Perks & Examples of Customer Oriented Companies: Netflix, Slack & More

A customer-oriented approach would concentrate your company’s attention directly on the customer’s problems.

This strategy is advantageous for businesses because it is much more expensive to gain new customers than to keep existing ones.

In this blog post, we will look at:

The definition of customer orientation
The power of customer orientation
Excellent customer orientation examples

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Defining Customer Orientation

Customer orientation is a way of doing business that makes sure that your customers come first, before profit, before revenue, before shareholder interest, et al. The idea is to make sure that customers are happy, and trust that this customer happiness will eventually lead to business growth and success.

The process of establishing corporate goals and producing results is viewed from a completely different angle, thanks to customer orientation. It entails a shift away from outbound marketing strategies and toward sales-oriented business models. Companies create enduring customer connections by getting to know their customers and meeting their demands.

But is it worthwhile?

Make no mistake: putting the demands of the consumer ahead of business profits is never the case. Because of this, businesses that employ customer-oriented strategies avoid bankruptcy.

Customers who are happy with your company stay longer and spend more money with you, increasing your customer lifetime value and improving your bottom line. Therefore, your company’s needs are also met.

Stunning, no?

Higher customer involvement and customer satisfaction are additional advantages of listening to your customers.

You’re getting free marketing because people want to tell the world about the brands they love and identify with. Thanks to word-of-mouth marketing, customers now hold the reputation of brands in their hands, which has become more valuable than any other form of advertising.

The reviews we read online have all influenced our buying decisions.

Customer Orientation Adds New Weapons to Your Artillery

Customer orientation offers a plethora of benefits for both your business and your customers.

Here’s how:

The Empathy Shooter

Being empathetic means being able to comprehend the emotions of others, and customer service representatives require greater empathy than the normal individual. You’re not only interacting with people; you’re frequently conversing with irate and irritated individuals who lack much empathy for you.

It’s a very difficult job.

But being empathetic helps you understand the needs of your customers, which in turn, helps you engage and convert them. It’s a win-win situation.

Boost your customer success with the ultimate management strategies – dive into our in-depth guide today!

The Wormhole Generator

In the broader context of exercising open-mindedness, it is crucial to have a laser focus on the customer: Think of creative solutions to their difficulties, pay attention to them despite perceived critiques, and, with a broader understanding of the situation, use your company resources to ease their pain points.

When preparing for consumer demands, open-minded personnel are more likely to take all relevant factors into account.

They are also more likely to be supportive when receiving and acting upon customer feedback.

The Adaptive Gun

If you provide a service that is already provided by others, you may experience price gouging.

You might have discovered that the three local brick-and-mortar businesses are no longer your competitor, but rather 100 internet businesses eager to snag customers through digital marketing and loss-leader sales. Small firms must adapt to this problem if they want to remain competitive.

You’ll discover what makes your company or your strategy unique by speaking with clients who are already on board, and you could use that information for marketing. Alternatively, you can discover what you need to set yourself apart.

For example, before the end of the year, your customers might not be able to give you specific information about when to launch new services or what subscriptions they’ll want. However, if you initiate a conversation, they will frequently share their plans, difficulties, and concerns with you.

By interpreting the message behind the words, you can decide how you’ll react, how to serve others, and what might be missing from your solutions.

The Conflict Dissolver

Everybody wants to be understood, especially when speaking with customer service representatives.

Customers are prone to become more pushy and uncooperative when they don’t feel like you grasp their issue or worry.

Woman looking at mirror — *Source: Pexels*

In customer service, sincere apologies go a long way.

Apologize for the customer’s difficulty and aggravation, even if your business did nothing wrong. By posing questions, you demonstrate to the client that you are genuinely interested in finding a solution by wanting to completely comprehend the situation.

Customer care representatives can frequently pinpoint the source of a problem, eliminate potential causes and fixes, and offer a speedy solution that addresses the client’s issue by just asking questions.

Excellent Examples of Customer Orientation

Here’s a fantastic list of companies that have nailed the customer-oriented approach; it’s time we learned from the best.

Netflix

This widely used streaming platform gives a reason for all of us to hang out together, so it’s not surprising that they excel in customer orientation. With a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques, Netflix fulfills customer needs and cultivates fans.

They’ve employed this customer-oriented strategy over the years to:

Reduce shipping times by opening more distribution hubs.
Speak in a more user-friendly manner when creating their interface.
Improve the caliber of show and movie recommendations offered to patrons.

Of course, that focus on the client applies to customer service as well. Here’s an entertaining screenshot from a live chat.

REI

Here’s another example of a customer-oriented company. In a crowded market of outdoor equipment dealers, REI manages to stick out.

They were able to do this by learning more about their customers’ thoughts and motivations. The fact that REI shut all of its locations on Black Friday in 2015—one of the busiest and most lucrative days of the year—shows how well the company understands its customers. Why would they act in this way?

According to REI CEO Jerry Stritzke,

“We love great gear, but we are even more passionate about the experiences it unlocks.”

It turns out that REI’s customers are the same way. They strongly connected with the #OptOutside theme and the marketing that supported it. It currently draws millions of people each year.

Since the start of #OptOutside, REI has experienced a steady increase in membership and income. Not bad for an idea that most companies would regard as absurd.

Slack

This cloud-based communications business expanded quickly. Their organizational structure reflects their focus on the needs of the consumer.

Instead of studying everything about the product, their staff members specialize in particular aspects of it.

When users contact Slack with a technical query, the best customer care person in that area is immediately assigned to them, which helps improve the user experience.

The business constantly gathers customer input as part of its consumer-focused marketing strategy so that it can modify its product as necessary. The consumer-oriented approach of Slack fosters a creative and cooperative atmosphere.

Flexible teams are able to divide up the work and produce one-of-a-kind solutions that benefit customers.

The Point is …

It goes beyond merely attempting to increase customer value to be customer-oriented.

If you want customers who will stay with you even while your competitors are launching flash discount campaigns, you need to develop a loyal customer base that will do business with you often.

A customer-oriented approach is necessary if you want to reap the rewards of long-term customer relationships.

Just keep in mind that anyone, in any department, can be customer-focused.

Everyone has the power to influence multiple phases of your client experience, from marketing to legal to sales.

If you want to take your customer support experience to the next level, take a look at the award-winning CRM tool EngageBay!