Discover the 3D secrets to true customer centricity

Does your company claim that it puts its customers first, but actually focuses more energy on efficiencies? Did you used to live and breathe customer centricity, but now your competitors are leading the way? Are you struggling to find ways to leverage digital innovation for the benefit of your customers?

One thing is clear. In this age of digital transformation, the most customer-centric companies are winning. How do they do it?

“There’s a great paradox to customer centricity. Most companies cite customer satisfaction as their great motivation,” said Professor of Leadership Katharina Lange.

“However, many firms acknowledge that they are not quite there and many customers are feeling unsatisfied with the results.”

Frédéric Dalsace, Professor of Marketing and Strategy, Didier Bonnet, Professor of Strategy and Digital Transformation, and Professor Lange will offer OWP liVe participants practical solutions to overcome this paradox.

“Why aren’t customer-centric ambitions translating into great customer experiences?” asked Dalsace.

The first step in achieving true customer centricity is to understand what it takes and where you are going wrong.

“Truth is, many companies underestimate the complexity required to make an organization truly customer-centric,” said Bonnet.

Lots of companies start out with good intentions – to put customers at the top of their priority list. But, over time, other pressures rise to the top – such as efficiency drives.

So, how can you get it right and sustain that success?

Lange, Dalsace and Bonnet argue that, like a Rubik’s Cube where all sides need to be aligned, customer centricity requires action in three dimensions:

• Value creation
• Value delivery
• Value capture

During their OWP liVe session, “Leading Customer-Centric Strategies”, the IMD leadership, digital transformation and marketing experts will explain how mastering the combination of two drivers of customer centricity can help organizations align these three crucial dimensions.

Driver one: Digital transformation 

While some companies are masters at driving and adopting digital innovation, others really struggle to make it work. It is vital to understand that, today, customers expect great digital experiences.

“Digital transformation has become a key driver to achieve customer centricity,” said Bonnet. “It boosts creative possibilities by removing barriers, it enhances customer understanding for connectivity and data, and provides the transparency required to build win-win business models.”

Driver two: Leadership skills 

However, on its own, even the most impressive digital transformations cannot sustain high levels of customer centricity over the longer term. You still need the human touch when it comes to customers, even in the digital world. This tone and approach should come from the top to foster a culture of customer centricity.

“When leaders ‘role model’ empathy, humility and audacity, these traits over time become second nature in the company,” said Lange.

And when these soft skills inform and shape the way companies deploy digital innovation, they can create, deliver and capture the value that is required to achieve true customer centricity.

“Getting these three dimensions right will become a genuine game changer for your customer’s experience,” explained Dalsace.