Customer Focused vs Customer Centric – Lexicon’s Competitive Advantage
Customer focus is typically the foundation of every business and the notion “getting closer to the customer” is certainly not new. Nearly every company believes they are customer-focused. Sales and marketing department will readily give us a detailed report on the customer profile and tell us what customer wants and what their needs are.
Today, buyers and consumers have more choices than ever before, narrowing their research and making sound buying decisions quicker and more efficient. Companies now need to deliver on good experiences – old loyalty doesn’t matter, you have to keep earning it moving forward.
“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology – not the other way around.” Steve Jobs
Thinking backwards and starting a marketing strategy with the customer before creating new experiences and initiatives is a good path for success. Here lies the difference between customer focused and customer centric. Offering the customer a consistently great and relevant experience across all touch points every time is being customer focused. Looking at a customer’s lifetime value and focusing marketing efforts on the high-value customer segment in order to drive profits, putting the customer at the center, and making him the catalyst of a much bigger ROI is customer centric.
What speaks volume to us is an outstanding, memorable customer experience, where you provide a perfect solution to the customer’s problem with your exact offering. Solutions and attention (customer focus) are great but by also engaging the customer further and building a strong relationship going forward, that is customer centric.
You must satisfy the needs of customers throughout the entire customer journey in addition to delivering greater value. Leaders of customer centric organizations truly understand the value of not only investing in customers but also in investing in its people. Employee engagement gets you closer to customers, and then everyone wins!
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