How Customer-Centricity Creates Value

I ended my last article asking how, given every organisation has limited resources, one decides what to prioritise. In a traditional company the answer is usually what creates the most value for the company. But in a customer-centric company, the answer is what creates the most value for the customer. This is not altruism. Customer-centricity is inherently a revenue-creating mindset. It understands that value created for the customer translates into value created for the company.??

Of course it is not a simple linear process. Every business has a set of strategic priorities and an accompanying roadmap. The challenge is to match the customer insights you have against these priorities. And just as business strategy is focused on what lies ahead as much as what the situation is today, the same applies to how we think of customer value creation.

Question one, what do we do for customers today, how well do we do it and what can make it better? This creates short-term value.

Question two, what do we need to do for customers tomorrow? This creates long-term value.?

How does this apply to IT?

Let us start with seeing the world through the eyes of the customer. This is not just a search for insight, it’s a race for insight – a race because insight is only of value if it can be leveraged for competitive advantage.??

Ultimately this is how you decide what to prioritise. Not just what can create value, but what can create value for the customer that differentiates you from the competition. Value that does not just generate immediate sales or revenue, but that also creates loyalty and advocacy.??

At this point you may be thinking this sounds fine as a theory, but what’s the reality?

How do you make a great company better? How do you find ways to create value that are genuinely differentiated?

Let me return to my headline thought and how you make IT a centre for value creation. Customer centricity enables us to see that making a customer tool better isn’t about giving it more functionality, it’s about making a few key buttons larger or easier to see. These are the opportunities that come with zero risk.???

The bigger opportunities however must carry risk. They require innovation, thinking outside the box. They require IT to adopt a more entrepreneurial mindset. To have the confidence to propose more ambitious changes, rooted in the customer insight they have gained, allied to their own expertise. In a traditional culture, most would feel inhibited to make such proposals. But in a customer-centric culture, it is encouraged and people feel empowered.??