by Tiffani Bova, Global Growth Evangelist, Salesforce

Putting the customer first is not a new idea. However, the same technologies that are changing customer behavior—including mobile devices, social media, the cloud, bots and artificial intelligence (AI)—are enabling businesses to personalize interactions, at scale, with customers in a whole new way.

Prior to the pandemic, many companies touted being customer-centric, and then overnight found themselves unable to service virtual, digital-first customers whose expectations have shaped their new purchasing habits. Whether you describe yourself as a business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) company, a customer is still on the other end of the phone, email or e-commerce transaction. Today’s consumers and business buyers are more informed and less loyal than their predecessors. This means that companies must step up and meet these rapidly evolving expectations, or risk being left behind by companies that are making the appropriate investments and delivering a customer-centric transaction.

For some time now, the research has pointed to a power shift between brands and customers, forcing many to pivot from being product-led to being much more customer-led. Customer-centricity helps companies build trust, and also a solid reputation that can engender long-term loyalty. That trust and loyalty can pay dividends over the entire lifetime value (LTV) of a customer. Combined, they can increase the frequency of purchases, stimulate larger transactions and help the company recover if the brand’s reputation is ever put into question.

However, when talking about customer-centricity, many fall back on how difficult it may be to measure, and what they should be focusing on. The Customer Centricity Index, developed by Salesforce and Bloomberg Media, is meant to determine which brands are viewed by C-suite professionals as today’s customer-centricity leaders. The index was able to surface six factors that contribute to a brand’s customer-centricity, which can provide guideposts for others to focus on and measure themselves against:

Anticipate customer needs: Innovates in service of customers’ future needs and addresses problems before customers know they exist.
Delivers exceptional customer service: Improves customer experiences in an empathetic, solutions-driven, flexible and timely way.
Cares about customers: Shows humanity and understanding by actively listening, offering reliable support and cultivating relationships.
Offers relevant products and services: Has a portfolio of products and/or services that fills, resonates or connects with customers’ needs and interests.
Easy to do business with: Provides intuitive and seamless experiences that reduce friction at each customer touchpoint.
Honest with the public: Communicates transparent information that customers should know or want to know, and embraces authenticity.

It’s no longer enough to have a great product at a great price. Today, companies are expected to create a personal experience at each and every touchpoint. In another research report by Salesforce, eight out of 10 customers said the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. Each of these six factors plays a part in delivering a compelling and meaningful customer experience, and when all combined, they deliver competitive differentiation.

It’s safe to say that customer-centricity cannot be an afterthought. Customers and their unique expectations must be part of all decision making and strategic planning, otherwise the disconnection will be felt by the customer. The timeless perspective of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who understood the importance of customer-centricity, is as relevant today as the day he said it: “[Y]ou’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology,” not start with, “‘Let’s sit down with the engineers and figure out what awesome technology we have.’”

It’s a lesson that many successful customer-centric companies have implemented ever since.

Learn more about customer-centricity from Salesforce.