SMG Blog

How customer obsession helps insights-driven brands outpace the competition

Published on Sep 08, 2023

<span id="hs_cos_wrapper_name" class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_text" style="" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="text" >How customer obsession helps insights-driven brands outpace the competition</span>

Navigating the business landscape is like steering a ship through a perfect storm. Surrounded by disruptive technologies and shifting consumer trends, the ride can get a little rocky. However, despite the chaos and uncertainty, the customer obsession stays constant for effective brands.

But what exactly is customer obsession? How does a brand move from just meeting customer needs to being deeply attuned to their experiences? It isn't about just keeping your customers satisfied—it's about being so committed to their needs that their experiences shape your every decision.

Think of it as moving your customers from the sidelines to the heart of your business operations. It's an insatiable curiosity to know more about your customers’ habits, preferences, and challenges. It's understanding their journey so well that you can predict their needs and ensure quality with every brand interaction. When done well, it’s nothing short of amazing.

The founding principle of customer obsession

To be customer-obsessed, you must first strive to be an insights-driven business. Transitioning to this level of customer-centricity is not easy. It calls for an internal shift in how things are done—a transformation from the leadership level down to your frontline employees.

We're talking about a culture where every business decision, every strategy, every innovation is guided by one question: How does this benefit our customers?

Slipping into your customers’ shoes and seeing the world through their eyes doesn't just create warm, fuzzy feelings; it drives business success. An intimate understanding of your customers means you make smarter decisions, your innovations are more likely to hit the mark, and you build strong, lasting relationships that propel business growth.

What about the impact? Numbers don't lie.

We’ve obsessed about obsession long enough. Let's dive into the hard numbers here. Research shows that insights-driven businesses reap a plethora of benefits from higher revenue growth to more engaged employees. Look at these stats:

  • Revenue growth: a staggering 27% of companies that are insights-driven reported revenue growth of 10% or more in the most recent fiscal year. Compare that to only 14% at non-insights-driven companies.

  • Employee engagement: 59% reported year-over-year increases in employee engagement compared to 33% in non-insights-driven enterprises.
    • Bonus tip: Employee engagement is essential because companies with engaged employees provide better customer experiences. For example, this blog on employee and CX or this one on frontline employees.

      According to Forbes, "companies with healthy cultures are 1.5 times more likely to report revenue growth over 15%."

  • Customer retention: Insights-driven businesses outpace others here as well. Around 30% of insights-driven companies reported a 10% or more year-over-year increase in customer retention rates, compared to just 21% from non-insights-driven companies.

Transition to an insights-driven model with SMG’s help

Impressive stats, right? But how do youget there? How can businesses shift from a traditional model to a more insights-driven approach? This is where SMG shines. As a forerunner in partnering with clients to uncover CX insights—not just data—our primary goal is to streamline the process of driving impactful actions within organizations to create obsessed customers and stronger financial performance.

Think of SMG as the GPS for your customer experience journey. Our unique fusion of software and a hand-in-hand partnership helps you navigate the maze of data, spotlight critical insights, and turn these revelations into actions that deliver tangible results. These insights help you learn more about your customers to start you on the path to healthy obsession. To us, it's not just about knowing what the issue is; it's about knowing what to do about it.

Embrace the power of being insights-driven

Most CX providers focus on delivering data within a software as a service model. With SMG’s partnership-driven software with a service (SwaS) model, you’re not just investing in a platform, but in a partner dedicated to your growth. You're stepping into a world where insights guide every decision, every action has a purpose, and every outcome is a step closer to your company’s success.

Our comprehensive toolkit provides a suite of resources to transform brands into truly insights-driven entities. We don't just hand you a fishing rod; we teach you how to get the big fish to come to you. Our approach to business operation refines decision-making processes, heightens the customer experience, and, ultimately, propels business growth. SMG replaces guesswork with a strategy anchored in data-driven insights.

The journey begins here

In the race to business excellence, it's not about how much data you have–it's about the insights you uncover from it. In the grand scheme, customer obsession isn't an optional extra. It's the secret sauce to winning in the modern business world. So, take the plunge. Get obsessed with your customers. You'll thank us later.

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