Customer-centricity impact on today's marketplaces

Since Theodore Levitts famous 1960 article, Marketing Myopia, marketers have generally agreed that the market-oriented firm-one that soaks itself in market intelligence as a means of fulfilling the needs of its target audience and whose culture reeks of concern for the creation of superior value for all stakeholders-will, by nature,enjoy superior business performance. It is downright doctrinal in the marketing community to believe that the company that best understands and satisfies its customers will be the company that sticks around for the long haul.

This customer-centricity is especially essential in todays market where customer preferences are changing rapidly and competition is fierce. With customer satisfaction as the focus, then, the need to understand your key customer is urgent, and developing relationships seems the best way to understand them. This leads me to suggest three easy ways for companies to use digital tactics to improve their relationships-and satisfaction levels-with valuable customers.

1. Tie the Virtual Knot
Following decades of selling to the consumer, the 90s brought about a new approach to marketing that was based on building and managing relationships. This concept exploded with the growth of the Internet and with opportunities such as social media, email, SMS, and blogs that allow companies to connect with customers one-on-one. (This, of course, assumes you know and understand who those key customers are).

Market-oriented companies start with the absence of any assumptions; they ask what they need to do for the customer to meet their needs so they will buy from them-for a lifetime. A focus on the markets needs enables you to take a strategic approach in developing the products and services that lead to long-term relationships, or what my friend Neil Berman from Delivra calls trusted partnerships with your target market. As you develop your marketing mix, maintain a relentless focus on the needs of your market. Dont be afraid of customer commitment; tie the virtual knot early-and tightly.

2. Let Em Vent
One of the best things we did was encourage customers to complain. In fact, we offered financial incentives just to get customers to call us and tell us why they didnt love us. Weird, right? Nope, its brilliant. Why? Because 90% of dissatisfied customers dont complain to the company, they complain to their friends, networks, and anyone who will listen to them. No company can afford that negative word-of-mouth, especially today, when every customer has the potential to reach literally thousands of other consumers through their online social networks.

Of the 10% who do complain (to your company), 90% can be retained simply by making it right in some way. Quite simply, your customers just want to be heard. My own multivariate research (which tested the effects of electronic word-of-mouth on the sales success of experience goods) supported the notion that consumers just want to participate in the conversation surrounding your brandsand they want to see that other consumers are participating, too. My empirical research revealed that, for every 1% increase in the number of customer reviews, sales increased by .57%. Whether or not those reviews were positive made no difference. Customers just want a voice, so do your company a favor, and let em vent.

3. Rethink Your Content Strategy
Our customers are smart people. We cannot underestimate their ability to know when were pushing a product rather than trying to fill a need. Content is critical in todays marketing initiatives, but how you do content marketing actually does matter. Want improved content performance? I suggest companies stop writing solely promotional whitepapers and technical, product-related content for their websites and start getting more involved in their industry to fully understand their customers. Attend (and participate in) industry trade shows and conferences, contribute to trade publications and workshops, and join professional online groups in timely, honest discussions pertaining to your customers' needs.

ARTICLE SOURCE: This factual content has not been modified from the source. This content is syndicated news that can be used for your research, and we hope that it can help your productivity. This content is strictly for educational purposes and is not made for any kind of commercial purposes of this blog.