Is Your Brand Positioned for True Customer-Centered Growth?
Lessons from nine brands that lead the pack at maximizing future customer value
Customer centricity might be the corporate buzzword of the century. Organizations large and small have built some level of customer focus into their mission statements, team goals, and beyond. But when the rubber hits the road, how well are today’s brands balancing customer centricity with their growth goals? When it comes to day-to-day scenarios, many organizations are challenged with choosing between these two outcomes, but the most successful brands have found the power in achieving both.
Our recent research among 17,000 Americans of over 150 brands showcases the impact that delivering on customer goals—or Customer Performance Indicators (CPIs)—has on a brand’s future revenue potential. Learn from the top-performing brands and how they translate customer centricity into revenue growth.
What do the top-performing brands have in common?
Simply stated…they deliver on customer goals—or what customers strive to achieve—that extend across functional, emotional, and social attributes.
Fig. 1 universal human goals
To learn more on how this list was generated, explore our Introductory white paper: Vex: A New Model for Customer-Centered Growth
However, these three types of goals are not created equal. Brands that are seeing the greatest Future Customer Value go beyond function to deliver on customers’ emotional and social goals, showcasing the importance for brands to truly create products and experiences that enhance their value by connecting with humans on a deeper human level.
Fig. 2 Future Customer Value by Delivery on Customer Goals
*Future Customer Value is a composite of share of wallet, purchase frequency, and future purchase intent
Customer Goal scores are top box on a 5-point scale
What can we learn from these top-performing brands?
- Customer expectations are set on a stage much broader than a traditional industry-focused competitive view
- Customers’ lives are a constellation of brand interactions; and this macro view of experiences sets an expectation for all brands to live by. Rather than getting mired down by industry-specific customer goals, consider the universal ones—demonstrating your evolution of thinking more holistically about your brand’s impact on customers’ lives.
- Linking customer value with revenue growth is as much about customers as it is about your brand
- Our traditional view on customer metrics often focuses more on what brands value than what consumers value. NPS and CSAT are both great examples of metrics that are touted as customer-centric, but reflect more on the business performance than the value they have on customers. Do your customers really care about your NPS score? Probably not. But they likely value if you make them feel good or allow them to connect with others.
- Delivering on emotional and social goals can set your brand apart and maximize potential
- While providing strong delivery on functional goals is a necessary foundation, bringing emotional and/or social goals into your delivery has an exponential impact on future revenue potential.
Where to begin your brand’s journey.
Every brand has a unique balancing act to ensure customer goals and revenue growth are in sync. Finding the right mix of customer goals your brand is best positioned to deliver on, and how they tie to future revenue growth is the first step in this important journey. Explore our worksheet that guides you through 5 Steps to Drive Revenue with a customer value focused approach, or or tap into our expertise to begin your journey to the top 6% of brands.
