The push and pull for market share is highly competitive and companies who want to thrive are searching for strategies to give them an edge. Smart businesses are focusing on client centricity; creating the best experience for customers and clients. This approach puts the client/customer at the centre of a business’s operations.
The client-centricity edge lies within the business and the approach to decision making, product creation, customer service, and delivery of products and services. This edge is a proven and repeatable methodology that can be used to achieve big results and expand market share called design thinking. Design thinking is a human-centric approach to innovation, cemented in a deep understanding of consumers’ needs.
Typically design thinking is linked to behemoth businesses like Google and Apple but this approach can be used for any sized business wanting to improve their customer’s experience. It is a process but if you want to create raving fans, start with emotion.
It is about the feels
Implementing design thinking starts with empathy. If you do not understand the opportunity or problem you are trying to solve, how can you find the solution? This starts with putting aside assumptions and preconceived perceptions; hurdles that hinder growth and expansion. Get to know your customers/ clients to better connect with them. Take the time to engage and understand their motivations and desired experience with you, as a foundation for everything else.
Finding the solution
Design thinking was originally developed for physical product designs, but service-based businesses can use this approach to design innovative and industry-disruptive solutions for clients just as well. Understanding the problem is key. In our industry, in real estate, it was the common stereotype of property managers being too transactional, reactive, and slack. We set out to tackle this head-on and developed a strategic, proactive, and value-added service that would blow our clients away because they couldn’t help but know how deeply we understand and care for them.
Client-centricity: the be all and end all
Using design thinking, we reverse-engineered how we attract, engage and retain our clients. Using client-centric values as the foundation, we identified property investors’ needs and wants, clearly articulated our client promise to them, and mapped out an investor journey, with all critical touchpoints, so we could improve processes, digital and automation tools, and our team’s capabilities, as well as develop new value-add services and products, and revamp our marketing and communications accordingly.
Stepping stone to innovation
Innovation doesn’t have to be a groundbreaking new app or platform; it just needs to solve a client or customer’s problem and stand out from the crowd. When you solve people’s problems and make life easier for them, they can’t help but love you.
As a design-led business, you develop a reputation for putting your customers first. And when customers become your vocal advocates and do the PR for you, that is good business. The solutions you build, based on your deep understanding of your customers, their goals, behaviours and motivations is the special sauce for businesses who want to thrive and grow.
