Alain Thys

Customer-centricity starts by listening to the customer. But in many organisations it seems that the further you get away from the customer (research) department, the less people actually listen.

As companies strive to improve their customer experience, the desire to do more than satisfy customers is becoming increasingly important. 

But at the same time it is remarkable how few companies have a programme in place to capture the profits of turning someone into a brand advocate. This is an expensive oversight. It leaves companies with the investment for improving their customers’ experiences. But they miss out on the (financial) returns this generates.

In many companies, customer-centric change starts as a moral debate.

"Customer-centricity will be good for us", someone says. "Customers should be at the heart of everything we do" a PowerPoint or off-site speech echoes.

My life seems to evolve in lustra. 25 years ago, I met the girl who’d become my lovely wife. 20 years ago I discovered my love for storytelling. 15 years ago I left traditional corporate life. 10 years ago Futurelab was born. 5 years ago, the company decided to focus 100% on customer-centricity. And today, it’s time for a next chapter.

2015 is the year in which Futurelab grows up to declare its ambition of wanting to become Europe’s premier service provider in the field of customer-centricity.
Companies across Europe increasingly realise that a customer-centric approach is a great path to sustainable growth and profits. We want to be there to make it happen. Not with academic concepts or complex process maps, yet with pragmatic “roll-up-your-sleeves” services, tools and advice.

By now you probably got the memo that the population in Europe is growing older. That the opening of borders is causing people to migrate. That consumers are using the internet and their mobile phones to make sure they get the best deal possible.

Last week I met with the head of CX of a company which I can only describe as a "highly evolved species" in the area of customer experience.  In fact, if I'd tell you their name you'd consider them as one of the world's leaders in the game.

As we were discussing a project I was doing with their international leadership team, NPS came up as a topic of conversation.  At this point, I was kindly but firmly recommended "not to mention that word in our company".

February 28, I had the opportunity of being the closing speaker at the FutuRetail conference which took place at the brand new Google headquarters in London.  The day was filled with a host of interesting speakers.   But having been challenged by the organisers to close the day on a truly "thought provoking" topic, I ventured into a thought experiment on the impact of 3D printing on the retail industry.

In 1999, I attempted to launch a content production venture called Transmedia Productions. Its vision was to develop and market narratives, which would span various media (yes even internet!). It also aimed to somehow engage audiences in “co”-telling the story.

In the build-up to his presentation at the Marketing 360 conference in Bucharest, SMARK - Romania’s leading community for marketing professionals - interviewed my colleague and business partner Stefan Kolle on the topics of NPS, customer experience and advocacy.

As the interview contains some interesting points which you might not be able to pick up from the Romanian edition, we thought we’d reprint the Q&A with the journalist: