Customer Centricity : Critical And Business Success

From the response of the consumers, companies make enhancements in their products as per the necessities of the consumers. From the approach or the associations with the consumers, companies get a chance to gratify their consumers and build up a competitive edge. This mechanism facilitates companies to stay with and goes ahead from their competition. Therefore, consumer relationships help the companies to make a competitive edge. (How to build a customer-centered organization to gain competitive advantage)

Only 22% of consumers say the average retailer understands them as an individual, and only 21% say the communication they receive from the average retailer are “usually relevant”. Most companies understand how critical is to do better – 88% say their growth depends on personalising the customer experience – but lack the resources and expertise to design an improved customer journey. Only 37% believe they have the

In the book Customers for Life, Carl Sewell teaches us proper approaches to customer service. Sewell does so by presenting how he manages his own business and elaborating on his experiences. Despite the name of the book, many concepts he presents relate not only to client interactions. The ultimate goal of Sewell’s company is to be the absolute best, and to accomplish that, his company must be best at caring for the customers. Even though Sewell says that there is a selfish reason behind all that to earn more money, it would not be possible if he and his employees did not truly want to help clients.

When you focus only on the product and do not consider to the customer, you can leave some customers behind. Not only do you have to create a quality product, but you also have to match it up to a target market. If you do not spend any time catering to your target market, you may be leaving sales in business.

The customer is the most important aspect to the business as stated in the unchanging main principle ‘Customer First’ philosophy. The company practices societal marketing concept where ‘peace’, ‘people’ and ‘community’ is also important wherever they do business as a contributing member of the local community.

The increase in customer power has led to many challenges for marketers today. Marketers have to constantly be on the lookout for any changes in their customers’ needs and demands to keep up with the progressive developments of the economy. Some of the key factors that will be mentioned in this essay are that firstly, companies have to resolve issues and improve their marketing approaches towards a constantly changing, and ‘always-online’ customers. Secondly, as people become more health-conscious, marketing strategies have to be adapted to suit the needs of these customers. Last but not least, customers have the power to affect the company’s success, either positively or negatively depending on his or her experience with the company.

When it comes to providing customer service, customers want quality, assurance and their demands met. Companies have a commitment to give good customer service. GE (General Electric) is ranked one of best companies that provide excellent customer service. Their commitment, training and quality to the customers for decades is how they gotten to the top. Meanwhile, AOL is ranked as one of the worst companies that provide poor customer service. There rude deposition, unethical guidelines and disgraceful quality is why they are going out of business.

Modern marketing revolves around the Customer. It is an old and by-now universally accepted concept that the Customer is the King.

The fact that the customer should be the focus for any business is not something that I need to go over with you, but why is it that most organizations to this day cant seem to quite grasp that idea; is something worth discussing. The reason why this is so important today is that we have seen a shift in the balance of power, which is power going back to the customers. They now, with the advancement of technology, have access to more services and an ability to voice and express their opinions on a grander scale. If a customer’s experience is not flawless, there are 10 other companies waiting to swoop their business and your now lost customer will tell the world about the bad experience they had with your brand.

“Marketing is products that don’t come back and consumers that do” (Steve Dawson, President of Walkers Shortbread Inc.)

Maintaining a customer-centric perspective should be maintained at any level – strategical or process level. And “customers, internal or external, are satisfied when their expectations…have been met or exceeded” (Krajewski, Malhotra, & Ritzman, 2016). Keeping the customer’s perspective is like having grease to keep the value chain running smoothly. Without it, a firm may save money in the short run, but will eventually pay some way or another in the long run.

Customer equity is essential to the continued success of any company in the modern market. Whether it’s acquiring new customers, retaining existing customers, or simply looking for new ways to reach existing customers, customer equity is an integral piece of any successful company.

There has been a dramatic shift in consumer behavior. Consumer needs and wants are not always easily understood, explained, or recognized. According to the text, marketing managers has a difficult but vital job of being able to explain consumers’ behavior to give marketers as clear an understanding of their customers as possible (Grewal, Levy, 2014, p. 174). Once explained, they are able to develop a market strategy to meet the needs and wants of consumers and implementing the strategy to sustain a successful and profitable organization. Along with a shift in consumer behavior, there has been a shift in marketing strategies. Some organizations are using the traditional marketing strategy and some are using the new customer-based model. This paper, by referencing an article called “Rethinking Marketing” will explain whether the new model is necessary to improve business today. This will be done by addressing the similarities proposed and the differences between the approach of that model and strategic marketing management presented in the AMA definition and text. Would this model be an improvement over the way my organization functions? The answer will be given.

Drucker stresses that marketing goals must be customer-focused initiatives, "a supermarket needs to focus on the customer and bankers need to focus on services" and "marketing is the business as seen from the customer" (Darroch 2009: 9). Drucker also stresses that businesses must not confuse their own

Consumer Sovereignty recognizes the role of the consumer as sovereign, or ruler, of the market. The phrase “the customer is always right” reflects this power.