2/2/2014 The Plight of a Customer Centric Company | SocialSteve' s Blog

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SocialSteve's Blog
SEPTEMBER 2 , 2 01 3 6:5 2 PM
The Plight of a Customer Centric Company
Lets face it. Brands hav e lost some degree of their perceiv ed position as a result of social technologies that allow
the target audience to strongly affect brand reputation. More than any thing else, social media is the
motiv ation for companies to change and truly be customer centric. The true substances of companies are
unv eiled. People see the difference between what companies say and what they do. And at the same time, there
is an abundance of companies claiming to be customer centric while only giv ing it lip serv ice.
To start, a customer centric company must hav e complete empathy for the target audience. This means that
y ou need to understand ev ery thing about y our audience what motiv ates them, interests them, turns them
off, and causes them to take action. And once y ou understand this, y ou need to determine changes required in
y our company .
Let me giv e y ou a simple example. For a longtime, I worked for v arious technology companies as a traditional
marketing executiv e. I found that most technology companies suffer from what I call technology
testosterone. They all would claim, they are bigger, faster, stronger, more secure, and claim other
technological superlativ es. One company claimed they had the greatest SSL (secure-socket-lay er) technology .
And they probably did in fact hav e a great SSL technology . But the main target audience for this SSL offering
was financial institutions that look to purchase pay ment card authorization solutions. You see, too much of the
company focus was on what they did as opposed to the solutions they offered their customers. In a customer Follow
2/2/2014 The Plight of a Customer Centric Company | SocialSteve' s Blog
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centric organization it is all about what y ou do for y our customer as opposed to y our offerings. Yes, this is a
small v ariance of go-to-market positioning, but the nuances affect brand perception and success.
While brand positioning is important to becoming a customer centric business, it is only a start. May be the
strongest example of a customer centric business is Amazon. Jeff Bezoss declares that Amazon.com is the most
customer-centric company in the world. Is this lip serv ice? Consider all of the following points:
Amazon determines their customers needs, and then works backwards to deliv er solutions.
In the beginning at Amazon executiv e meetings, there was often a chair left empty and unseated. This is
sy mbolic of the ev er-present customer. Now specially trained employ ees represent the customer, called
Customer Experience Bar Raisers. When they frown, v ice presidents tremble.
Bezos requires that mid-lev el meetings include one person serv ing solely as the customer adv ocate. This
person has the power to v eto actions that undermine customers interests.
Amazon reorganizes often. The reorgs are alway s done so with a focus to better serv e their customers.
Bezos requires ev ery one on staff to be able to work in the call center.
Bezos states, In the old world, y ou dev oted 30% of y our time to building a great serv ice and 7 0% of y our time
to shouting about it. In the new world, that inv erts.
Bezos v etoes snarky ads that mock customers.
(Sources How Great Leaders Communicate and Amazon Technology Jeff Bezos Gets It)
The points abov e briefly highlight what it takes to be a true customer centric company . Amazon is a great
example of a customer centric company . They walk the walk as opposed to talk the talk. The result, the most
successful online retailer. I expect Bezos to take The Washington Post and rev amp success solely driv en by a
keen focus on the audience. Dont expect this to happen ov ernight. Bezos is willing to be misunderstood for long
periods of time only to ultimately change the way business functions in the most successful way .
Social media is the current rationalization for ev olution to becoming a customer centric company . I got
inv olv ed in social media early on because I follow customer behav ior to influence my marketing approach. I
did not get bullish on social marketing because of hy pe. I follow the audience actions and act accordingly .
Learn to follow y our audience and fully act accordingly . Audience behav ior is v ery important in the
marketing of y our brand, but that is not enough. You must allow customer opportunities, issues, and solutions
to driv e y our company organization and actions. Traditional company organizations must change and
inherent silos must be dismantled. True leaders will recognize these fundamental success criteria and change
the DNA of their company . Are y ou ready ?
Make It Happen,
Social Stev e
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