Connecting with customers is top of mind for executives in every industry. Bain surveys find near-universal agreement among senior managers that improving their company's customer focus is critical for their business success. Yet attaining that goal is elusive. Our research has found that while 80% of executives believe that their company delivers outstanding value and a superior customer experience only 8% of their customers agree. Helping clients to close that "delivery gap" and achieve true customer-led growth is a core expertise at Bain.

Our distinctive approach to customer strategy and marketing embraces a set of comprehensive and interrelated disciplines-we call our approach "3-D customer-led growth":

• Design the right products for the right customers. Many companies are adept at traditional market research and product design. Bain helps clients go well beyond these basics to lay a foundation for building customer loyalty. The process begins with customer segmentation that focuses on identifying a client's most promising Design Target population. Bain works with clients to sharpen their innovation and product development processes. We help clients formulate brand strategies that combine proprietary customer insights with a deep understanding of their company's unique capabilities to provide distinctive customer experiences that competitors find difficult to match. Our expertise in pricing, including the disciplined use of promotions and the bundling of products and services, can help penetrate the marketplace, strengthen existing customer relationships and increase profitability.

• Deliver great customer experiences. True leaders treat every customer interaction as a precious and finite resource. We refine sales and channel management approaches to better serve targeted customer segments, maximize sales, and minimize costs. We help companies shape marketing programs and allocate the right mix of resources to expand and keep a loyal customer base and drive up revenues and profits. Bain's customer-focused approach to brand management, channel strategy and marketing mix can more than double a company's organic revenue growth rates.

• Develop capabilities to delight customers again and again. Through the application of our unique Net Promoter® Score (NPS) disciplines, Bain helps clients put in place customer metrics and feedback loops to facilitate this communication process-and the ability to act on the insights it produces. By working with clients to align incentives, we help rally their entire organization to ensure that the delivery of a flawless customer experience becomes a core company competence. We reinforce this with a focus on developing the infrastructure, organization and business processes to create a business system that can deliver both continuous improvement and breakthrough innovation.

® Net Promoter, NPS, and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc. and Fred Reichheld.

To find out more about Bain's work in this capability area, please contact the practice.