Global Journal of Management and Business Research, E: Marketing, Volume 22 Issue 2

• Culture: needs to be well documented and shared among all staff members defining ways of interaction with the customer and the customer's importance to the business. • Metrics: Tracking, measuring, and responding to data labeled by the customers as significant and attractive. • Knowledge: Embracing a wide association and integrated discipline of gathering and responding to information about the customers' challenges, needs, and expectations. • Technology: building, developing, and managing the appropriate tools to deliver concise information to the right people at the right time. • Segmentation: Categorizing customers into different groups, such that each group gathers people with similar characteristics to improve the services provided and gain a higher return on marketing investments. Also, Self (2009) defines the advantages of becoming customer-centric. Starting with profits (financial perspective), these are the first advantage for organizations transforming themselves into customer- centric. "Companies that improve their ability consistently meet their customers' needs will produce positive bottom-line business results." (Mikel Harry and Richard Schroeder cited by Self, Para 2). The financial perspective is a direct benefit that starts most organizations on the journey to increased customer relevance. However, Self (2009) justifies his arguments as "first, customer-centricity produces freedom for an organization. Then, freedom empowers everyone in the organization to customize their treatment of customers, rises out of the confidence that all employees understand why and for whom they are working, and manifests itself when a company is proactively working on customer solutions. All of the above translates to fewer worries, accompanied with brand's new opportunities to achieve greater heights in terms of innovative and creative solutions" (Para 3). The second argument is employee loyalty. "Companies will enjoy stronger employee loyalty if they embrace strong customer relationship values. Much of employees' satisfaction comes from delivering strong, common- sense solutions to their customers. Customer-centric organizations rise above internal procedures, which the customer does not care about, and focus on a logical service or product that makes the customer's life easier. If employees are empowered to take care of their customers, they will like working much better. Therefore, the result is having happier, more committed employees and customers at the same time" (Para 4). Finally, Companies that outperform the competition have "customers" as a core competency (ibid). i) Customer-Centricity: The Construct and the Operational Antecedents Lamberti (2013) presents four components of the customer-centricity construct: • Customer Integration General customization, such as mass customization, is essentially product-centric (Sheth et al., 2000, p. 55). It adapts existing products to different customer needs rather than developing products around customer needs. In a customer-centric approach, customers are active players in the marketing process by the ways products/services reach the customer and by the content's nature that derives from a participatory decision-making process involving customers (Etgar, 2008). • Interactive CRM Attaining firm–customer trust is required and is accomplished through adaptive learning of customers' needs and preferences, requiring interactivity. The above explains the strong linkage between customer integration and interactive customer relationship management. • External Integration Within a customer-centric context, a prerequisite for implementing customer focus effectively is underlining supply-chain alignment, collaboration, and an alignment between the companies and the retailers (Gagnon and Chu, 2005; as cited in Lamberti, 2013). • Internal Integration A common goal and a shared cultural view of the company's role are essential to implementing customer-centered processes (Galbraith, 2002, as cited in Lamberti, 2013). Moreover, "in customer-centric organizations, the emphasis is on the total integration of all customer-facing activities by better aligning all firm activities around customer value-adding activities" (Sheth et al., 2000). j) The Building Blocks of a Customer-Centric Organization According to Booz & Company (2004, p. 5), a leading global management consultancy firm, the building blocks of a customer-centric organization are: • Customer life-cycle view; an organization has a holistic and continuous view of each customer's evolving life-cycle needs and other transforming life experiences. • Solution mindset; encouraging a new customer value proposition. A focused Mindset on problem- solving away from only selling. • Advice bundling; relies on continuous dialogue engagement with customers alongside the product/service purchasing and serviceability cost- effectively. • Can-Do customer interface; arms front-line staff with the skills and authority to tailor solutions. An Assessment of Customer-Centricity Success Factors: Context of the Lebanese Market 5 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXII Issue II Version I Year 2022 ( )E © 2022 Global Journals