20 Key Strategies for Building a Customer-Centric Culture

Committing to building a culture of unwavering customer centricity can effectively transform your business for the better.

From Fortune 500 companies to startups, companies that prioritize customer centricity stand out in the market. They understand that customers are more than just revenue sources—they are the foundation of business survival and expansion. A customer-centric culture places the customer at the heart of every decision, fostering trust, loyalty and long-term relationships. But how can businesses truly embed this philosophy into their culture?

Below, 20 Newsweek Expert Forum members explore the most effective strategies to cultivate a customer-centric culture within an organization and delve into the reasons why these approaches are vital for sustainable growth.

Engage With Customers Often and With Empathy

Humanize your brand and actively engage with customers online. Businesses should dedicate time and resources to responding to queries on sites like Yelp or Google reviews, thanking customers for positive feedback and offering solutions to unhappy consumers in an empathetic manner. This goes beyond social media, so make it a standard to care across all aspects of the customer experience. - Jacob Kupietzky, HCT Executive Interim Management & Consulting

Ask Yourself How This Will Improve the Customer Experience

The one question to ask, regardless of whether it has to do with product improvement, sales and marketing, HR, etc., has to be, "How will this improve our customer experience?" If the answer is "It won't," then move on. - Laura Kasbar, GemIIni Systems

Support and Acknowledge Customers With DRA

Deliberate Repetitive Actions (DRA) are how you positively support and acknowledge customers. They are also an effective way to build a culture of customer centricity because it becomes subconsciously natural to treat everyone we encounter this way, thus increasing morale, productivity and sales. - Raquel Olivier, The Olivier Incorporated

Collect and Share Customer Data in the Organization

Ensuring your team members receive and review customer feedback is critical to your organization's success. Even if the team does not have direct access to customers, data should be collected from customers and shared throughout the organization to assist with understanding what is working well and gain insight for where to make improvements. - LaKesha Womack, Womack Consulting Group

Involve Customers in Decision-Making Processes

One effective way is to involve customers in decision-making processes consistently. This can be achieved through regular customer feedback loops and embedding customer experience metrics in performance goals. It's effective because it aligns the company's actions with customer needs, driving satisfaction and loyalty, which in turn contribute to sustainable business growth. - Joseph DeWoody, Valor

Include Client Insights From the Beginning

Transforming business culture from customer service to customer-centric results in a multifold increase in business value. Customer-centric practices accelerate revenue generation and time-to-market by including end-user insights from the beginning to the end of the innovation lifecycle supported by cross-functional processes and policies with incentives that reinforce these effective practices. - Lillian Gregory, The 4D Unicorn

Lead by Example

One effective way is to lead by example. When leaders consistently prioritize customer needs and feedback, employees follow suit. This approach is effective because it fosters trust, empowers employees and demonstrates the value of customer-centricity that inspires a commitment to providing exceptional experiences. Consequently, customers feel valued and loyal, leading to increased satisfaction. - Bala Sathyanarayanan, GREIF Inc.

Remember Your Business Exists to Serve the Customer

Maintain a mantra of "the customer is always right." It is critical to the success of your organization to realize that your business exists solely based on your ability to serve the needs of the customer. If client-centric thinking is not central and core to your business, you will likely miss the mark on client expectations, referrals and repeat business. - Margie Kiesel, Avaneer Health

Collect and Act Upon Customer Feedback

Consistently collecting and acting upon customer feedback is a proven method for cultivating a customer-centric culture. This approach offers valuable insights, promotes empathy, encourages continuous improvement, strengthens customer engagement and loyalty and ultimately provides a competitive edge. - Alan Wozniak, Business Health Matters (BHM) Executive Consulting

Use Curiosity to Understand Customers

Be insatiably curious. Insatiably curious people know there is always something new to discover. And, as a result, they ask better questions that activate and access a beginner's mind. Knowing is the enemy of discovering—even when it comes to customers. No matter how many customers you've met, there's always something new to learn. - Karen Mangia, The Engineered Innovation Group

Hire Capable Team Members to Attract Clients

If we hire good people and our team members like their clients, they will do anything to please the clients. In other words, it is our responsibility to hire well and train those team members so that they can bring in good quality clients who they will enjoy working with. - Krisztina Veres, Veres Career Consulting

Use Employee Enablement to Drive a Customer-Centric Business

Customer centricity must be rooted in the baseline company culture rather than sprinkled on as an afterthought or alternative business target. This starts with driving employee enablement through the acquisition of essential skills to meet customers where they are. Teams must know the various customer personas, what value outcome matters most to each and how and where (e.g., email, chat, video, etc.) to communicate with them. - Sabina Pons, Growth Molecules

Use Active Listening Skills

Create a customer-centric culture through active listening. By genuinely understanding and acting on customer needs, businesses can adapt services, significantly boosting satisfaction and loyalty. Aligning operations with customer perspectives promotes proactive problem-solving, fosters innovation for future demands and drives long-term success, making active listening a highly impactful customer-centric strategy. - Joseph Soares, IBPROM Corp.

Center Customers in Your Business

Act upon and integrate customer feedback that is systematically reviewed. Leverage customer surveys, social media posts, customer service interactions, online reviews and direct client communication to put the customer's voice at the center of your business. Regularly listen to and act on feedback with visibility to all employees to show your employees how their work has impact and value. - Britton Bloch, Navy Federal

Create a Team Dedicated to Client Care

Have a team that is dedicated to all aspects of client care where communication and service are the first priorities. This will not only strengthen the loyalty of your customers, but you will come out the other end with stellar reviews that will bolster your authority within your industry. - Ryan Carroll, Wealth Assistants

Incorporate Customer Service Training at All Levels

One effective way to build a customer-centric culture is to empower employees to make customer-focused decisions. This can be achieved by incorporating customer service training into all levels of the organization, encouraging proactive communication with customers and recognizing employees who demonstrate outstanding customer service. - Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure

Keep Motivation and Energy on Your Team High

The culture within a team directly impacts the level of motivation and energy team members will transfer to their interactions with customers. Fueling a culture that values active listening and authentic collaboration prevents perpetual burnout and keeps the objectives at the forefront. A team that is lacking cohesion and passion will have to constantly dig deep when working with customers. - Leah Marone, Corporate Wellness Consultant

Encourage Employees to Understand the Client

Try to understand your customers. Encouraging employees to put themselves in the customers' shoes fosters a deeper understanding of their needs, challenges and desires. - Tammy Sons, Tn Nursery

Instruct Employees to Emulate the Customer Experience

Customer persona emulation is one way to enhance employee understanding of customer experiences, challenges and needs. By embodying the role of a customer for a day, employees gain firsthand knowledge that fosters genuine empathy within them. This approach goes beyond customer-centric training by instead focusing on creating an empathetic workforce that can generate innovative solutions. - Dr. Kira Graves, Kira Graves Consulting

Encourage Employees to Be Brand Advocates

Empower your employees to be brand advocates. They will then genuinely engage with customers and have the knowledge to deliver agile solutions. This can also help build a culture of empathy, which is a key aspect of creating effective feedback loops. - Gergo Vari, Lensa

Previously published on Newsweek.