Busting the 5 myths of customer centricity

Businesses know they need to put customer needs at the heart of their strategies, but very few are actually doing it right. Why? Olivia Buckle-Wright reveals five common misconceptions about customer centricity that create a gap between aspiration and success.

Customer centricity is often misunderstood and oversimplified. The casual dismissal of customer centricity as ‘stating the obvious’ or ‘just another business cliché’ can prevent robust discussion on the topic and also side-track from the very real value that it creates. For example, industry leaders in NPS deliver almost three times higher total shareholder return, compared to the stock market average. The companies that focus most on their customers have outperformed their competition over 15 years.

Research shows that 90% of companies know they should put the customer needs at the heart of their business strategy, but only 14% of business leaders are prepared to claim that their companies truly focus on the customer.

This damaging gap between aspiration and reality is caused, in part, by misinformation around customer centricity, which is often confused with customer awareness. Truly customer-centric organisations obsess about exceeding their customers’ current and future expectations. Their culture puts customer needs at the core of decision making and execution – across all functions. It becomes automatic to ask: “What next for our customers?”

Here are 5 myths about customer centricity that can make businesses overlook the opportunity in front of them:

1. Customer centricity is about doing more research

Businesses know they need to put customer needs at the heart of their strategies, but very few are actually doing it right. Why? Olivia Buckle-Wright reveals five common misconceptions about customer centricity that create a gap between aspiration and success.

Customer centricity is often misunderstood and oversimplified. The casual dismissal of customer centricity as ‘stating the obvious’ or ‘just another business cliché’ can prevent robust discussion on the topic and also side-track from the very real value that it creates. For example, industry leaders in NPS deliver almost three times higher total shareholder return, compared to the stock market average. The companies that focus most on their customers have outperformed their competition over 15 years.

Research shows that 90% of companies know they should put the customer needs at the heart of their business strategy, but only 14% of business leaders are prepared to claim that their companies truly focus on the customer.

This damaging gap between aspiration and reality is caused, in part, by misinformation around customer centricity, which is often confused with customer awareness. Truly customer-centric organisations obsess about exceeding their customers’ current and future expectations. Their culture puts customer needs at the core of decision making and execution – across all functions. It becomes automatic to ask: “What next for our customers?”

Here are 5 myths about customer centricity that can make businesses overlook the opportunity in front of them:

2. Customer centricity is a job for customer experience only

Businesses know they need to put customer needs at the heart of their strategies, but very few are actually doing it right. Why? Olivia Buckle-Wright reveals five common misconceptions about customer centricity that create a gap between aspiration and success.

Customer centricity is often misunderstood and oversimplified. The casual dismissal of customer centricity as ‘stating the obvious’ or ‘just another business cliché’ can prevent robust discussion on the topic and also side-track from the very real value that it creates. For example, industry leaders in NPS deliver almost three times higher total shareholder return, compared to the stock market average. The companies that focus most on their customers have outperformed their competition over 15 years.

Research shows that 90% of companies know they should put the customer needs at the heart of their business strategy, but only 14% of business leaders are prepared to claim that their companies truly focus on the customer.

This damaging gap between aspiration and reality is caused, in part, by misinformation around customer centricity, which is often confused with customer awareness. Truly customer-centric organisations obsess about exceeding their customers’ current and future expectations. Their culture puts customer needs at the core of decision making and execution – across all functions. It becomes automatic to ask: “What next for our customers?”

Here are 5 myths about customer centricity that can make businesses overlook the opportunity in front of them:

3. Customer centricity is a value, not a strategic driver

Businesses know they need to put customer needs at the heart of their strategies, but very few are actually doing it right. Why? Olivia Buckle-Wright reveals five common misconceptions about customer centricity that create a gap between aspiration and success.

Customer centricity is often misunderstood and oversimplified. The casual dismissal of customer centricity as ‘stating the obvious’ or ‘just another business cliché’ can prevent robust discussion on the topic and also side-track from the very real value that it creates. For example, industry leaders in NPS deliver almost three times higher total shareholder return, compared to the stock market average. The companies that focus most on their customers have outperformed their competition over 15 years.

Research shows that 90% of companies know they should put the customer needs at the heart of their business strategy, but only 14% of business leaders are prepared to claim that their companies truly focus on the customer.

This damaging gap between aspiration and reality is caused, in part, by misinformation around customer centricity, which is often confused with customer awareness. Truly customer-centric organisations obsess about exceeding their customers’ current and future expectations. Their culture puts customer needs at the core of decision making and execution – across all functions. It becomes automatic to ask: “What next for our customers?”

Here are 5 myths about customer centricity that can make businesses overlook the opportunity in front of them:

4. Customer centricity needs more and more data

Businesses know they need to put customer needs at the heart of their strategies, but very few are actually doing it right. Why? Olivia Buckle-Wright reveals five common misconceptions about customer centricity that create a gap between aspiration and success.

Customer centricity is often misunderstood and oversimplified. The casual dismissal of customer centricity as ‘stating the obvious’ or ‘just another business cliché’ can prevent robust discussion on the topic and also side-track from the very real value that it creates. For example, industry leaders in NPS deliver almost three times higher total shareholder return, compared to the stock market average. The companies that focus most on their customers have outperformed their competition over 15 years.

Research shows that 90% of companies know they should put the customer needs at the heart of their business strategy, but only 14% of business leaders are prepared to claim that their companies truly focus on the customer.

This damaging gap between aspiration and reality is caused, in part, by misinformation around customer centricity, which is often confused with customer awareness. Truly customer-centric organisations obsess about exceeding their customers’ current and future expectations. Their culture puts customer needs at the core of decision making and execution – across all functions. It becomes automatic to ask: “What next for our customers?”

Here are 5 myths about customer centricity that can make businesses overlook the opportunity in front of them:

5. Customer centricity can be solved by a Chief Customer Officer

Businesses know they need to put customer needs at the heart of their strategies, but very few are actually doing it right. Why? Olivia Buckle-Wright reveals five common misconceptions about customer centricity that create a gap between aspiration and success.

Customer centricity is often misunderstood and oversimplified. The casual dismissal of customer centricity as ‘stating the obvious’ or ‘just another business cliché’ can prevent robust discussion on the topic and also side-track from the very real value that it creates. For example, industry leaders in NPS deliver almost three times higher total shareholder return, compared to the stock market average. The companies that focus most on their customers have outperformed their competition over 15 years.

Research shows that 90% of companies know they should put the customer needs at the heart of their business strategy, but only 14% of business leaders are prepared to claim that their companies truly focus on the customer.

This damaging gap between aspiration and reality is caused, in part, by misinformation around customer centricity, which is often confused with customer awareness. Truly customer-centric organisations obsess about exceeding their customers’ current and future expectations. Their culture puts customer needs at the core of decision making and execution – across all functions. It becomes automatic to ask: “What next for our customers?”

Here are 5 myths about customer centricity that can make businesses overlook the opportunity in front of them:

Businesses know they need to put customer needs at the heart of their strategies, but very few are actually doing it right. Why? Olivia Buckle-Wright reveals five common misconceptions about customer centricity that create a gap between aspiration and success.

Customer centricity is often misunderstood and oversimplified. The casual dismissal of customer centricity as ‘stating the obvious’ or ‘just another business cliché’ can prevent robust discussion on the topic and also side-track from the very real value that it creates. For example, industry leaders in NPS deliver almost three times higher total shareholder return, compared to the stock market average. The companies that focus most on their customers have outperformed their competition over 15 years.

Research shows that 90% of companies know they should put the customer needs at the heart of their business strategy, but only 14% of business leaders are prepared to claim that their companies truly focus on the customer.

This damaging gap between aspiration and reality is caused, in part, by misinformation around customer centricity, which is often confused with customer awareness. Truly customer-centric organisations obsess about exceeding their customers’ current and future expectations. Their culture puts customer needs at the core of decision making and execution – across all functions. It becomes automatic to ask: “What next for our customers?”

Here are 5 myths about customer centricity that can make businesses overlook the opportunity in front of them:

Businesses know they need to put customer needs at the heart of their strategies, but very few are actually doing it right. Why? Olivia Buckle-Wright reveals five common misconceptions about customer centricity that create a gap between aspiration and success.

Customer centricity is often misunderstood and oversimplified. The casual dismissal of customer centricity as ‘stating the obvious’ or ‘just another business cliché’ can prevent robust discussion on the topic and also side-track from the very real value that it creates. For example, industry leaders in NPS deliver almost three times higher total shareholder return, compared to the stock market average. The companies that focus most on their customers have outperformed their competition over 15 years.

Research shows that 90% of companies know they should put the customer needs at the heart of their business strategy, but only 14% of business leaders are prepared to claim that their companies truly focus on the customer.

This damaging gap between aspiration and reality is caused, in part, by misinformation around customer centricity, which is often confused with customer awareness. Truly customer-centric organisations obsess about exceeding their customers’ current and future expectations. Their culture puts customer needs at the core of decision making and execution – across all functions. It becomes automatic to ask: “What next for our customers?”

Here are 5 myths about customer centricity that can make businesses overlook the opportunity in front of them: