Misunderstood customer centricity often sounds like a 1990s greatest-hits playlist. With one song permanently stuck at number one: “The customer is king.”
At first, it sounds noble. Until you imagine the court. The endless bowing. The careful words. The quiet fear of disappointing the monarch.
But which self-determined adult signs up voluntarily for life at court. Serving the monarch’s needs day and night? Obedient. Compliant. Subordinate.
A service provider is not a servant, even if they serve.
They put the customer at the center.
They ask questions.
They listen.
They think ahead.
They create value
Fulfilling wishes and meeting needs are the basics of any good customer relationship. But that’s what every company claiming to be “customer-centric” already does. Which means they’re all swimming together in the vast ocean of average.
“The emperor has no clothes,” says the child in Hans Christian Andersen’s fable, while everyone else keeps clapping politely.
Real value emerges when the extra mile gets a new meaning. When solutions become more than the sum of their parts. That takes genuine interest. Consistency. And, quite often, courage.
The customer centric number one hit of 2026 might be called “Beyond the Extra Mile.” Unless you have a better title. I’m curious.
Warmly
Ralph Hubacher
