Fashion, Trends, Evolution and Customers Management

Is it possible that fashion, trends, and evolution can be related to Customer Management?

The answer is easy - Yes.

They are all interconnected concepts that are closely related to each other.

Fashion refers to the prevailing style or custom that is popular at a particular time and place. It is a cultural and social phenomenon that is constantly changing and evolving. The slogan “The customer is always right” is a good example for such customer management fashion which was popularized by retailers back in the 1970’s. You could see many brands used it until it disappeared. Another example is “Customer satisfaction guaranteed” from the 1980’s.

Some fashions gain popularity at a particular time. A new fashion will become a Trend. This will stay for longer time and can last for several years. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, the Customer’s satisfaction started as a fashion slogan and became to a trend that almost every large company projected to the market: "We're not satisfied until you are," and "Customer satisfaction guaranteed” were the trends that led the customer market relationships.

Some fashions and trends disappeared as they were relevant to specific time and location. However, some of them impact the way companies handle their clients and change the customer relationship concept for good… This is called Evolution. In other words: Evolution is the gradual development and change of fashion and trends over time adapting to changing business cultural, social management and economic circumstances. It can be influenced by technological advancements, such as the invention of new materials and production techniques.

Having said that, you might ask yourself, what are the latest trends in Customer Management that might be part of the client relationship evolution?

I believe that the items in the following list will become the next step in the relationship evolution. It will be interesting to evaluate those items 5, 10, 20 years from now and check what trends are here to stay and what is (was) a passing fashion.

Customer and Service Interaction:

Transitioning from reactive to proactive relationships. Don’t wait for the customer to call you; be a step ahead and work with him. Improve his knowledge by emphasizing customer education and enabling customers to effectively use a product or service, and the benefits of using your product. Foster an emotional connection with customers to drive loyalty and advocacy.

Intra Knowledge Base (KB) Management and Intra Collaboration:

Cultivating the knowledge of the Customer Facing experts and the organization on the product and the market. This would entail developing knowledge handling processes and improving the cross-functional collaboration. This can be done by building stronger intra partnerships between different groups in the firm (such as customer success, sales, marketing, and other departments). These intra relationships can demonstrate a strong and professional company that performs as a world class orchestra.

Data Driven Initiative

Increase in the use of CDP systems (Customer Data Platform) and Data-driven insights utilizing data and analytics to gain a deeper understanding of customer behaviour and preferences. The outcome of the data analysis is used to customize the customer experience based on their unique needs and preferences.

Companies increase the use of AI and automation to improve customer interactions and support. This is known as Actionable Insight - the results of a customer’s data analysis that can be acted upon to drive business success in the perspective of customer management. By using data to identify key opportunities and make informed decisions, businesses optimize their operations, improve customer satisfaction, and drive growth. As example we can talk about processing customer’s feedbacks based on different services and product use. This can point out areas of improvement that can take the firm ahead.

Business Perspective:

- Outcome-based metrics: Focusing on measuring the business outcomes that customers achieve, rather than solely tracking customer satisfaction.

- Customer retention and expansion: Making customer retention and expansion a top priority, rather than just acquiring new customers.

From my perspective, the evolution of customer relationship management can be summarized as, be one step ahead of your customer. If you use the above point, your journey to make your clients satisfied will be much easier.

Or as was distilled by Steve Jobs into one sentence: