3. Establish a customer-centric concept

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The key to a customer-first philosophy is to always wear anguilla email list the “customer hat” in all decisions.

Early in Dan's career, Mastercard hired him as head of digital customer experience and social media because they noticed he already naturally thought about business issues from the customer's perspective, even though he had only been with the company as a marketer for 10 years. Dan realizes that not everyone thinks this way by default, but customer-focused decisions produce better results.

Imagine an airline executive recommending baggage fees just to make billions of dollars in extra revenue, with absolutely no regard for customers—even though customers are the company’s most important asset. This contempt breeds resentment. Instead, they could have charged a fee to provide value, such as guaranteed faster baggage delivery and other conveniences. Customers accept reasonable revenue requirements but want value in exchange for higher prices.

When making every choice, Dan says, think, "How will our customers react?" That's putting yourself in the customer's shoes. Also consider your own daily interactions with brands. As a consumer, what frustrates or delights you? Apply this first-hand customer empathy to your own business decisions.

Behavior that fails to provide clear value reduces loyalty and trust. But choices driven by customer benefits also drive growth, retention and referrals.