Do you know the difference between these two marketing terms?
What are they doing in the industrial sector?
The difference between a "product-centric" and "customer-centric" approach lies in the strategic orientation of the company:
In the first approach, known as "product-centric," the company will emphasize the features and benefits of the product itself. In this approach, the company focuses on creating a high-quality product that meets customer needs.
In the second approach, however, the customer-centric logic seeks first to understand the needs and desires of customers in order to offer them a solution that addresses their issues. This is a more comprehensive value proposition than a simple functional response .
This approach is particularly interesting to develop in industry: it is an excellent way to discover new sources of growth, but also to differentiate yourself significantly from the competition... A French Fab webinar addresses these topics in detail:
The limitations of the product-centric approach
As a manufacturer, you are already committed to a product-centric approach: you highlight your products, their features, and their unique characteristics . This approach is very important, because you are offering products (or services) that are often highly technical. It is therefore essential to explain their specific features in order to convince and sell.
Our idea is not to say that you should put the product aside, but by focusing solely on this aspect, you lose sight of the most important aspect of the sale: the client's challenges.
It is important to remember that when offering a highly technical product or service, you are dealing with a person who has very specific issues and needs. You therefore need to be able to analyze these in order to offer a comprehensive solution with greater added value.
This is where you can leverage all your expertise. In a product-centric approach, you ultimately ask the customer to do this exercise: compare industrial compressor X with industrial compressor Y, based solely on technical data.
However, the supplier's track record, production methods, associated services, capacity for innovation, implementation of retrofit initiatives, etc. are all factors that should be highlighted. In fact, it is likely to be one of these factors, rather than the product itself, that will tip the balance one way or the other for the customer.
The benefits of being customer-centric
Being customer-centric means placing the customer at the center of all company decisions. This involves understanding their needs and expectations and striving to meet them proactively.
Building your strategy around customer analysis has many advantages, particularly in the industrial sector:
First, you need to change your perspective: the goal is not to talk about your product's features, as you already know, but rather about the benefits it will bring to future customers. Today's B2B customers are increasingly demanding. They need to understand immediately what your product will bring them in terms of benefits and impact on their business. They probably no longer doubt the quality of your product, which you have defended well so far, but are clearly looking for ways in which it will be indispensable to them or in which your expertise in the field is more legitimate/credible than that of other suppliers.
Putting yourself in the customer's shoes can also help you rework your offering. For example, you may realize that your product has a much higher perceived value than you imagined. By putting yourself in the customer's shoes, you will understand how they perceive your product or service, which can help you increase profitability by positioning yourself as a solution provider for your B2B customer.
By observing your product on the market and in front of customers, you can also draw conclusions that can help you develop your business, for example:
Your product offers many benefits for your customers, but it is being misused in the field: To get back on track, you can offer training courses, develop your after-sales service, and build post-purchase support for your customers.- Your product isn't selling: thanks to this approach, you will realize that it is probably not suited to the targeted market segment, and you can review your business model.
- Your product is being used to meet needs you hadn't anticipated: this observation could be a real opportunity to develop new market segments, for example.
In general, being customer-centric can help you improve your financial performance, differentiate yourself from the competition, and deliver a superior customer experience, while taking into account changes, customer perception, and your product's positioning in the market.
Our advice for getting started with your customer-centric approach as a manufacturer
To put your customer at the heart of your challenges, you will need to follow a few important rules, which will of course need to be adapted to your current context:
👨🏻💻 Involve your sales representatives: the first step, and not the least important, will be to change tack, giving less power to engineers and involving the sales and marketing departments of your industrial company more. Ultimately, they are the ones with the best knowledge of the field and the customers...
🎯 Survey those most affected (customers): it is essential to survey the field using qualitative measures such as interviews, for example, or quantitative studies using surveys or barometers aimed at your customers, but also, and above all, your lost prospects!
🤝 Involve the customer in a co-construction process: particularly when you want to test a new product or service, it is very beneficial to involve the customer by offering them a phase of what could be called beta testing. Thisapproach is doubly beneficial: the customer feels involved and you can test the product in their environment.
🧐 Questioning the customer: to remain customer-centric, you need to be committed to continuous improvement, taking into account changes and new challenges facing customers (such as the energy crisis or the component crisis, which are having a major impact on industrial companies). This will enable you to adapt and offer solutions that meet their needs.
And you, have you already implemented this customer-centric concept?
