and 2010 that represent 27% of the world population — has spending power.

“They are less inclined to trust companies and brands, expect to be heard and involved, are quick to switch preferences, and seek out employers and brands that offer authentic and transparent experiences,” adds Huang.

Personalised experiences

Preference and purchase will be driven more by personalised experiences, trusted peer-to-peer information, and real-time delivery of information and services. These experiences are delivered through many channels — the web, mobile apps, contact centres and virtual personal/customer assistants, powered by AI.

“In order to deliver an adaptive customer experience, you will need to increase real-time capabilities by absorbing and analysing large volumes of data “on the move,” and react quickly to unexpected business events,” says Huang.

As organisations strive to become customer-centric, Gartner has identified 10 common habits of organisations exercising customer centricity in the age of digital business.