Want to Create Greater Customer Centricity? Start with Customer Language. (Part 2)

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In part one of this blog post, we explored how the language of marketing and business pervades our work lives and discourages the customer centricity our organizations seek. For example, at work, we use language like "content" and "engagement," but at home, have you ever said "I saw some good content on Netflix last night" or "I had some terrific Facebook engagement today"? By subtly changing our language from what customers want and need to what brands do, we alter the way we think and the decisions we make.

This isn't merely a matter of style. Language matters. Studies demonstrate that the words we use do more than just describe a problem; they shape our perception of reality, influence the solutions we consider, and rewire our brain for different cognitive abilities. Corporate talk leads to corporate think and corporate actions.

So, how do you start to transition your language from brand to customer, and what benefits might that bring? Try adopting a structured format for stating your business and marketing strategies from the customer's perspective using customer terminology.

As an exercise, let's say you're a marketer at a financial service provider tasked with promoting a new 529 college savings plan, and your approach will be to use an educational content strategy. Your plan might be summarized as this: "To offer educational content that engages new parents, teaching them about the high cost of their children's future college education and promoting the benefits of initiating savings early in their child's life, with the goal of producing more inbound traffic to our new 529 page and more leads for our financial advisors."

Now, try to phrase that with customer language from the customer perspective. You may find it difficult, and that's the whole idea. If you cannot frame your business or marketing concept in a way that makes sense from the customer perspective, that is a concerning omen. To help, here is a format you might follow to put yourselves in the shoes of the customer:

• I,
• A customer with these needs, wants, and motivations,
• In this specific situation,
• Who has this relationship with the brand,
• Will interact with the brand for this reason,
• Resulting in this benefit.

This approach forces you to think like a customer in some key ways, and it also suggests the level of customer understanding you'll need. Without the right data and insight, you may be able to write a nice piece of fiction, but you must base your strategy on something more than what you imagine or hope. Step by step, this format cuts through the fog created by business and marketing lingo and forces a true customer-centric perspective.

To see how this approach changes our hypothetical 529 plan and consider the impact this customer-centric approach will have on our metrics and success, please continue reading on my Gartner blog.