# The value of customer-centricity to C-Suite financial strategy Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2022-07-06 Category: FINANCE Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance Meta Title: How CFOs Can Drive Profitable Growth through Meta Description: Discover how focusing on customer experience can turbocharge revenue growth and drive profitability in challenging economic times. Learn more! URL: https://financedigest.com/the-value-of-customer-centricity-to-c-suite-financial-strategyhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/istock-1323651764-1736815599096-compressed.jpg) _![Eduardo Crespo, SVP and GM UK&I, MEA, Medallia](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/212-1736815599121-compressed.jpg)_ _By **Eduardo Crespo,** SVP and GM UK&I, MEA,_ [_Medallia_](https://www.medallia.com/) During the current times of extreme economic turbulence, profitable growth is atop the finance agenda. CFOs seek to build businesses that deliver healthy profitable growth as investors and markets seek predictable revenue, consistent returns and healthy margins. Overcoming the pressures of inflation, geopolitical risk, tight labour markets and post-pandemic value chains is not possible by following the status quo. Rather, [businesses are winning by turning](https://www.financedigest.com/6-expert-tips-to-turn-your-photography-passion-into-a-business-2.html "6 Expert Tips to Turn Your Photography Passion into a Business") their attention to customers and employees. They are the most valuable assets to drive growth as they activate positive referrals. Now, more than ever, focusing on customer-centric initiatives that link to financial strategy will be the differentiator between winners and laggards. In fact, we are already seeing these [fault lines](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-crisis-radar-falls-on-fault-lines-in-europes-commercial-property.html "Analysis-Crisis radar falls on fault lines in Europe’s commercial property") emerge. [Medallia Institute found](https://www.medallia.com/resource/uncovering-the-secrets-behind-a-successful-cx-program/) that, over the past fiscal year, customer experience leaders were 26 times more likely than laggards to experience revenue growth of 20 percent or more. They were also 2.8 times more likely than laggards to meet [financial targets and be viewed as a great place to work](https://www.financedigest.com/turning-a-blind-eye-wont-work-for-financial-firms-as-the-fca-tightens-its-grip.html "TURNING A BLIND EYE WON’T WORK FOR FINANCIAL FIRMS AS THE FCA TIGHTENS ITS GRIP"). Here, we discuss how [finance departments and CFOs can unlock the potential of customer experience to turbocharge revenue growth and turn around profitability](https://www.financedigest.com/bootmaker-dr-martens-warns-on-profit-as-finance-chief-walks.html "Bootmaker Dr Martens warns on profit as finance chief walks"). 1. **Align finance strategy to customer-centricity programmes** The first step to ensure that healthy growth is met is to align the business to the customer. Sales, customer care and [delivery](https://www.financedigest.com/bahamas-regulator-holds-ftx-assets-pending-delivery-to-customers-creditors.html "Bahamas regulator holds FTX assets pending delivery to customers, creditors") touchpoints should be set up to deliver on customer needs. This requires making decisions beyond [financial engineering and working from customer](https://www.financedigest.com/disconnected-customers-are-one-of-the-biggest-problems-facing-financial-companies.html "Disconnected customers are one of the biggest problems facing financial companies") needs. This exercise must be led by the customer (outside-in) and not designed strictly from the business’s point of view (inside-out). Customer experience [leaders bring customer feedback into the operating rhythm of the finance](https://www.financedigest.com/g7-finance-leaders-pledge-financial-stability-supply-chain-diversity.html "G7 finance leaders pledge financial stability, supply chain diversity") department by incorporating customer insights into strategic planning. These organisations systematically collect and analyse customer feedback across journeys – from initial contact to end transactions via the company’s website, contact centre, [social media](https://www.financedigest.com/why-no-event-should-be-planned-without-a-social-media-strategy.html "Why No Event Should Be Planned Without a Social Media Strategy") or other channels. Later, this data is reviewed at the board level and integrated with [financial](https://www.financedigest.com/data-fake-will-be-the-new-real-in-financial-services-in-2023.html "Data: Fake will be the new real in financial services in 2023") data to reveal the bigger picture. Listening to the voice of the customer and acting on insights at the board level should give clear direction on a strategy that goes hand-in-hand with [driving profitable](https://www.financedigest.com/apples-weak-iphone-sales-drive-first-profit-miss-since-2016.html "Apple’s weak iPhone sales drive first profit miss since 2016") growth and earned revenue. 2. **[Drive customer focus with employees](https://www.financedigest.com/lufthansa-launches-drive-to-hire-20000-employees.html "Lufthansa launches drive to hire 20,000 employees") from the bottom-up** Setting a customer-centric strategy from the top-down will spark action from the bottom-up. By aligning the [finance organisation](https://www.financedigest.com/cyber-threats-for-finance-organisations-to-watch-in-2023.html "Cyber threats for finance organisations to watch in 2023") to customer priorities, employees can understand why it matters to act with customer-led values and start to think of the customer in everything they do. On the front lines, employees are best-placed to notice and understand the needs of the customers and collect information on behalf of the company. Business leaders should make sure they aggregate these insights and include the voice of the [employee](https://www.financedigest.com/why-investing-in-employee-health-can-be-good-for-business.html "Why investing in employee health can be good for business") in the evolution of a customer-centric business strategy. Leading organisations deploy these initiatives proactively and systematically, for example through weekly surveys, or ‘pulse checks’ of employees. Checking in with employees regularly creates an opportunity for continuous, ‘always-on’ analysis of both their needs and the needs of customers, helping the C-Suite set the financial agenda accordingly. 3. **Build profitability with the customer as the starting point** [Leading organisations review customer](https://www.financedigest.com/customer-engagement-whos-leading-the-way.html "Customer engagement – who’s leading the way?") data at the C-level on a monthly cadence at least, and the best feed customer data into their finance strategy. This allows the company to define where each Pound is best spent. Initiatives to stop the leaky bucket of attrition or churn? Initiatives to drive profitability and contain expenses? Initiatives to drive organic referral growth? [Finance leaders can leverage customer data as a compass to make decisions on investments across](https://www.financedigest.com/700000-employees-across-the-uk-have-access-to-fair-finance-will-reach-one-million-employees-in-2017.html "700,000 Employees Across The UK Have Access to Fair Finance, Will Reach One Million Employees in 2017") operations and map out early on how to contain operational expense, resource wastage or, on the flipside, unleash growth. For operational finance, customer feedback is remarkably [powerful for understanding the root causes of negative customer experiences](https://www.financedigest.com/app-based-insurance-cover-for-millennials-possessions-and-experiences-back-me-up-powered-by-ageas.html "APP-BASED INSURANCE COVER FOR MILLENNIALS’ POSSESSIONS AND EXPERIENCES: ‘BACK ME UP’, POWERED BY AGEAS"). Issues can be given specific impact scores, and so [finance teams](https://www.financedigest.com/what-skills-and-areas-of-knowledge-should-finance-teams-develop-during-2023.html "What Skills and Areas of Knowledge Should Finance Teams Develop During 2023? ") can gain an objective, auditable and measurable view of the cost or benefit of implementing new solutions that will eventually help as many customers as possible. For [innovation finance](https://www.financedigest.com/innovations-in-finance.html "Innovations in finance"), customer feedback can be used to drive micro-fixes that are piloted first and then implemented more widely to become macro-innovations across the company. This approach allows for control of CAPEX expenditure while testing with customers at each [stage to check that the solution is effective and adds value](https://www.financedigest.com/valuing-your-early-stage-startup.html "Valuing your Early Stage Startup"). This will inevitably drive root-cause issues down and, when done well, will prove particularly useful in understanding why issues are happening further upstream. For revenue finance, customer signals can be used to drive both organic [lead generation and referral growth](https://www.financedigest.com/liverpool-shines-as-one-of-uks-leading-ladies-for-house-price-growth.html "Liverpool shines as one of UK’s leading ladies for house price growth"), which in turn reduces reliance on advertising and acquisition costs. More advanced technologies can then be implemented in the right place at the right time in the business, for example, AI can be used to conduct cross-account or cross-segment profiling of customers, enabling the C-Suite to explore new avenues for customer-led growth. Another idea – once operational and financial data has been linked to customer data – is to use technology to increase loyalty among existing customers and capitalise on a [higher share](https://www.financedigest.com/asia-shares-creep-higher-wary-on-fed-and-boj-outlooks.html "Asia shares creep higher, wary on Fed and BOJ outlooks") of wallet. **Turbocharge revenue growth** Companies that focus on customer experience usually command a [higher market share](https://www.financedigest.com/european-shares-end-higher-on-china-recovery-optimism.html "European shares end higher on China recovery optimism") than their laggard peers. As we look at the [next frontiers](https://www.financedigest.com/the-next-frontier-of-payments.html "The next frontier of payments"), leaders will continue to thrive off of personalisation and experiences that are frictionless, relevant and real-time. Delivering on personalisation needn’t be expensive, though it does require [companies to put in place systems that enable both go-to-market and service operations to align and deliver on customer](https://www.financedigest.com/financial-companies-delivering-better-value-for-customers-in-loyalty-programmes-compared-to-other-sectors.html "Financial companies delivering better value for customers in loyalty programmes compared to other sectors") needs and preferences. Over time, these companies get to reduce customer acquisition and retention [costs as referrals and repeat business](https://www.financedigest.com/cutting-business-costs-pros-of-using-commercial-heat-pumps-in-2016.html "Cutting business costs: Pros of using commercial heat pumps in 2016") drive their growth. Improving the customer experience is never a static process. To face the complex global context, [finance leaders can build advantage by turning](https://www.financedigest.com/how-finance-leaders-can-turn-the-inflation-challenge-into-opportunity.html "How finance leaders can turn the inflation challenge into opportunity") their focus to customer data and bringing that into the business. Today, [CFOs can deploy technology that can help the business deliver profitable growth](https://www.financedigest.com/three-explanations-for-the-growth-of-the-fractional-cfo.html "Three Explanations for the Growth of the Fractional CFO"). Only by continuously analysing and feeding customer insights into financial [strategy can organisations ensure they run businesses](https://www.financedigest.com/2023-supply-chain-trends-for-businesses-to-ensure-a-more-efficient-supply-chain-strategy.html "2023 supply chain trends for businesses to ensure a more efficient supply chain strategy") that grow on the back of earned and not paid growth. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---