Why Brands Need to Adopt a Customer-Centric Mindset .

‘Customer-centricity’ is not a new adoption.

Putting the customer first is nothing new, It’s a mindset that has been around for many years but as brands evolve inline with the ‘age of the consumer’ they recognise its importance.

What is a customer-centric mindset?

Typically, brands tend to focus on customer feedback and providing a great customer service - which is great, but… in reality ‘customer-centricity’ encompasses so much more than this. It’s about providing an experience that is both seamless and relevant at each stage of the customer journey whether its pre, during or post sale.

Brands that implement this successfully will understand that not all customers equate to a profit, some as such may be brand ambassadors or advocates. Instead, they’ll use data to segment their audience and target those with the highest customer lifetime value.

Achieving customer-centricity

It’s important to remember that customer-centricity really is a mindset that has to be adopted across the whole business and implemented from the top down and this type of approach has to have ‘buy-in’ from all of a business’ key stakeholders.

The first step in this process is to outline your brand positioning… What is it that you have to offer your customers? What’s your niche? Why is it that your brand does or offers that's different to what any of your competition is offering?

From here brands can then start to appeal to their ‘ideal’ customer audience and knowing what that audience wants to buy, allows a brand to better advertise their product or service so that they can continue remarketing to them and get the most from their marketing spend.

Other elements of customer-centricity include:

• Rewarding and recognising customer loyalty
• Personalising the customer experience
• Ensuring products or services are tailored to customers and adapt according to feedback

The most successful brands will be those who are truly committed to building successful relationships with their customers. They will understand their audience and will recognise that without their customers they cannot succeed.