More companies are getting serious about becoming customer centric today than ever before. These companies see changes and trends that will make becoming customer centric vital for their continued growth. What trends are causing this movement to a customer centric model?
如今，越来越多的公司比以往任何时候都更重视以客户为中心。这些公司意识到以客户为中心对他们的持续增长至关重要。是什么原因导致以客户为中心的模式转变呢?
First, the rise of e-commerce has undoubtedly changed the relationship between businesses and their customers. The ease with which individuals and businesses can place and track orders has been a game changer. Many companies have had to redesign their supply chains to support online sales. More importantly, customers have grown to expect lower prices, more personalization in products and services, and faster deliveries—all expectations resulting from the success of e-commerce.
首先，电子商务的兴起无疑改变了企业与客户之间的关系。个人向企业下单和跟踪订单的便利性改变了游戏规则。许多公司不得不重新设计他们的供应链以支持在线销售。更重要的是，顾客已经开始期望更低的价格、更个性化的产品和服务以及更快的交付——所有这些期望都源于电子商务的成功。
Second, customer complaints about the difficulty of contacting companies have increased. Customers complain about long wait times, slow response times, inflexible and rigid policies, getting stuck in an automated customer service system, or being passed from agent to agent to find someone to answer their questions. Some customers find they must complain on social media platforms before getting any response from the supplier.
其次，顾客对联系商家困难的抱怨有所增加。客户抱怨等待时间长、响应时间慢、政策不灵活和僵化、囿于自动化客户服务系统中，或者从一个代理转到另一个代理来寻找回答他们问题的人。一些顾客发现，他们必须在社交媒体平台上投诉，才能得到供应商的任何回应。
Customers are also becoming more vocal about wanting the products and services they buy and the companies they buy from to practice sustainable and ethical business practices. For example, a few years ago, customers began objecting to shoe and clothing manufacturers using third-world suppliers that do not treat their employees humanely. Many of those companies changed their supplier base to improve their ethical purchasing practices. Some companies are becoming more sustainable by designing the reverse supply chain to encourage customers to return end-of-life products for proper disposal.
消费者也越来越直言不讳地要求他们购买的产品和服务以及生产商实践可持续和道德的商业实践。例如，几年前，客户开始反对鞋类和服装制造商使用不善待员工的第三世界供应商。其中许多公司改变了他们的供应商基础，以改善他们的道德采购实践。一些公司通过设计逆向供应链，鼓励客户将报废产品退回妥善处理，从而变得更加可持续。
Third, competition for many goods and services has notably increased as the market expanded from regional to national to global. Global markets can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, a global market opens up the possibility of many new customers; on the other, it also opens the market up to more competitors.
第三，随着市场从区域扩展到全国再到全球，许多商品和服务的竞争明显加剧。全球市场可能是一把双刃剑。一方面，全球市场开辟了更多新客户的可能性;另一方面，它也为更多的竞争者打开了市场。
In a crowded marketplace how do companies stand out？
在拥挤的市场中，公司如何脱颖而出？
There was a time when companies could compete based on product or service quality, but now companies have to have excellent quality just to be considered; quality is no longer a differentiator; it is a customer expectation. Listening to the voice of the customer and responding to it is an excellent way to stand out from the competition and build loyal customers. And that is how customer centric organizations compete.
曾经有一段时间，公司可以根据产品或服务质量进行竞争，但现在公司必须拥有卓越的质量才会被考虑。质量不再是差异化因素，而是客户的期望。倾听客户之声并做出回应是在竞争中脱颖而出并建立客户忠诚的好方法。这就是“以客户为中心”的竞争方式。