Customer centricity has ceased to be a strategic option and has become a critical performance factor. Empirical evidence accumulated over the past decade consistently demonstrates that customer-oriented organizations grow more, are more profitable, and are more resilient in times of crisis, regardless of their size or sector of activity.
International studies indicate that companies leading in customer experience optimization grow, on average, between 1.5 and 2 times faster than their direct competitors. Brain and Company has shown that an increase of just 5% in customer retention can translate into a profitable increase between 25% and 95%, depending on the sector. In parallel, Forrester reveals that companies with high levels of customer satisfaction reduction in acquisition costs, structurally improving the ratio between customer lifetime value and commercial investment.
Practical examples are illustrative. Amazon built its global leadership on the basis of a declared obsession with the customer, systematically reinvesting profits in convenience, speed, and personalization, repeatedly postponing dividend distribution. In contrast, Sears maintained processes centered on internal efficiency, losing more than 80% of its value and ultimately filing for bankruptcy. Customer centricity was decisive for the sustained growth of one and the destruction of value of the other.
In the aviation sector, airlines that focused exclusively on cost optimization while neglecting the passenger experience saw their
market share stagnate or decline compared to operators that aligned efficiency with customer focus. Boeing today is a clear example of loss of customer focus. In the case of the 737 MAX, decisions driven by cost and speed prevailed over safety and transparency toward airlines and pilots. The result was the global grounding of the fleet, 346 deaths, losses exceeding 20 billion dollars, and total estimated costs above 30 billion dollars. During the same period, Airbus came to hold more than 60% of new orders, demonstrating a significant loss of market share for Boeing.
Companies that are truly customer-oriented design processes based on the end-to-end journey, eliminate friction, and align operational metrics with indicators of satisfaction, retention, and economic value. People play a decisive role here: empowered employees, with autonomy to solve problems, generate higher levels of satisfaction and significantly reduce churn.
These performance differences originate largely in the way processes and people are designed and managed. Organizations with low customer focus tend to optimize internal silos, create a corporate culture, and manage rigid, complex processes disconnected from the real experience. By contrast, companies that are truly customer-oriented design processes based on the end-to-end journey, eliminate friction, and align operational metrics with indicators of satisfaction, retention, and economic value. People play a decisive role here: empowered employees, with autonomy to solve problems, generate higher levels of satisfaction and significantly reduce churn.
In the public sector, the logic is similar, although results are expressed in terms of trust, efficiency, and legitimacy. International experiences show that citizen centered public services can reduce administrative costs by between 20% and 40%, while simultaneously increasing satisfaction levels and adoption of digital services. Simplification, clarity, and user orientation cease to be soft factors and become criteria of good governance.
Artificial intelligence emerges as a catalyst for this transformation. Through the analysis of large volumes of data, AI makes it possible to identify behavioral patterns, anticipate needs, and personalize interactions at scale. Organizations that use AI in service and experience management contexts report productivity gains above 30% and measurable improvements in satisfaction indices. It is important, however, to emphasize that technology only creates value when integrated into a genuinely customer centered culture, combined with exemplary human performance whenever required.
In summary, customer centricity has ceased to be a management ‘topic’ and has become a criterion of strategic survival. Ignoring it translates, sooner or later, into loss of market share, destruction of value, and erosion of trust. Embracing it as a structuring principle means aligning data, processes, and people to create real value, and that is what increasingly distinguishes organizations that endure from those that lead.