Through Their Eyes

Featured in Pause + Reflect

How we see things defines how we behave. So what perspective guides you and your team? Let’s take a moment to pause and reflect.

  • We saw this cartoon on Twitter the other day and it made us laugh out loud.
  • It’s funny because it’s true. Customer-centricity is easy to nod along with in theory. But, in reality, marketing is often more oriented to the needs of the company (traffic, leads, sales).
  • Recent research by the CMO Council bears this out: “Only 14 percent of marketers say that customer centricity is a hallmark of their companies, and only 11 percent believe their customers would agree with that characterization.” Ouch.
  • Of course, true customer-centricity is bigger than marketing. As Lego CMO Julia Goldin points out: “If you really want to have a consumer-orientated organisation, it can’t be delegated just to marketing. It has to sit across many functions.”
  • True customer-centricity is a byproduct of culture. And achieving it likely requires changing and shaping that culture in a very intentional way.
  • Denise Lee Yohn has some solid tips for making this change happen. Our favourite cuts right to the heart of the matter: “Tie compensation to the customer”.
  • Yohn aslo talks about “democratizing customer insights”. Sharing them widely instead of hoarding them in marketing. Reminds us of this nugget of wisdom from Farnham Street’s Shane Parrish.
  • Deep culture change is, of course, a daunting thing. Rather than taking a big bite of this apple right away, think about starting small. Why not share those customer personas with other departments today? Who knows where a small little shift in perspective could lead?
Issue #106
Nov 1, 2020

Further Reading