Customers nowadays can usually choose from a range of different offerings. They compare prices, do research on the Internet, and seek out their favored sellers themselves. As we all know, in order for a business to set itself apart in that process, and inspire the customer with enthusiasm for the company and its products and solutions, it is crucial to focus consistently on the customer with credibility, trustworthiness and respect, delivering positive experiences right from the start. From the first click on the website, to a phone call with the Service department, or a personal dialog, the key element of the Customer Centricity corporate vision is to be aware of all relevant touchpoints with the customer, and to utilize them in achieving the most positive customer experience possible.

Customer centricity is key to the customer experience
In order to offer customers the best possible experience, the top priority should therefore be to know their wishes and needs precisely. Only an established customer-centric business approach can exploit the close link between customer centricity and customer experience. After all, the one leads to the other, enabling close engagement with the customer, and ideally creating a sustainable win-win relationship that brings lasting benefits for both parties.

Looking from the customer's perspective
Of course, businesses also have to make sure they don’t miss out on opportunities that arise. To optimize customer-related processes, it is helpful to change perspective and analyze the touchpoints from the customer's viewpoint. Every single experience the customer engages in with the business has to be analyzed and continually improved – by in-house staff calling the company's own service hotline, subscribing to its newsletter, ensuring that everything on the website is user-friendly, and simulating consultations.

Trustful relationships only viable with CRM/XRM
CRM/XRM solutions support the effective and precise recording of customers’ needs and wishes. They, of course also help to build and maintain trustful relationships with customers, enabling ongoing processes to be optimized and adapted to the needs of the customer. And, ideally, they offer protection and security for sensitive customer data based on technological innovation, certification procedures, and voluntary commitments based on quality marks such as ‘Software Made and Hosted in Germany’.

Customer Experience shapes the future
The best digital infrastructure can only deliver its full benefit and optimize added value if Customer Centricity is implemented as a holistic corporate vision, and the company's employees adopt a correspondingly positive mindset. Only in that way can products and services be successfully developed in line with customer expectations. Constantly analyzing the own business and its processes, being willing always to look at things from the perspective of customers, and adapting the corporate vision in a consistently customer-centric way are decisive milestones on the way to great customer experience which customers reward with trust and loyalty even in critical situations.

Only on that basis can customers become fans, and employees engage enthusiastically in building the business – after all, it always takes at least two to succeed in life! Our accelerated digital world offers so many opportunities for people to connect, and use state-of-the-art communication tools to reach out to one another – despite, or indeed because of, the constant change and new possibilities of digitalization. And it's that insight that makes the difference – especially in terms of customer experience.

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