Many organizations strive to be customer-centric, but according to Lego’s marketing director, while most marketers promise to place the client at the center of decision making, many fall short.
Mark Blackburn, who spoke at the Festival of Marketing’s Fast Forward event last week, feels that the way a brand engages with its customers is “a clear reflection of the way your organization is organized,” particularly the “marketing team.”
“I’m very sure you can discover some substantial hurdles to real client centricity if you look about how your firm is organized from a marketing perspective,” he remarked last week at The Festival of Marketing: Fast Forward.
Blackburn used his own experience working at an insurance firm to show how, despite claiming to be customer-centric, the organization failed to heed to client requests to buy directly from the brand. Despite “overwhelming” client requests for direct purchases from the brand, he alleged, the company was set up in such a way that sales would “veto” decisions.
“It safeguarded the 150,000 agents who sell insurance on the streets or through banks and other intermediaries,” Blackburn explained.
“As a result, other, more agile competitors were able to shift faster to the direct online sales model, thus disintermediating the entire sector. Leading to a long-term loss of earnings, market share, and share price for this particular brand. Would this business currently call itself customer-centric? It most certainly would.” Blackburn also cautioned businesses that the people who work for them are just as vital as – if not more important than – the processes and technology they use to build brand value and revenues.
“People, procedure, and technology are three commonly accepted components for success. You achieve success when you put them all together and find the sweet spot. But don’t forget that process is created by individuals. What’s more, guess what? Technology is also created by people.
To be truly customer-centric, Blackburn advised businesses to make sure their workforce “reflects society” by encouraging diversity and inclusion. According to McKinsey research, a more gender-inclusive workforce can enhance earnings by up to 21% before interest and taxes, while a more ethnically diverse team can boost earnings by up to 33%.
“What I’ve said today is that, at the end of the day, it’s all about people,” she says. “I know it’s a cliche, but it’s worth repeating every now and then,” Blackburn added.
