In the Medtech business as in many other businesses, there is a trend to move from a product-centric to a customer-centric way of doing business.
Many companies are realizing that customer-centricity provides a competitive advantage, which is difficult to achieve and hard to copy.
I’ve already touched on the topic of customer centricity here and here; In this short post, I will explore the following:
- The origin of the customer centric paradigm
- What it means to be a customer centric company
- Why it is important in the medical device sector
Origin Of Customer Centricity
The concept of customer centricity and its benefits have been discussed for more than 60 years in the academia and business community.
Already in 1960, in the famous article “Marketing Myopia” published in Harvard Business Review, Theodore Levitt suggested that: “businesses will do better in the end if they concentrate on meeting customers’ needs rather than on selling products”.
It appears glaring that, if after so many years the discussion about customer-centricity is still so popular it means that companies require more than just good products, service, and CRM tools to become customer centric.
In fact, Customer centricity seems to me to be easier to affirm than to build!
What is customer-centric?
Customer-centric is a business strategy where the company puts the customer at the center and at the core of its business to build long-term relationships by means of satisfying customer needs better.
By putting the customer at the core of its business and holistically focusing the attention on customer needs, the company can even anticipate customer needs and deliver better experiences. At the same time, the company should find a balance between what its business requires and what customers need, aligning the interests of both sides to best effect. This delicate balance enables the company to healthily, sustainably, and properly grow and develop its business.
The essence of customer centricity lies not in how to sell products but in the way to create value for the customer while creating value for the company. Customer centricity involves the development of a well-designed business model creating dual value.
Why Do MedTech Companies Need To Become More Customer Centric?
There are many reasons to move from being a product centric organization to a customer centric organization. Basically, business literature supports the benefit of this move, providing evidence that profitability is greater for customer centric organizations.
Moreover, trends are reinforcing the need for medical device companies to make this transformation: increasing competition, the need to improve marketing and sales productivity, increasing market heterogenicity, demanding and product-savvy customers, increased regulatory complexity, accelerating advances in technology, and broadening of stakeholders.
Conclusion
The pathway towards becoming a truly customer-centric company is complex and it can be very long. Thankfully, the changes required to the organizational structure, policies, and processes can produce significant benefits for both the company and the customer.
Being a customer-centric organization will unlock the true potential of customer value. The guiding principle of customer centricity is putting yourself in the shoes of the customer to minimize customer effort and maximize customer value.
Are you working in a truly customer-centric organization? Share your thoughts in the section below and if you like the content of this blog don’t forget to subscribe for more updates.