Buyer centricity is more than a good marketing or sales tactic. Done impactfully, it’s a way of shaping a business—and it starts at the top.

 6 signs your business is a truly buyer-centric organization

• It’s inherent in your purpose. Buyer-centric businesses draw inspiration from their buyers, customers and users when they establish their purpose and mission. It’s the difference between the intent to solve a problem for your buyer and the intent to make the most sophisticated widget. The sophisticated widget might be part of making the solution possible, but the reason for the work is part of the culture.
• Leadership walks the talk. Having a buyer-centric purpose is a good start, but clearly communicating this vision from the top is critical. Leadership needs to focus on buyers by considering their needs and preferences when establishing company priorities, policies and actions.
• Your company invests in knowledge.  In order to understand your buyers, what they are motivated by and how you can best serve them, you need to invest in learning about them. This involves capturing the knowledge your staff have in the industry, mining the data in your CRM and marketing automation systems, and conducting first hand conversations with buyers for their feedback and input.
• Insights are applied. As buyer research has been conducted, the business engrains the insights and operationalizes the knowledge throughout the organization. Sales, service, marketing, production, etc. all understand what buyers need and are invested in meeting their needs.
• Teams are empowered to execute. A large part of executing buyer-centricity is aligning employee goals with buyer needs. For example, are salespeople incented to serve buyers’ needs, or compensated solely to hit other metrics?
• The business proactively listens and adapts. There’s a built-in process for validating insights over time to seek feedback and uncover changes to your buyer’s needs and perspectives.

A great way to evaluate your company’s level of buyer-centricity is to ask! A short survey completed by a sample of staff and buyers for feedback can be quite insightful and revealing.

Buyer-centric business are rewarded with customers who experience success through use of their product or service, become loyal and advocate for their brand. It’s a win for both buyers and the businesses who serve them.