Customer centricity is the key to success in 2019

In an era of unprecedented changes, customer centricity is the most important factor for businesses, according to the latest report.Vodafone has released its 2019 Global Trends Report, highlighting customer centricity, ethics and purpose as key business priorities for the next 12 months. It allows better understanding of customer needs and challenges and to offer expert insights into how businesses can embrace key trends to their advantage. According to the research, 85% of business leaders agreed that the needs of customers are changing rapidly, while 93% believed that customer expectations are increasing. Businesses need to take a people-centric approach to get ahead of changing customer needs in a market that is being reshaped by technology, and do so at speed.The report finds commercial success is tied to purpose, ethics and trust. 93% of businesses agreed that they are expected to act ethically by customers, and 92% had this expectation of their own suppliers. Meanwhile, 83% of respondents believed that act ethically generates more revenue eventually. And 55% of business leaders indicated that retaining the trust of customers is a concern for their business.With companies going toe-to-toe with price points and new offerings, they need to seek differentiation in new areas and manage perceptions of their organisations carefully, the report suggests. In line with the findings of the report, Vodafone has refreshed its enterprise division brand – now called Vodafone Business,. marking the company’s renewed focus on putting customers and tangible business outcomes at its core, working with any organisation of any size.“Placing people at the heart of business is the trend we truly identify with and is core to Vodafone Business, running through all of our products and services, from technologies such as IoT and SD-WAN through to our approach to relationships with customers,” Brian Humphries, CEO of Vodafone Business, said.“Customer centricity is a concept that has stood the test of time. When we began to explore the idea of our brand refresh, reaching out to our customers from the home office to the boardroom, each was worried about the same thing: digital transformation,” Iris Meijer, director of marketing of Vodafone Business, explained. She added: “We have known for some time that our customers want a partner to join them on their digital journey, a partner they can trust. We are already very proud to fulfil that role, and as Vodafone Business we now have a refreshed brand to represent that partnership.”