The Step Change Blog

The latest thinking on business, strategy, marketing and sales

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January 18, 2024

3 Ways To Prepare Your Business For Disruption

Business Strategy, Artificial Intelligence, Innovation, Disruption, Augmented Reality, Business Growth, Marketing Automation, Customer Centricity, Business Opportunities, Digital Revolution, Digital Economy

How do you prepare for the unpredictable?

While some businesses leverage disruption to their advantage like second nature — many companies are falling behind.

Where others enjoy better workforces, efficient operations, and improved customer experiences, some continue to struggle at the back foot of change as another wave of disruption looms on the horizon.

So what’s the game changer? Strategy. Most organisations don’t have a game plan to navigate the evolving business landscape. Nor do they bother to predict trends and track challenges or opportunities that lie on their radar and that makes all the difference. 

So how do you get better at keeping your finger on the pulse and preparing your business for disruption?

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May 18, 2023

Invest with Confidence: 6 Questions to Unlock Business Opportunities

Business Strategy, Innovation, Business Growth, Challenger Brands, Customer Centricity, Brand Positioning, Business Opportunities

Ever been let down by a business idea you thought had so much potential? 

The only thing worse than a poorly developed business idea is investing in a poorly developed business idea. Nobody wants to spend time, energy and resources on a product or service that doesn’t fly. So how do you ensure your new business idea is poised to win when it enters the market?

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March 10, 2023

6 Ways to Identify Unmet Customer Needs

Customer Journey, Business Strategy, Standing Out, Innovation, Disruption, Customer Centricity, Lean Principles

UPDATED: As of 21 July 2022

Finding a product, a service, or a niche that delivers results largely depends on understanding exactly what your customer needs. And in a time when the competition is manic and ruthless, it is all the more essential to deliver a high-quality product and service that gets the right traction.

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November 3, 2022

Brand Strategy: 5 Steps To Unlock Powerful Business Opportunities

Predatory Marketing, Customer Journey, Ashton Bishop, Step Change, Branding, Customer Centricity, Differentiation, Distinctive Brand, Brand Positioning

UPDATED: As of 3 November 2022

Let’s face it— we’re in a marketing battleground. Your business is only one of the hundreds or even thousands competing for your customer’s attention. If your goal is to win the war for attention, you need to differentiate yourself in a way that actually matters to your customers.

While this sounds obvious, it’s not. All too often, businesses assume they understand what is important for their customers.

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April 9, 2020

Experience Disruptors

Business Strategy, Ashton Bishop, Customer Centricity

When it comes to running a business, it is important that you stand above the competition. And in the dog-eat-dog business world it is no longer enough to just offer great products. It is also necessary to take your customer’s comfort into account. 

What’s the use of having the best tech and services if your customers can’t get a hold of your product in the most efficient way possible? Or if they do get the product, it becomes a struggle to have it repaired or returned. This is where Experience Disruptors come in.

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September 22, 2019

Here’s Your Invitation to the Customer-Centricity Masterclass

Step Change, Customer Centricity

The Customer-Centricity Masterclass is back due to public demand. We will only accommodate 40 guests, and it’s filling up quickly! Register today to save your spot.

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August 9, 2019

What Is Customer-Led Transformation?

Business Strategy, Customer Centricity, Transformation

There’s no getting around it. Today’s consumers hold the power to dictate business outcomes. But with more businesses struggling with their digital transformation initiatives, how can taking a customer-led approach to transformation lead to better results? 

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July 19, 2019

How to Become a Customer-Centric Organisation

Step Change, Culture & Leadership, Customer Centricity, Transformation

It’s easy to say your business is customer-centric; in fact, many businesses would claim they are putting their customers at the heart of what they do. 

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July 16, 2019

Join the Step Change Customer-Centricity Masterclass

Step Change, Culture & Leadership, Customer Centricity

Modern customers are savvy and sceptical. Businesses can no longer win because of their scale, professionalism, and history. It’s those that put the customer’s best interest at heart who perform better and win.

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July 15, 2019

Customer-Centricity and the Banking Royal Commission

Finance, Culture & Leadership, Financial Services, Customer Centricity, Transformation

In the past, customers often trusted banks on the basis of their scale, professionalism, and history. Today, customers are more likely to measure the trustworthiness of a bank based on their customer service and support. Customer-centricity is likely to be the key to winning over customers again.

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July 5, 2019

Content Marketing for Retail Brands: Improving Customer Experience through Content

Digital, Content Marketing, Retail, Customer Centricity

Many retailers today are struggling to deliver the seamless online experience that customers want with a limited marketing budget. How can content marketing help them bridge this gap and improve the customer experience? 

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June 10, 2019

4 Effective Ways to Convert Leads to Customers in Financial Services

Finance, Marketing Strategy, Digital, Marketing Technology, Customer Centricity

In the financial services industry, converting leads to customers is vital. But with the speed of change in the marketing and technology space and in the wake of the Banking Royal Commission, marketing leaders in the finance industry are overwhelmed by the challenge of managing a genuine experience with their target customers, thus improving lead conversion.

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May 9, 2019

How to Build a Customer-Centric Culture: Key Takeaways from Our Event

Culture & Leadership, Customer Centricity

Here’s a recap on the biggest takeaways from last month’s Step Change Open Haus event, How to Build a Customer-Centric Culture.

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April 12, 2019

B2B Personalisation: What Do Customers Really Want?

B2B Sales, Marketing Strategy, Digital, Customer Centricity

Personalised customer experience is no longer a rarity that’s saved for the top companies; instead, it’s the new digital imperative for businesses of all industries and sizes. B2B buyers now expect to experience a one-to-one experience at some point during their purchasing journey. However, delivering on this expectation is an entirely different challenge that has left many businesses struggling to connect.

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April 11, 2019

How to Increase Your Customer Lifetime Value and Gain Revenue

Business Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Customer Centricity

Customer lifetime value is a critical factor in business success, but not all companies are tracking it. Many companies do not measure it, do not know what it is, or choose to completely ignore it.

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April 1, 2019

How Retailers Can Win at Delivering a Superior Customer Experience

Customer Journey, Marketing Strategy, Retail, Customer Centricity

Online stores are heightening the competitive space for brick-and-mortar retailers. What was once solely a problem for book stores is now becoming a problem even for giant big-box companies: people are buying all of their products online.

People, especially the younger generations, are finding less of a need to go to a physical store because they can shop from the comforts of their own home. This is a big problem for retail stores — or a great opportunity to deliver a superior customer experience.  

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March 29, 2019

What Is the Value of a Customer-Centric Website Process?

Digital, Customer Centricity

Your website is more than just your online portfolio. Today, websites that are optimised for the customer experience are powerful tools that can help you make a sale and turn visitors into customers.

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March 22, 2019

Customer-Centricity: Developing a Company Culture Your Customers Will Love

Culture & Leadership, Customer Centricity

There is no question about it. Customer-centric companies perform better and are far better able to drive customer loyalty. If you‘re a company looking to adopt a more customer-centric culture, where do you start and how exactly do you make that transition?

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March 9, 2019

Announcing the Open House Panel: How to Build a Customer-Centric Culture

Step Change, Customer Centricity

With only a month to go before the much-awaited Open House event “How to Build a Customer-Centric Culture”, Step Change is thrilled to announce the panel of distinguished leaders across a variety of disciplines who will be joining us.

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March 8, 2019

Customer-Centric Culture: Why Being Customer-Obsessed Leads to Greater Revenue

Digital, Culture & Leadership, Customer Centricity

Many informed businesses today are actively looking for ways to transform their business model or their culture to become more customer-centric, but many struggle to implement it or just don’t know where to start.

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May 22, 2018

Customer Engagement: How Would These Strategists Win More Customers?

Customer Journey, Business Strategy, History's Greatest Strategists, Customer Centricity

If great strategic thinkers like Anita Roddick, Jean Nidetch, and Mother Teresa would run your business, how would they transform your customers into raving fans?

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May 3, 2018

Why You Need to Identify Your Customer’s Pain Points: Insights from Kevin Roberts

Step Change, Marketing Strategy, Customer Centricity

In the second part of this series, Insights from Kevin Roberts, we ask the former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi what goes on in his head when he talks to clients.

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January 25, 2018

Transform Your UX Design through a Customer-Centric Strategy

UX, Digital, Customer Centricity

We have recently seen an interplay between design and business strategy in the digital landscape. With key players setting the pace for how we can tailor design towards the user experience, we then ask, does it really make a difference?

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May 3, 2017

These 3 Companies Transformed Their Customer Experience by Using Augmented Reality

Marketing Strategy, Augmented Reality, Customer Centricity

How people experience a brand largely impacts their loyalty. No wonder a lot of businesses consider customer experience very important. The challenge is, in the age of digital revolution, customers’ expectations are set high up there. So how can businesses meet the demand for a remarkable customer experience?

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February 28, 2017

How Do You Measure Your Customer’s Loyalty?

Re-engage Database, Scale, Customer Centricity

Most people measure loyalty by how many clients leave. But it’s unfortunate to be measuring loyalty once it’s too late to keep a client.

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