Customer centricity is the new catchword for consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever (HUL), which is adopting innovative techniques to assess the needs and behaviours of customers and use it as a tool to drive sales growth.

Brands even though they want people to consume, they are focusing on building relationships with people. That’s what makes loyalty possible.

At Cognizant, we are looking for people, and we have people, who are deeply connected with the customers. And that has been a fundamental thing for Cognizant. Be very close to the customers.

Customer experience is bigger than customer service in that it is the full, end-to-end experience. It starts when you first hear about Amazon from a friend, and ends when you get the package in the mail and open it.

Just like the success mantra for real estate is ‘location, location, location’, the success mantra for a marketer is ‘customer, customer, customer’. Any marketing strategy, irrespective of the geography or time in which it is created, has to necessarily revolve around a sincere and deep rooted understanding of your customer.

Experience is what customers get from Service that precedes, accompanies and follows the consumption of products and services, over and above the core product. It is not new to learn that service defines experience, which leads to delight and loyalty. But what is imperative is to proactively discover that Customer Experience will (if it has not already) become the key, and perhaps only, differentiator in the future. Three forces drive this change in consumers: One, increasing parity on products and services; Two, increased fragmentation of customer segments; and Three, the growing importance and value attached to Experience by consumers. Even survival, not just growth and excellence, will depend on this key differentiator in future

“The biggest lesson we learnt (during 2009) was to stay close to the customer. There is a huge mindset change happening in the organization”

"They say most employees leave their bosses and not their organizations, which is nearly the same with customers. In an increasingly commoditized world, they leave because of bad service experiences!

I think great companies are those with a mix of being future ready today, will and have the ability to anticipate customer needs, speak the language of the customer, honestly engage and vow with brilliant service quality. Do it simple and do it right, you will command wallet share and never have to ask for it. Customers are and will increasingly get knowledgeable yet discerning. There is therefore just one way to be on top, be the best in the business – everyday"

Customers want & expect high-quality service ….. and are willing to spend more with those that deliver excellent service – suggesting substantial growth opportunities for businesses that get customer services right