The article discusses the practice of customer centricity starting with customer lifetime value (CLV), as well as the challenges facing Japanese companies, based on the content of the book "Customer Centricity" and the views of Professor Fader.
Professor Peter Fader, a globally recognised authority, is introduced as the author. The article explains that customer centricity means focusing on the "right customers" based on CLV, starting with the differences among individual customers rather than taking the traditional product-centric approach.
The book points out that companies confuse customer service with customer centricity and shares the view that product-centricity will cease to work as times change. It argues that companies should choose whether they are product-centric or customer-centric, and pursue long-term investment and internal transformation.
The spread of customer centricity among Japanese companies and the difficulties of implementing it are discussed. Preparation, long-term organisational transformation and a review of measurement methods are considered essential. The article stresses the need to recognise customer diversity, ensure that everyone follows the same overall policy, and foster a culture that allows for differences in the perspectives of individual departments.
The book presents the idea of extending the concept beyond customer equity to customer-based corporate valuation (CBCV), and emphasises the proposal that financial and capital-structure perspectives should be incorporated. Concerns about excessive CRM and DX investment, the risks of relying on AI, and the careful measurement of cost-effectiveness are identified as particularly important for Japanese companies.
The importance of investing in customers such as fans and attendees is discussed through examples involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Phillies. The article concludes that customer data and analytics can transform an organisation, but that the culture should be built first.