Cultivating a Customer-Centric Organization in a Digital World

Rose Report: Issue 58

By Ted Rose, CEO, Rose Financial Solutions

Not so long ago, face-to-face interactions were the way businesses operated. However, today automation and digital interaction have become the norm. Undoubtedly, the pandemic has affected how businesses interact with clients. With the growing popularity of Zoom, WebEx, and Teams, in-person sales meetings are becoming a thing of the past for many professional services firms. From a client’s perspective, the extra time spent attending an in-person meeting is now being used on other higher value tasks.

We live in a digital world that allows companies to work smarter and faster while reducing human error. For business leaders, the challenge is balancing technology with the human element to deliver exceptional customer service. According to Forrester Research, “The pendulum is swinging from automation to increasingly important touchpoints powered by human agents.” The most forward-thinking companies are integrating AI into their employee workflows, allowing humans and machines to work more closely to deliver a more gratifying customer experience.

According to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, “The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer.” Customer-centric companies value their customers and put them first in everything they do. The goal is to create a culture that motivates your team to deliver exceptional customer service at every step of the customers’ interaction—whether digital or human—with your company.

Remember that the customer experience begins long before the first point of sale, often as a digital touchpoint through an email, social media post, website visit, or chatbot. Digital interactions offer a cost-effective way to connect effortlessly, gather data on your audience, and quickly reply to questions and requests. Conversely, human touchpoints help build relationships and make customers feel more valued. When digital and human interactions work well together, they create an exceptional customer experience. 

Here are some tips on creating a customer-centric strategy for your business.

• Investing in technology, training, tools, and resources is essential to meet customer expectations.
• Research shows a correlation between employee satisfaction and customer experience. Simply put, a happy workforce enhances customer satisfaction. Therefore, building a corporate culture focused on employee engagement is essential in developing a customer-centric strategy.
• To help your entire team get on the same page with your expectations, create a protocol that outlines the expected conduct and procedures regarding customer interactions.
• Establish evaluation procedures to gauge performance, hold employees accountable, and determine adjustments to future training needs. 
• Make sure to survey your customers. Their insight is invaluable.

 Utilizing digital and human touchpoints to deliver exceptional customer service can significantly impact your bottom line through customer retention and referrals. In fact, according to Watermark  research , customer experience leaders outperform their competition, generating a total cumulative return that is 3.4 times greater than those that do not.

As a customer-centric organization, Rose Financial Solutions utilizes a combination of digital and human interactions to ensure exceptional customer satisfaction. Please schedule an appointment to learn more about the advantages of working with RFS and our commitment to putting our clients first.

This content is for information purposes only and should not be considered legal, accounting or tax advice, or a substitute for obtaining such advice specific to your business.