This post was mentioned on Twitter by RSchoenefeldMSG: Discover a Better Way for Your Customers. http://bit.ly/bEefh8. Source: BillSelf #customerfocused #bestcustomers #loyaltymarketing…

We have recognized for some time that change management is the hardest part of building customer-centricity into a marketing department (and eventually the entire organization). We have used the “small wins” and 10x communication approaches from John Kotter to begin to illustrate the consequences of not changing, pilot program wins to quantify the opportunities and 10x communication to continually reinforce the importance of the change.

We also believe that, while the vision may be driven by the executives, the “how-to” must come from the line management team. Open brainstorming, followed by refinement, commitment and presentation to management, help to drive the change through different levels in the company. Finally, clear, visible measurements posted around the floors show the results in a meaningful form (what gets measured is what matters!)

Excellent post on a pressing topic for all customer-centric managers.

BTW — nice site enhancements!

Here’s what stood out for me:

“According to Simon, the percentage of employees from these hidden champions in regular contact with customers is five times higher than in large companies”

So true; there is no substitute for interacting directly with customers and fans. This is something that sits at the top of my mind when evaluating a social media engagement strategy–if our goal is to interact with hidden champions five times more often, we’ve got to figure out where they are, what they want to talk about and what type of content, conversations and products will be useful to them.

In short, no substitute for getting to know the customer.

Your post highlights the advantage that companies gain by being closer to their customers, quite appropriately so. I wonder, though, how much of the benefit of being closer is seizing new opportunities and how much is due to gaining an increasing share of customer needs in existing products and services.

Best Customers spend an increasing share of wallet at companies with which they feel a closer sense of relationship. They also tend to buy a bit less on promotion and refer friends who resemble them to the company, thereby continuing to drive incremental revenue.

I see Drucker’s “monomaniacal” approach applying both to the commitment to being closer to the customer and also to a strong focus on the core business and mission of the company. That focus makes it easier to customers to slot or “bucket” the company in a certain set of products and services, making the choice process easier.

You mentioned that a customer-centric manager must be willing to start a project without knowing the end destination. In my experience, the migration to customer-centricity must be started without knowing the end result, but it is also critical that the manager find a way to break up this process into clear, defined steps with goals, measurements and milestones to be able to gain executive buy-in to move ahead with each step on the journey.

In this way, the manager can gain credit not only for focusing on true customer needs, but also for taking a complex process and breaking it down into manageable steps.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by ResearchRocks: Customer loyalty: “Customer-centricity…means being loyal to your customers. In turn, they will be loyal to you.” http://bit.ly/2dPWcm…

Issues are indeed opportunities to not just restore but enhance a relationship. One key that I would add is that the approach to addressing the issue needs to be consistent with the overall service philosophy and practice of the company. Great customer experiences are driven by authenticity and service recovery and enhancement needs to be just another part of the company customer experience commitment.

The proactive, customer-centered approach amounts to an overhaul of traditional customer programs to design a operation that, rather than reacting, is continually looking to deliver added value. It should be highly creative, but with the interests of the customer in mind. As I like to say, “While you are creating (inside your organization), make sure that you are creating lots of loyal customers.”