Customer experience is the definitive competitor battleground. So for companies serious about long term success, knowing how to put your customers first is non-negotiable.
“65% of customers say they’ve switched brands because of a poor customer experience.”
Khoros
Yet putting your customer first doesn’t necessarily mean bowing to every demand.
An optimal customer orientated strategy will strike a balance between customer prioritisation and your overarching business goals.
That way, both your internal operations and external experience creation can combine to secure the best possible results.
What Does It Mean To Put Your Customer First?
Putting your customer first is a business wide strategic decision. It requires a concentration of efforts around meeting customer needs and creating outstanding experiences.
More than an abstract strategy, putting customers first encapsulates a mindset that fosters a positive experience at every stage of the journey.
“To put the customer first is to implement a cultural strategy that places customers at the core of everything a company does.”
Therefore, every decision must be made in consideration of how it might affect customers.
This means that rather than putting your customers on a pedestal, you make them the centre of the puzzle.
From here, you can design workflows and processes to both meet your needs and exceed the expectations of customers at the same time.
It’s all about collaboration and creative solutions to ensure you continue to exceed your targets, whilst guaranteeing an outstanding customer journey, 100% of the time.
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How To Put Your Customer First
1. Know Your Audience
You can’t possibly put your customers first without knowing exactly who they are.
Only when you have this knowledge can you fully understand how to improve their experience.
Once you’ve identified your target audience, it is critical to analyse key metrics and discover ways to better understand behaviours, values and attitudes. From here, you can begin to mould you service offering accordingly.
Having a strong presence, geared toward your specific customer base will set you apart from competitors and prove your dedication to satisfying their needs.
2. Universal Customer Centricity
For most organisations, customer satisfaction is seen as the exclusive remit of the customer service team; with them being solely responsible for delivering desired experience standards.
However, it’s impossible to have a customer first strategy if only one team is geared toward their satisfaction.
Instead, every function should adopt a customer-centric mindset, with time given over for consideration of how changes in their approach could positively impact upon customer experience.
Having different teams assisting the clients, provides an excellent opportunity to observe how the customers feel and what they need.
It also ensures their experience is prioritised at every stage of their lifecycle.
3. Personalised Experiences
Gone are the days of blanket engagements or a one size fits all approach.
To truly stand out, you need to make customers feel valued. As humans we want to be treated, and thought of, as individuals.
We all have our unique quirks and respond positively when those are reflected in a tailored experience built entirely for us.
The opposite renders us feeling unimportant, or under valued.
For companies looking to stand out, personalisation shows how much you care your desire to provide more than expected.
“40% of people are willing to pay as much as 20% more for an impressive customer experience.”
Oracle
Going one step further, and tailoring what your customer experience to perfectly suit their needs, is one of the best ways to put them first.
4. Innovative Improvements
Creating a popular product or service may satisfy a burning customer need, but it is only the first step in becoming truly customer orientated.
Resting on your laurels is a sure fire way to let you competitors gain ground on your advantage. Iterative improvements, and focussed innovation are key to a customer-first strategy.
Searching for new ways to improve customer experience will demonstrate your dedication to product and service quality, keeping customers coming back for more whilst proving your understanding of their needs, and willingness to adapt as they shift over time.
5. Ask For Feedback
Without speaking to your customers, you can’t gauge their opinions on your offering.
Often described as your greatest source of company learning, the value of customer feedback is unending.
Feedback is the window to understanding what it is about your products or services your customers most like.
From here you can double down on the good, and easily eradicate the bad.
When it comes to collecting feedback, the importance of design, and consideration for delivery, cannot be underestimated.
There needs to be a regulated process to your collection, rather than an off the cuff approach.
Only then, can you demonstrate your commitment to valuing their thoughts, and feeding improvements back into your processes to better satisfy their needs and drive your own revenue streams.
Ready to explore how Anthill can help you put your customer first? Schedule a demo today.
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