  The global economy has entered a new and complex phase, bringing with it a heightened sense of uncertainty and risk. The contours of the commercial landscape have been reshaped by unprecedented levels of competition, eroding customer loyalty and the quickened pace of innovation.
Now, a volatile economy has added uncertainty to the mix by making market demand and buyer behavior unusually difficult to predict. In tough times, the strong grow stronger. To weather the transformations now underway and sustain performance, organizations must maintain a strong customer-centric focus while dealing with complexity, uncertainty and risk. This means knowing the sources of risk and opportunity within the global customer base. It means finding new routes to reaching customers—increasingly, through channels that customers control. And it means focusing less on driving customer transactions for short-term gain, and more on fostering trust-based relationships over the long term. In this paper, Accenture describes why customer centricity is key to sustaining performance in uncertain times. By maintaining a customer-centric approach to managing in uncertain times, enterprises will plan and act with greater confidence, compete with more intensity and respond more readily to changing market conditions. For more Accenture insights on staying customer-focused in uncertain times, visit http://www.accenture.com/centricity. To receive more Research & Insights, sign up for My Outlook, your single e-mail source for all of Accenture's latest ideas and innovation, personalized specifically to your business interests and the industry issues you face. |