The One Thing that is MORE Important than Customer Satisfaction - The Insight 2020 project by Marc de Swaan Arons

THIS POST IS BY THE LEADER OF THE INSIGHTS 2020 PROJECT. READ IT HERE AND FOLLOW MARC AND THE PROJECT https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/one-thing-more-important-than-customer-satisfaction-de-swaan-arons?trk=prof-post

Starbucks is often praised for its great customer service and ability to maintain a small coffee shop ambiance, while serving millions of customers each day. However, does all that mean that they really KNOW their customers? Maybe at a store level, but what if I walk into a Starbucks in another city and order ‘the usual’? They deliver depth of personalization but no breadth of consistency across touch points. They deliver perfect customer service, but are customer-centric at an organizational level.

As marketers, we have heard the term “customer-centricity” many times. Everyone talks about it, but this doesn’t mean that they do it or do it well. We are constantly being told that the customer is king, and while we know that this is true, most of us don’t really know how to make it happen, especially while keeping the bottom line in check. This is where a majority of organizations get stuck.

With companies like Nike and Nespresso leading the pack in customer-centricity, it is evident that the playing field has changed. Consumers not only want it now, but they want it customized to meet their personal needs and at every touch point. This ultimately leads to questions on what the right customer-centric approach is. How do we unlock the potential of insights & analytics to continuously improve our offers and generate business growth? How do we actually implement customer-centricity successfully in this all-connected, always available, fast-paced and ever changing world?

Insights2020, our recently conducted learning initiative, of which the findings were recently presented at the AMA annual conference in Austin, allowed us to gain insight into what over-performing companies do to drive customer-centric growth. Our research indicated that there are 10 key drivers of customer centricity, clustered in 3 dimensions; Total Experience, Customer Obsession and Strategic Insights Impact.

We uncovered that 89% of over performing organizations provide their customers with a total experience, achieved by establishing a clear purpose, utilizing data to provide customization and maintaining overall touchpoint consistency. Disney, for example, initiates each customer’s experience the moment their trip is booked. With a personalized MagicBand, visitors can access parks, unlock their hotel room and even purchase merchandise.

Over the next few weeks I will share some more of our thinking on dimensions two and three and about our future I2020 research roadmap.

In the meantime, we invite you to join us in our quest to improve customer centricity via our 10 drivers and explore best practices and guidelines on HOW to achieve this. Follow the conversation on lnkd.in/insights2020 and @insights2020. We look forward to hearing from you!