**Customer centricity **is an approach to managing an organization in which all decisions and processes are aimed at meeting the needs of the customer. The central idea is that a company looks at its products and services through the eyes of the customer.
## What is customer centricity
With a customer-centric approach, a company goes beyond just providing services and forms long-term partnerships with customers. The main goal is to create maximum value for the customer and provide a high level of customer [experience]().
A customer-centric organization:
- researches and analyzes customer needs;
- creates products and services based on feedback;
- aligns all processes to simplify customer interaction;
- continuously measures satisfaction and improves service quality;
- develops a culture of customer care among employees;
Modern businesses take a customer-centric approach not only to external customers, but also to internal customers - expanding the concept to create a holistic environment where customer care becomes part of the corporate DNA. When employees receive quality service themselves, they better understand the value of a customer-centric approach and naturally transfer this experience to their interactions with external customers. This creates a positive cycle where internal and external customer centricity reinforce each other, creating a sustainable competitive advantage for the company.
## Principles of customer centricity
Companies develop two areas of customer centricity: external - focused on consumers of products and services, and internal - focused on employees and departments of the organization.
Internal client centricity is based on the service approach, where each department acts as a service provider for other departments. For example, the IT department provides services to other departments, the HR department serves employees, and the administrative service provides comfortable working conditions. To organize interaction between service providers and recipients, methodologies, practices and frameworks are used. For
example, the [ITIL]() methodology offers a set of principles for applying the service approach, which allow implementing customer-centricity in the internal direction:
- **unified service catalog** \- departments form clear descriptions of their services. For example, the IT department provides services for workplace customization, the HR department provides services for recruitment, and the accounting department provides services for travel arrangements;
- **Service Level Agreements (**[**SLA**]()**) -****service** providers and consumers agree on terms, quality and methods of interaction, agreements are fixed in measurable indicators;
SLA management in SimpleOne
- request**management** \- all requests are registered and processed according to agreed rules, employees can see the status of their requests and receive notifications of changes;
- **continuous improvement** \- service providers collect feedback, analyze performance and improve service processes, knowledge base is replenished with new solutions to typical problems;
- **transparent communication** \- all process participants follow common rules of interaction, employees have information about available services and how to obtain them.
The latest version of ITIL 4 focuses on the value that services create - it is the flow of value creation that should be the main goal of work on services. The methodology helps to align service processes around internal customers so that they better meet the needs of external customers. The result can be an increase in overall business performance.
## Benefits of a customer-centric approach
The benefits of implementing a customer-centric approach are noticeable in all areas of business - from internal processes to financial results. Everyone benefits: the company, employees and customers.
Thanks to internal client-centeredness, the quality of service can increase - loyal employees have a deeper understanding of clients' needs and solve their problems faster. Sophisticated work standards allow to provide the right solutions immediately, without repeated requests.
Costs are also reduced by automating routine operations, which frees up staff time for complex tasks. Satisfaction of internal customers grows - they can see the status of their requests and receive quick feedback from the departments providing services. The principles of client-centeredness applied to employees allow for the development of corporate culture. Barriers between departments disappear, as everyone works towards a common goal, and departments perceive each other as internal customers, which simplifies interaction.
The result of implementing a customer-centric approach is increased loyalty of all customers. Internal customers better serve external customers, ensuring long-term business success.
## Tools of the customer-centric model
Customer centricity requires modern automation tools that help standardize processes, speed up the processing of requests and improve the quality of service. The right tools not only simplify the work of employees and departments, but also create a positive user experience.
Among the technological components of the customer-centric model:
1. #### **Self-service portal**
One-stop portals allow employees to independently handle typical tasks, such as ordering certificates or making vacation arrangements. A knowledge base with clear instructions helps to quickly find answers to common questions: resetting a password, ordering equipment.
Service portal in SimpleOne
2. #### Value chain
Processes are built in such a way that each stage of work benefits the customer. For example, when processing an application for new equipment, all steps from approval to installation are aimed at solving the user's problem as quickly as possible.
3. #### **Virtual assistants**
Chatbots and virtual assistants process standard requests automatically. They instantly answer employee questions and refer complex requests to specialized specialists.
4. #### **Omnichannel call management system**
The modern customer-centric model implies a single service window for all types of requests. Employees can send requests through a convenient channel: self-service portal, e-mail, corporate messenger or telephone. All requests - questions, incidents, service requests - are entered into a single system and distributed among specialized departments.
![Клиентоцентричность 3.jpg]()
5. #### **Knowledge management**
A systematized knowledge base contains process descriptions, instructions and ready-made solutions to typical problems. The accumulated experience helps to process similar requests faster and train new employees.
Knowledge management in SimpleOne
## How to implement customer centricity
Implementing a customer-centric approach requires the organization of four core ITIL processes that form the foundation of the service model in a company. Service catalog management, call management, knowledge management, and improvement management are interrelated elements of a unified service system. Each process solves its own problems, but together they create an environment where employees receive quality support and the organization develops a culture of continuous improvement. Let's take a closer look at how these processes help build a customer-centered approach.
1. #### **Service Catalog Management**
The service catalog becomes a single point of entry for receiving services from all departments, it describes available services, conditions of their provision and quality requirements.
**What the process provides: **transparency of available services for employees, standardization of service processes, measurable indicators of service quality, service level control through SLA.
2. #### **Request management**
A unified system of request processing allows efficient routing and tracking of all employee requests - from simple questions to complex incidents.
**What the process provides:** quick resolution of user problems, control of request processing timeframes, transparency of request statuses, accumulation of a database of standard solutions.
3. #### **Knowledge management**
Knowledge base helps employees to independently solve typical issues and systematizes the organization's experience.
**What the process yields:** reduction in the number of repeated requests, quick search for ready solutions, preservation of the company's expertise, training of new employees.
4. #### **Improvement management**
Continuous analysis of feedback and quality metrics allows you to improve your service processes.
**What the process yields: **identifying problem areas in services, optimizing processes based on data, increasing customer satisfaction, developing a culture of continuous improvement.
All processes are interconnected and work as a single system. Their competent organization helps to create an environment where each employee receives quality service for solving work tasks.
## How to measure customer centricity
It is not enough to simply implement processes and tools - it is important to understand how much they help you achieve your goals. To do this, you need to regularly track a set of metrics that reflect the quality of service and customer satisfaction.
Among the metrics for assessing customer centricity:
- **satisfaction index (**[eNPS
]()**) -** surveys about the quality of services, analyzing the dynamics of evaluations in the context of departments and types of services;
- **speed of service** (response time to requests and timeframes for solving tasks);
- service**availability** (availability time of IT systems and services, number of failures and service interruptions, workload of specialists);
- **employee engagement **(activity of using the self-service portal, number of suggestions for process improvement).
## Summary
The customer-centric approach is the basis of modern organizational management, where all processes are aimed at satisfying customer needs. This approach is applied both to external customers of products and services and to internal customers - employees of the company.
Internal client-centeredness is based on the service approach, where each department acts as a service provider for other departments. To organize such interaction, methodologies like ITIL are used, offering specific tools: a unified service catalog, service level agreements (SLA), request and knowledge management, and continuous process improvement.
The implementation of a customer-centric model requires modern automation tools - self-service portals, omnichannel systems for managing requests, and knowledge bases. This allows standardizing processes, speeding up the processing of requests and improving the quality of service.
