In today's competitive business landscape, the concept of customer centricity has become a buzzword. Companies worldwide are striving to be more customer-centric, believing it to be the key to success. But, is there a common misunderstanding when it comes to what customer centricity truly means?
The Common Misconception:
I have seen this time and time again in both mature businesses as well as start-ups. There exists a prevalent misconception - they believe that being customer-centric translates to fulfilling every customer request, no matter how unique or specific it may be. It's as if the customer's wish is their command. While the intention is noble, this misconception often leads to a series of operational challenges.
The Problems of meeting every demand:
Imagine a scenario where a company bends and adapts its processes to cater to each customer's individual request. While it may seem like the epitome of customer-centricity, it can lead to a host of problems. Considering all possible scenarios in every process step can result in operational inefficiencies and skyrocketing costs.
For instance, ca company offers a vast range of product customizations to cater to every client's unique needs. While this may delight customers initially, it can lead to a tangled web of production processes, inventory management, and supply chain logistics. What was intended to be a customer-centric approach now hampers operational excellence.
Operational Excellence vs. Customer Centricity:
Operational excellence, a cornerstone of many successful businesses, requires processes to be streamlined, harmonized, and automated. However, when a company commits to bending over backward for each customer request, these processes can quickly become compromised. The conflict between the two - operational excellence and an overly customer-centric approach - becomes apparent.
Constantly adapting and customizing processes to meet unique customer demands can hinder automation and standardization. The more intricate and personalized the processes, the harder it becomes to implement automation and streamline operations. Employees are left grappling with a maze of exceptions rather than following well-defined processes.
Customer centricity is a cornerstone to any business success, but it is not your role as an organization to delivery everything and anything. Keep you customers and employees happy as well as your P&L healthy with a solid strategy and a great operating model.