What is the importance of regularly collecting customer insights and balancing what the customer wants with the strategic objectives of a company in developing a customer-centric strategy?: Nowadays, to achieve a competitive advantage you have to look beyond fulfilling the functional needs of your customer. Customers are not just looking for your product and/or service, they look for engagement. They want to get to know the true reason of your existence. They value a consistent, relevant and personalized (the right message to the right person at the right time) experience across different channels, both offline as online.
Customer centricity isn’t a ‘nice-to-have’ anymore. It’s an absolute strategic imperative. In our Yearly Marketing Survey 53% of Belgian marketers claim to have a very customer centric company. Since customers should be at the heart of your business, it makes sense to appoint someone in charge of advocating them, a real customer champion. And here is where the Chief Customer Officer comes into play. His main role is to not only create but also implement a customer centric strategy.
In order to create that strategy, the Chief Customer Officer needs to gather in-depth customer insights. He has to challenge the existing assumptions about the customers’ expectations and their level of satisfaction. Collecting customer insights is not a one-time exercise, it should happen on a regular basis to ensure correct response to changing consumers’ expectations.
Once he has collected the required data to have a holistic view on the customers’ needs, he should find a balance between what the customer wants and the strategic objectives of the company. After having built the customer centric strategy, the CCO should have the power to implement it. There are two types of authority that can be granted: line authority and process authority. If the CCO has line authority over customer-facing functions (like sales or customer service), he has the power to give employees incentives to reorient and prioritize their actions around the customer. Nevertheless, the CCO will not be able to fully control the customer experience because there are a lot of processes that are executed in non-customer-facing functions (like R&D). So ideally the CCO should have both authorities, line and process, to be able to optimize every touchpoint of the customer journey.
Even with the appropriate authority, good storytelling is still a crucial part to get all employees on board. The CCO should communicate internally the wants and needs of customers and stress the importance of it at all levels within the company. CCOs must make it clear for all employees that customers aren’t faceless numbers and explain them how everyone can contribute to create customer value. Besides his responsibility to communicate the voice of the consumer internally, it is essential to also communicate the corporate strategy externally to both existing and new customers.
In order to delight customers even further, breaking down organizational silos across the company is part of the CCO’s job. Many companies use different data sets across departments and don’t always share all the information they gather about the customer with each other. As a result, silos form a barrier to fully understand the customer and thus to deliver a superior experience. The CCO can overcome that barrier by overseeing communication efforts and creating an environment that encourages open communication and collaboration across the whole company.
Finally, to achieve all these goals establishing a strong customer-centric culture in the company is a prerequisite. Changing a deeply ingrained culture is maybe the most difficult part of the CCO’s job. But what if the company already has a customer centric culture? Is this new C-level role than obsolete? In my opinion, the CCO role should still be created so that the voice of the customer can be heard across the entire company. On top of that, I think that in the future it would be beneficial if the CEO takes on the role of the CCO. Because let’s be honest, isn’t he the person with the most influence over his C-level-peers? The CEO of the future becoming the CCO of today? Why not!
user
1

I totally agree with you that having a chief customer officer is not only essential for companies but also for customers. One of the main advantages of having a cco is that businesses are able to stay competitive in the current market. The level of customer engagement and experience is what drives revenue, profit and customer retention.

the role of the cco has evolved beyond just gathering customer insights. It is now about creating and implementing the customer centric strategy as well as overseeing the entire experience of the customer. In order to accomplish this, the cco needs to have the right level of authority to make changes and improvements in all customer facing departments.

the main issue with breaking down silos within a company is not only the lack of data sharing but also the fear of change. The cco plays a critical role in overcoming this fear by building a customer-centric culture and creating an environment that fosters open communication and collaboration. This creates a company-wide understanding of the importance of the customer experience.

the cco should also have a clear role in communicating the voices of the customer to all stakeholders, internally and externally. This helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding what the customer needs and wants.

in conclusion, the overall importance of the cco role includes creating a customer-centric strategy, implementing it, and ensuring that everyone in the company is on board with the same values and goals. The cco must break down silos between departments, communicate effectively, and foster a customer-centric culture. Overall, the cco is essential in creating a positive experience for customers and ensuring the success of a business.
assistant
What is the importance of regularly collecting customer insights and balancing what the customer wants with the strategic objectives of a company in developing a customer-centric strategy?: Nowadays, to achieve a competitive advantage you have to look beyond fulfilling the functional needs of your customer. Customers are not just looking for your product and/or service, they look for engagement. They want to get to know the true reason of your existence. They value a consistent, relevant and personalized (the right message to the right person at the right time) experience across different channels, both offline as online.
Customer centricity isn’t a ‘nice-to-have’ anymore. It’s an absolute strategic imperative. In our Yearly Marketing Survey 53% of Belgian marketers claim to have a very customer centric company. Since customers should be at the heart of your business, it makes sense to appoint someone in charge of advocating them, a real customer champion. And here is where the Chief Customer Officer comes into play. His main role is to not only create but also implement a customer centric strategy.
In order to create that strategy, the Chief Customer Officer needs to gather in-depth customer insights. He has to challenge the existing assumptions about the customers’ expectations and their level of satisfaction. Collecting customer insights is not a one-time exercise, it should happen on a regular basis to ensure correct response to changing consumers’ expectations.
Once he has collected the required data to have a holistic view on the customers’ needs, he should find a balance between what the customer wants and the strategic objectives of the company. After having built the customer centric strategy, the CCO should have the power to implement it. There are two types of authority that can be granted: line authority and process authority. If the CCO has line authority over customer-facing functions (like sales or customer service), he has the power to give employees incentives to reorient and prioritize their actions around the customer. Nevertheless, the CCO will not be able to fully control the customer experience because there are a lot of processes that are executed in non-customer-facing functions (like R&D). So ideally the CCO should have both authorities, line and process, to be able to optimize every touchpoint of the customer journey.
Even with the appropriate authority, good storytelling is still a crucial part to get all employees on board. The CCO should communicate internally the wants and needs of customers and stress the importance of it at all levels within the company. CCOs must make it clear for all employees that customers aren’t faceless numbers and explain them how everyone can contribute to create customer value. Besides his responsibility to communicate the voice of the consumer internally, it is essential to also communicate the corporate strategy externally to both existing and new customers.
In order to delight customers even further, breaking down organizational silos across the company is part of the CCO’s job. Many companies use different data sets across departments and don’t always share all the information they gather about the customer with each other. As a result, silos form a barrier to fully understand the customer and thus to deliver a superior experience. The CCO can overcome that barrier by overseeing communication efforts and creating an environment that encourages open communication and collaboration across the whole company.
Finally, to achieve all these goals establishing a strong customer-centric culture in the company is a prerequisite. Changing a deeply ingrained culture is maybe the most difficult part of the CCO’s job. But what if the company already has a customer centric culture? Is this new C-level role than obsolete? In my opinion, the CCO role should still be created so that the voice of the customer can be heard across the entire company. On top of that, I think that in the future it would be beneficial if the CEO takes on the role of the CCO. Because let’s be honest, isn’t he the person with the most influence over his C-level-peers? The CEO of the future becoming the CCO of today? Why not!
user
In summary, regularly collecting customer insights is crucial in developing a customer-centric strategy because it helps companies understand their customers' needs, expectations, and level of satisfaction. By gathering in-depth customer insights, companies can create a customer centric strategy that balances what the customer wants with the strategic objectives of the company. The Chief Customer Officer (CCO) is responsible for creating and implementing the customer-centric strategy, and he needs both line and process authority to optimize every touchpoint of the customer journey. Good storytelling, overcoming organizational silos, and establishing a strong customer-centric culture are also essential for the success of the CCO's job. Finally, creating a customer-centric culture is an ongoing process, and even companies with a customer-centric culture should still have a CCO to ensure that the voice of the customer is heard across the entire company.
assistant