Customers are now in the driver’s seat. Thanks to the internet and social media, they are networked and connected, and their influence is continuously increasing. Digital innovators are playing into their customers’ high expectations and have built their entire businesses around them. These companies are using the proliferation of customer data available today to completely individualize the customer experience. Customers are now demanding this level of service from all the businesses they engage with.
Welcome to the Age of the Customer. With the power now in the customer’s hands, we have moved from traditional Business-to-Consumer (B2C) into the Consumer-to-Business (C2B) era. C2B is about ensuring a frictionless customer experience, and most importantly fulfilling customers’ wants and needs. It’s about interacting with them on their terms: when, where and how they want to be engaged.
According to Forrester Research, “Empowered customers are shaping business strategy. Simply put, customers expect consistent and high-value in-person and digital experiences. They don’t care if building these experiences is hard or requires a complex, multifunction approach from across your business. They want immediate value and will go elsewhere if you can’t provide it.”
Your success in the Age of the Customer hinges on a major mind shift in your marketing. You must move beyond a product-centric approach to a customer-centric one, and build your business around the wants and needs of your customers.
For further interest:
