Customer-centric resolutions to jump-start your new year

As we head into the new year, we’d like to share with you some of our favorite ways in which you can better meet the needs of your customers. Here are 12 customer-centric methods to improve your customers’ experience, that will also create more value for your company.

I resolve to offer our customers a more relevant experience.

More than half of companies say personalization is a top priority, but far fewer can show measurable business value. See how you can beat the odds with a personalization strategy that is scalable, repeatable and measurable.

I resolve to make decisions that are informed by all kinds of customer input.

Customer experience (CX) pros struggle to measure digital CX. Without effective measurement efforts, however, they’re sure to create substandard digital experiences for customers. To succeed at digital measurement, CX pros must overcome hurdles like siloed metrics, complicated root causes, and organizational failures to act on measurement insights.

I resolve to figure out what customer data is advising me to do.

No matter your field, you’re working hard to acquire new customers, and concurrently, you’re under-serving existing ones. Success requires a long-term commitment to crafting digital experiences that enable you to capture, analyze and act on customer data.

I resolve to purposefully craft a better employee experience.

Simpler workplaces engender more advocacy, innovation, and retention. Brand champions understand what their companies stand for and are committed to their success. Achieving simplicity requires strict discipline to evaluate organizational processes, structures, and communications.

I resolve to be the champion for the customer in my company.

Changing your company’s culture to be customer-obsessed is hard. Where do you even start? Here are five of our favorite activities that you can roll out at your organization to empower employees and jump-start a more customer-centric culture.

I resolve to look outside my industry for CX inspiration.

Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook all help set customers’ expectations for CX because they hold a prominent place in people’s daily lives. CX professionals need to understand what those expectations are and how to use the tools these tech giants provide to meet them.

I resolve to coach others in my company on design-thinking processes.

We all believe in creating fantastic experiences grounded in customer needs. But let’s face it—not all companies or leaders start from the same place. Our job is not only to create great experiences, but also to transform the mindset of our partners and our skeptics. How can we apply design principles of collaboration and experimentation to organizational change? Learn to infuse design thinking into every level of an organization.

I resolve to co-create at least one experience with my customers this year.

Co-creation is not a customer advisory board on steroids or a clever sales and marketing tactic. It’s about jointly creating value for both the business and its customers.

I resolve to rival Amazon’s claim of being “earth’s most customer-centric company.”

Amazon makes the bold statement that they are “Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company,” and this kind of vision, this kind of North Star, is clearly what drives day-to-day decisions at every level of the company. The massive technology ecosystem they’ve put in place enables that vision.

I resolve to think outside in.

What simple innovation brought billions in new investments to Fidelity? What basic misunderstanding was preventing Office Depot from achieving its growth potential? What surprising insights helped the Mayo Clinic better serve both doctors and patients? The solution in each case was a focus on customer experience, the most powerful—and misunderstood—element of corporate strategy today.

I resolve to use empathetic design to solve problems for my customers.

Whether by actually, being a customer, or extensively researching customers, the more you understand a customer’s pain points, the better you can solve their problems.

I resolve to become a company that is loved.

Digital has fundamentally changed the relationship between people and brands, but it hasn’t changed human nature. We like to be valued. We like to be recognized. And we love to be surprised. In fact, research shows that our brain responds even more intensely to a pleasant experience when it’s unexpected.

For more insight into how to improve your customers’ experience, download 10 Key Customer Experience Principles.