Strategy
– and make execution significantly easier.
Serious work with customer centricity requires a strategic foundation, and a strategy for customers and customer loyalty should always be built on a solid base of insight and knowledge. At Loyalty Group, we have spent decades ensuring robust data foundations while also setting a clear and purposeful course towards winning customer preference.
When you succeed in achieving customer loyalty, the impact is clearly reflected on both the top and bottom line – as well as in employee satisfaction.
The path to this point, however, is far from straightforward, and many companies find that developing a strong customer strategy requires rethinking a great deal of their existing approach.
First and foremost, a customer strategy must take its point of departure in – yes – the customer. It is the customer’s needs and expectations that must be prioritised, while the company’s internal agendas and, not least, its organisational setup may need to take a step back.
Another crucial point when it comes to customer strategies is that they must reach all the way to the top – understood in more than one sense. Ideally, the customer strategy should serve as the overarching business strategy, and it must be firmly anchored in top management. Our experience is unequivocal: this is where the strongest results are achieved.
Customers first
In many organisations, customers are treated as a sub‑element of other strategies – perhaps a chapter in the marketing strategy or a side note in an otherwise polished business strategy. At Loyalty Group, we turn that approach on its head. Customers bring the revenue, and therefore they should come first.
This may sound like semantics, but there is a substantial difference between subordinating the marketing strategy to the customer strategy – and the other way around. By aligning sales and marketing strategies under the customer strategy, you ensure that your efforts consistently stay focused on what matters most: winning customer preference and supporting strong customer relationships.
A serious customer loyalty strategy starts at the top – and is ideally anchored with the CEO personally. It is crucial that the customer strategy is visible and carries real weight. Customer strategies often play a key role in challenging organisational silos.
Siloed organisations are, in most cases, toxic to customer relationships, as they stand in the way of a seamless cross functional customer experience. Customers who are met with a “not my department” attitude are completely indifferent to how your organisation is structured or which department they are dealing with. They simply want their expectations met – and that is entirely understandable.
We have extensive experience in establishing strong data foundations, developing strategies, challenging organisational structures, and crucially following up on initiatives.
Use us when you are ready to put a serious customer strategy in place.
What is a customer strategy?
A customer strategy is, quite simply, about the value and experiences your customers should have when doing business with you in the period ahead.
This is, of course, a significant simplification. A customer strategy will typically include:
- Objectives – the desired value and experiences outlined above
- Prioritisation – what matters most to reach those objectives
- Action plans and role allocation – who does what, and when
- Customer promises – the strategy should ideally translate into concrete promises, often communicated explicitly to customers
What your specific objectives, priorities, and other elements should contain depends entirely on your company and your ambitions. We are happy to help align aspirations with reality.
Good advice for your customer strategy
No two customer strategies are alike, but there are nevertheless some universal recommendations that apply to most of the strategies we have helped bring to life. These include:
- Collect the right data. Your strategy should be based on a solid foundation of insight. Before you even begin, you should conduct thorough research. Establish a baseline measurement so you understand the current state of your customer relationships – and how they improve as your strategy is implemented. Surveys and qualitative customer interviews are also effective tools for mapping customer needs and expectations.
- Allocate the right resources.
Building strong customer relationships is not cost‑free, and a customer loyalty strategy will often include initiatives that require both financial and human resources. However, the business case is strong, and the investment typically pays off within a reasonable timeframe. - Be prepared for change.
Few organisations are truly customer‑centric when they begin working on a customer strategy. You should expect changes to both organisational structures and ways of working. Breaking down silos can create turbulence, so be prepared to work actively with leadership and change management. - Communicate clearly internally.
To succeed with customer centricity, the entire organisation must be on board—especially customer‑facing functions. The strategy must be brought to life and communicated clearly so everyone understands the objectives and, crucially, the value behind them. A few posters in the hallway are not enough. - Motivate – and train – your employees.
While the strategy may originate at the top, it is executed on the ground. Employees must therefore be engaged and understand why customer centricity matters—and why their role is essential. Train your people, make the goals clear guiding principles, and give them the freedom to deliver authentic customer experiences. - Follow up.
It is essential to monitor initiatives – and to refine them where it makes sense. This requires a systematic approach and strong data discipline. Just as the strategy should not be based on gut feeling, neither should the evaluation of results. Track hard metrics such as revenue, churn rate, NPS, and customer lifetime value, and supplement them with softer surveys and customer interviews.
This is easier said than done, and we are happy to share the insights gained from decades of experience in this field. Here you can see the working process we have developed and refined over the years.
Ready for an ambitious customer strategy?
With more than three decades of experience in customer centricity, we are ready to help you move forward.
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