Fostering a Customer-Centric Culture

Anyone who is customer facing should be building close, authentic, long lasting relationships with their customers. It pays off in more ways than you can imagine: repeat customers, references, community champions, content ideas, competitive intel and so much more. Here are 5 ways you and your team can start building those relationships: 1. Amplify a customer’s LinkedIn posts - When your customer posts something interesting, don’t just like it yourself but share the link on your internal chat and ask your team to like it as well. It’s amazing how powerful this is. It’s human nature to look at who is liking your content on any social platform and most people get a consistent number of likes. If you drive 50% more for a customer they will notice that. 2. Help find candidates for their team and jobs for them if they’re looking - In your position engaging with a specific persona all day every day you have amazing visibility and connections into relevant candidates for open jobs and companies hiring. If you let your customers know that you can be a resource for them on both sides of the table you will see how quickly you can start playing matchmaker. 3. Share best practices that have nothing to do with your company/product - Everyone is looking to improve in their job. Everyone wants to know what their peers are doing at other companies. When you hear good ideas from other customers or read about a best practice, send it to them. Just show them you’re thinking about them and are invested in them being successful. 4. Make them look good in front of their manager and/or team - It needs to be authentic and relevant but find a reason to give your customer a shoutout when you’re in a meeting with them. It doesn’t even need to be a big thing but something about how they’re the fastest to roll out your product, how their feature request ended up becoming a game changer for a bunch of customers, how they’re the most productive team you’ve seen at one particular thing. 5. Fight for a feature/bug fix/service that they’re asking for - In short, be the squeaky wheel for your customer. When they ask for something, set the expectation that it takes a while to get that thing done but then go fight for it internally. Each company has their own process for this kind of stuff but if you push in the right ways you can usually get their request prioritized. When it’s done make sure the customer knows you fought for them to get that thing done. The best thing is that these are “free”. Of course they will take time and energy but the return on this work is astronomical. I honestly didn’t appreciate the power of these relationships when I started my career but I now have close relationships with so many customers that I’ve worked with over the years. They’re a sounding board for business ideas, they’re working with companies I’m advising and we’ve become each other cheerleaders. What did I miss? What else are you doing to build relationships with your customers?

As the Head of Customer at Lattice, I recently kicked off Customer Office Hours, and let me tell you, if you’re a CS leader and you’re not doing this, you’re missing out! The concept isn’t new to me; I’ve introduced it at almost every organization I’ve worked at, but each time, I’m reminded of just how impactful these sessions can be. Here’s why: ✨ Get in front of your customers! There’s no substitute for real, unfiltered conversations. These sessions allow me to hear directly from our customers...the good, the not-so-good, and everything in between. ✨ Foster learning and community. Customers get to connect with one another, share their experiences, and pick up tips and best practices they might not have thought of. It’s incredible to watch lightbulb moments happen when they hear each others stories. ✨ Show your authenticity. I’m here because I care, and I love what I do. I want to hear your challenges and successes, and I want to help. Whether something isn’t meeting your expectations or is exceeding them, I want to know. ✨ Drive real action. These conversations don’t just stop at feedback...they influence how we prioritize, improve, and innovate. What better way to ensure you’re aligned with what your customers need? ✨ Celebrate wins together. It’s not just about solving problems; it’s about recognizing and celebrating when we’re genuinely making a difference for our customers. Customer Office Hours are about more than just listening. They are about building trust, driving value, and creating a true sense of partnership. To my fellow CS leaders: If you don’t have these in place, I strongly encourage you to start. The insights you’ll gain and the relationships you’ll build will make it one of the most valuable hours on your calendar. Let’s keep putting our customers at the center of everything we do. 💛 #CustomerSuccess #Leadership #Community

Zomato faced a big problem: How can we turn app browsers into loyal customers? The goal was clear, improve the user experience with personalized restaurant suggestions. But there were a few challenges too: 🔴 Understanding user preferences from massive data. 🔴 Combining multiple data sources for meaningful insights. 🔴 Developing accurate recommendation algorithms. 🔴 Processing data in real time to keep users engaged. 🔴 Building trust in the recommendations to ensure they felt helpful, not intrusive. To tackle this, Zomato used a structured approach: 🟢 Data Collection and Cleaning - They collected user behavior data (searches, clicks, abandoned carts). - They analyzed restaurant details (cuisine types, delivery times, ratings). - Past orders were also analyzed for trends. 🟢 User Segmentation - Users were grouped based on age, location, past orders, and browsing habits. - This helped them identify patterns and preferences. 🟢 Developing the Recommendation System - Combined collaborative filtering (what others like you prefer) and content-based filtering (what matches your past orders). - Fine-tuned algorithms with ongoing testing for better accuracy. 🟢 Implementation and Testing - They rolled out the recommendations and tested them through A/B experiments. - Adjusted based on user feedback and data performance. 🟢 Continuous Improvement - Introduced feedback loops for real-time adjustments. - Regular updates ensured the system stayed relevant to evolving user needs. And, the impact was impressive: ⬆️ 35% more time spent on the app by users receiving personalized suggestions. ⬆️ 28% higher click-through rates, showing better engagement. ⬆️ 22% increase in orders per user per month due to tailored suggestions. ⬆️ 18% boost in retention rates, turning occasional users into loyal customers. ⬆️ 12% higher average order value, leading to revenue growth. ⬆️ 15% jump in monthly revenue, proving personalization works! I see this as the perfect example of using data to deepen customer relationships. It's not just about the tech—it’s about understanding people and making their experience smoother and more personal. 📊 Data is the secret to building trust and loyalty. What do you think? Can other industries learn from Zomato’s success? How can personalization improve your industry? #zomato #deepindergoyal

Let’s clear something up: Customer Experience is not a department. And it’s not interchangeable with Customer Support. Support is a function. Necessary, but reactive by desgin. It steps in when something breaks. Customer Experience is something else entirely. It's a strategy. And when embedded into the core of the business, it becomes a growth engine. -It drives retention. - It scales advocacy. - It strengthens lifetime value. - It builds trust. - It creates a moat-like differentiation. Yet, too many companies still treat CX as a downstream department, when it should be the operating system of the business. Support resolves issues. 👉 CX designs journeys that prevent them. Support reduces friction. 👉 CX designs seamless paths from the start. Support is cost. 👉 CX drives profit. The real shift isn’t about where CX reports. It’s about how deeply it integrates into the business model to create long-term value. Customer Experience isn’t a team. It’s a culture. It’s a system. It’s a multiplier across product, brand, operations, and revenue. Where CX lives, the business doesn’t just respond. It blooms. #CamilaFerreira #Leadership #CX #LimitLess

Building a business around customers is harder than most companies make it out to be. Many claim to be customer focused, but few start with it as the foundation. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. I have been reflecting on this after observing Groww. Few companies I have seen actually start with understanding their users, and their approach to building products around real customer needs felt worth sharing. 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞. Before launching, Lalit Keshre and his co-founders who came from a tech-consumer based company- Flipkart. Did not have a finance backdrop, but understood customers. They spent a full year listening to potential users through WhatsApp groups, Quora, and surveys in multiplexes. They realised that financial services were being sold to people, not bought by them, and that most investors did not have the right information to make decisions. Every product choice that followed came from these insights. 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐰’𝐬 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲: *Their big break was in 2018, when they changed the game by offering only direct mutual funds at zero commissions. Zero commission became a big thing in the industry. *Within three years of their start they launched stock trading with no account opening fees, and now it has emerged as the largest broker in the country. Overall, they’ve been making trading accessible and easy. * One of their initiatives ‘Inside Groww’ invites customers to meet and interact with different teams of Groww directly in their office * Weekly ‘Groww ProdX’  sessions involve 500 plus employees for testing new product flows with real users to identify glitches and improve the tech in real time These bottom-up practices built trust. Today, Groww handles one in four new SIPs in India, has over 13 million active users, and more than 83% of new customers come through word of mouth. Growth did not come from marketing tricks, it came from solving real problems. 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐰’𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: in a crowded market, the ultimate competitive advantage isn't a feature, but a foundational customer obsession. They have understood that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Growing a business requires a significant amount of strategic focus on acquiring new customers. Rolling out new products, expanding our target audience, and partnering with category-adjacent businesses are all critical strategies for scaling. However, an over emphasis on acquisition can often lead to losing sight of nurturing the people who've already chosen us. What's been on my mind lately is the real cost of falling into the "good enough" trap. While you're busy chasing new customers, another organization is working just as hard to win over yours. When complacency sets in, they're prepared to parachute in, make your customers feel like a priority, and communicate exactly what they can deliver to make them consider switching. Especially when consumers are increasingly price-conscious, scaling and growing your business isn't just an acquisition game. It's fundamentally about continually creating new ways to deliver value to your current customers. Here are some of my go-to approaches to deepen that connection and value with your existing audience: Predict and Reward: You have incredible data on what your customers do and want. Use it to stay one step ahead and deliver something that genuinely surprises them in the best way. Think proactive delight, not just reactive service. Build a Real Community: People crave belonging. They love being part of a group where they feel seen, heard, and valued. Whether it’s online spaces or in-person meetups, create a place where your customers can truly connect, share, and feel like they belong. That builds incredible stickiness. Go Above and Beyond: I had a shipping issue with a company recently, and they didn’t just fix it, they kept me updated every step of the way, apologized sincerely, and even provided extra products. It turned a momentary problem into a powerful moment of real trust and appreciation. We need to look at current customers differently. Instead of just viewing them as consistent buyers, we should see them as amplifiers, invaluable feedback providers, and crucial testers. They are often your strongest allies in scaling and growing your business because, when nurtured, they will grow with you.

Employees often miss what #CX is about, so I have an ice-breaker activity I've used at the beginning of #CustomerExperience workshops. Now, I offer this idea to you: At first, this will seem obvious and perhaps unhelpful, but stick with me, please. The activity is to have small groups spend 10 minutes discussing what drove their satisfaction and dissatisfaction with recent air travel. No, the outcomes will not be surprising—but that hides a really important point that will shake up participants' expectations and attitudes. Of course, everyone says the same things in this exercise. "I was satisfied because we arrived on time." "The snacks were better than expected." "The seats were surprisingly comfortable." "The flight attendants were attentive and pleasant." And, on the other side, "I was dissatisfied by delays." "Communications about flight changes were poor." "The seat was cramped and awkward." "The staff was grumpy and indifferent." I'll spend a few minutes collecting the drivers of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Everyone will nod in agreement. And then comes the point of this exercise: Absolutely no one will say that a driver of satisfaction was that the airline flew them six miles in the air and delivered them to their destination safely. In other words, the CORE experience--and the most important priority of any airline--drives virtually nothing in terms of customer relationships. Getting there safely is expected, not a driver of satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. That's the "aha." Whether you're talking to a group of healthcare workers who think their only essential function is reducing mortality and morbidity or a room of telecom execs who feel everything hinges only on uptime, the message is that it's not what we do but how we do it that drives differentiation, satisfaction, and loyalty. We all can become so focused on the delivery of our primary product or service--or achieving the chief KPIs--that we can neglect to understand the experience from the customer's perspective. Forcing people to consider their own experiences and perceptions as customers helps them to perceive that air travelers landing safely (or patients having successful surgeries, or your phone service working) isn't what drives differentiated CX and outstanding loyalty. Don't get me wrong—you can't miss the table stakes. An airline isn't forgiven for lax safety because it has fresh nuts, nor is a telecom company pardoned for unreliable service thanks to rapid call answer times. But delivering table stakes is not what drives the kind of rabid loyalty, sales, and margin enjoyed by brands with differentiated CX. Ensuring people realize this before introducing them to customer-centric concepts and practices opens their minds to new possibilities within their existing job roles.

Branding debacles aren't about bad marketing. They are about bad leadership. When companies roll out redesigns that customers reject, the issue isn't the creative team. It is the leaders who fail to understand their customers. Customer centricity isn't just a buzzword they teach you in business school. It is foundational to effective leadership in business. Every decision – big and small – should start with the customer and end with the customer. Leaders who skip that step are setting themselves up to fail. Great leaders are in touch with their customers and their values at a visceral level. They understand that a brand refresh should feel like an evolution, not a replacement. Customers are willing to embrace change when it strengthens the bond they already have, not when it erases it. Ultimately, brand failures are leadership failures. A brand isn't a design project; it's a promise to customers. If you break that promise, no marketing campaign can save you. A brand is only as strong as the leader who gets its customers.

Biggest risk is CX skill-gap to rise above risks. -- You can master the hurdles! See key points ⬇️ -- ⚡Solve at https://lnkd.in/gnas-cBc 1) 🙃 If Senior leaders and Board members don't have actionable CX data for their responsibilities, whose fault is that? They're not magically 🪄 customer-centric. Make this a foremost priority for your CXM Team. 2) 💰 If your CXM Team is disempowered, find creative ways to show roles of any type how they rely on customers for their budgets, salaries, hiring, profit-sharing, and growth. 3) 🪞 If your background is customer-facing (CS/Marketing/Sales), skill-up in internal influence capabilities. Outside-in thinking and doing can only happen as you drive it. 4) 🧠 If your track record is execution of tactics, build your strategic acumen. Learn to think and speak like senior leaders -- and just as important -- think and speak like each department across your firm. How else can they buy-in and engage? 5) 💵💶💷💴 Make it easy for every role to make big gains -- instead of your team trying to impress via quick wins. Every role causes good or bad CX, so help them own it. It's easier than you think. It's not adding something to their plate. It's adjusting what they're already doing. 6) 🧮 Metrics are crucial. But generally, everyone's doing it wrong. Start focusing reviews and rewards on what people are doing 🛠️ to close gaps, and how customers are faring better. This is your COO's nirvana and Marketing gold -- as valuable or more valuable than recommendations. 7) ✨Remember CXM is immature -- it's not yet taught to MBAs, not discussed by Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, etc. (except in my 24 university courses taught, customer segmentation was Classes 1 and 2 regardless of where the customer chapter was in the textbook -- a must!) CXM is still mercenary or reactionary, stimulated by survival quest from global financial crisis and pandemic. Hence, it's unrealistic to expect mature circumstances in CXM hiring and jobs. 💡 No worries! Mature CXM is not about circumstances, budget, or time. CXM maturity is all about your aim. Any firm can be at top-tier in 2025-2026. How do I know? When I was a young VoC Manager in a global 22,000-employee firm, in a fast-paced volatile market, we did this in our 1st 18 months starting CXM. The biggest myths are definitions of CXM itself, CXM value, CXM maturity. Let's turn this around. 💎 The world needs more CXM Leaders tackling all the hurdles . . . . not more consultants propogating what they did until hurdles killed corporate progress. 💎 It's my quest to make it as easy and affordable as possible for your entire team to master these hurdles. Clear. Action. ClearAction. ⬇️ Add your questions below or DM me: Lynn Hunsaker, CCXP #CustomerExperience

The loudest voice in the room? The empty chair 🪑 Every meeting should have one. It symbolizes the customer: unseen but always top of mind. A simple, powerful reminder to think like a customer, always. Bringing that mindset to Accor inspired our first ever #CustomerDay. A moment for everyone to step into our customers’ shoes by listening to guests, frontline teams, owners, and leaders from customer-obsessed brands. Here are a few things I am taking with me: 💬 Listening is underrated and under practiced Guests don’t expect perfection. Neither do our hotel owners. What they really want is to feel seen, understood, and remembered. That starts with listening, not with a policy, or a process. 🌟 Small details can make a difference A welcome note. A room change before the guest asks. A favorite coffee remembered. The magic isn’t in grand gestures, it’s in the tiny moments that say: we care. 🤝 Customer trust isn’t built in meetings but in moment of need Like one of our owners said: “A strong partner is someone who doesn’t disappear when the guest is angry, or the elevator is stuck and who will pick up the phone even if it is 2AM on a Sunday.” 🧠 A good experience for our teams = a better experience for our guests The people on the front line don’t just deliver service, they carry emotions, solve problems, and represent our values, all day long. If we take care of them, they will take care of everyone else. 💡 You need to be intentional Being customer-centric does not happen by accident. It is a goal to pursue actively by creating the mechanisms to put customer first, always. To everyone who shared stories that day, thank you for the honesty, the laughs, and the inspiration. To those who made this day possible, thank you too! The empty chair isn’t just symbolic. It’s a mindset. And at Accor, it’s here to stay. 🙌 #CustomerFirst #CustomerCentricity #CustomerExperience