Or: Why You Should Still Care After They’ve Paid You
Let me start with a simple analogy: Imagine hosting a party. You send lovely invitations. You clean your house. You light candles. You put out charcuterie that looks like it was assembled by someone who once watched a YouTube tutorial on French entertaining. The guests arrive. Applause.
And then, five minutes in, you disappear. You retreat upstairs to fold laundry or binge British true crime while your guests slowly realize no one brought out napkins, the wine is warm, and someone’s allergic to brie.
That, my friends, is what most companies do when it comes to being customer-centric.
So… What Is Customer-Centric?
Let’s dispense with the jargon. Being customer-centric means giving a damn after the money changes hands.
It’s the idea that your relationship with a customer doesn’t end when the contract is signed or the credit card goes through. No, that’s when it begins. Everything before that was just foreplay and empty promises whispered over email.
Customer-centricity is about structuring your business, culture, and operations around delivering long-term value, reducing friction, and—dare I say—actually giving people what they paid for in a way that doesn’t feel like pulling teeth in a dental school basement.
Why Should You Care?
Glad you asked. You should care because acquiring a new customer costs five times more than keeping an existing one. That’s not just a fun statistic—it’s a gut punch to your marketing budget.
When you’re customer-centric:
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Customers stay longer (like houseguests who actually load the dishwasher).
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They spend more (because they trust you won’t sell them garbage).
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They tell their friends (the nice ones, not the ones who leave Yelp reviews about paper straws).
Also, let’s be honest: it’s easier to keep someone happy when they already like you than it is to beg strangers to notice you. Unless you’re in a band.
What Does It Look Like in Real Life?
Here’s a wild idea: let’s talk about what customer-centricity actually looks like.
1. Onboarding That Doesn’t Induce Existential Dread
You know what’s fun? Buying a product and then being dropped into an email sequence that assumes you’re either a NASA engineer or already deeply familiar with the UI.
Customer-centric companies guide their customers through onboarding with clarity, patience, and maybe even a little human warmth. They say things like, “Here’s what to do first,” instead of “Refer to section 7.1.3 in our product knowledge base.”
2. Proactive Support (a.k.a. Not Just Showing Up for Fires)
Don’t wait until your customer rage-posts on X (formerly Twitter) before you respond. Customer-centric companies anticipate problems, send nudges, offer resources, and occasionally check in without it being a thinly veiled upsell attempt.
3. Listening Without Needing a Focus Group Facilitator
Yes, feedback. Customer-centric organizations actually ask for it. And not with a three-page survey that asks how likely you are to recommend their product to your aunt.
They gather insights, respond to them, and, here’s the kicker—act on them. Revolutionary, I know.
4. Making It Personal (But Not Creepy)
“Hi [First Name]” doesn’t count as personalization anymore. I hate to break it to your email automation platform.
Real customer-centricity means surfacing the right messages, features, or support based on who someone is, what they need, and where they are in their journey—not just what segment your CRM shoved them into.
It’s a Culture Thing (Unfortunately)
The problem is, customer-centricity can’t just be a banner in your Zoom background that says “We 💙 Customers!”
It has to live in how your teams make decisions. In how your product roadmaps are built. In how your support team isn’t treated like the company’s complaint sponge.
To be truly customer-centric, you need to:
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Align everyone—product, marketing, support, sales—on what your customers care about
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Define success the way your customers would, not just your CFO
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Remove the phrase “that’s not our department” from your vocabulary
It’s harder than it sounds, especially if your company culture is built around quarterly goals and internal politics disguised as strategy meetings.
The Metrics That Actually Matter
You want to know if you’re doing this customer-centric thing right?
Look at these:
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NPS (Net Promoter Score) – Are people talking nicely about you to others?
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Retention Rate – Are they sticking around, or vanishing like free samples at Costco?
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Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) – Are they just a one-time Tinder date, or are they moving in?
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CSAT – Are they satisfied, or just too polite to say otherwise?
If these numbers look like your eighth-grade report card (mostly Cs and a crying parent), it might be time to rethink your strategy.
Buyer-Centric vs. Customer-Centric (Because Yes, They’re Different)
This is where people tend to confuse their nouns.
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Buyer-centric = You’re focusing on people who haven’t bought yet. Think attraction, courting, lead nurturing. The marketing foreplay.
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Customer-centric = You’ve sealed the deal. Now the relationship begins. This is support, retention, loyalty.
Confusing the two is like giving someone a free trial after they’ve paid. Which, unfortunately, I’ve seen happen more times than I’ve seen my own dentist.
The Tools That Help (Because Culture Still Needs a Calendar)
If customer-centricity is your north star, you’re going to need a compass—and maybe some software.
Think:
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CRMs that track actual customer behavior, not just vague “stages”
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Customer success platforms with automation that doesn’t annoy people
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Feedback tools that don’t feel like tax forms
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And yes, playbooks that don’t read like they were written by a 1998 sales guru
Conclusion: They Deserve More Than a “Thanks for Your Business” Email
Customer-centricity is not a campaign. It’s not a tagline. And it’s definitely not something you can slap onto your support page and call it a day.
It’s how you treat people when they’re no longer shiny new prospects.
It’s about being worth sticking with.
Because when the product hiccups, the dashboard glitches, or someone accidentally deletes their entire account, what will matter is whether your customer thinks:
“Eh, I trust them.”
Or:
“Oh no. I’ve made a huge mistake.”
Need Help Getting There?
At Insivia, we help companies build strategies, systems, and habits that actually make customers want to stay—and maybe even bring their friends.
If you’re ready to go beyond the brochure and become truly customer-centric (with fewer buzzwords and more results), we’re here to help.
👉 Talk to us and let’s build a company your customers actually want to keep in their lives.
Yes, even after the sale.
Written by: Andy Halko, CEO & Founder
I started Insivia in 2002 and for over 22 years I have had the chance to work directly with hundreds of companies and founders to redefine or reinvent their businesses.