Is the customer at the heart of your organisation or the KPI?

Many organisations say the customer comes first. You can read it everywhere: in strategies, annual plans and dashboards. Customer-centricity has become the norm. And yet, in our conversations with organisations, we often see things stall. The intention is there. The energy too. But the next step is missing.

Written by Mark Stohr

Published on 17/12/2025

Customer Centricity Hits a Ceiling

In our day-to-day work, we speak with many market researchers and CX experts, people who are genuinely committed to improving customer experiences. What we often hear is that organisations have reached a solid baseline. Processes have been improved. Feedback is being collected. Measurements have been running for years.

Yet despite all these efforts, the wow experience remains elusive. Customers don’t become fans.

It feels as though a ceiling has been reached. All the logical improvements have been made, but something is still missing.

Measuring what you know means missing what truly matters

Many organisations rely on NPS measurements. And rightly so, NPS provides valuable insights. It shows where customers are dissatisfied and where basic expectations are not being met.

But this is also where its limitation lies.

Japanese professor Kano demonstrated this clearly in his model: the factors that remove dissatisfaction are not the same as the factors that create enthusiasm. Hygiene factors are necessary, but they don’t make anyone enthusiastic. Being correct is not the same as being meaningful.

NPS mainly helps to increase satisfaction, but what truly moves, surprises or delights people remains out of view.

These are the so-called delighters: unconscious needs that customers themselves often find hard to articulate, yet which determine whether they feel genuinely connected.

When a KPI becomes more important than the customer

When we raise this issue, it often creates tension. Because NPS is embedded in the organisation. The board steers on it. It is part of journey measurements and benchmarks. And above all: there is resistance to letting it go. The system is running, it’s automated, and change costs energy.

And slowly but surely, something starts to shift.

The measurement becomes a goal in itself and less and less a means to learn. The original reason for measuring fades into the background: understanding what customers truly need and responding to that in a human way.

The uncomfortable question

Do we keep holding on to a measurement that no longer brings us new insights? Simply because it feels familiar? Because it fits within the system? What does that say about our organisation’s ambition to be truly customer-centric?

Working in a genuinely customer-centred way sometimes requires courage. The courage to acknowledge that you’ve reached a standstill. And the willingness to listen differently. No longer asking questions to improve scores, but to better understand people.

An honest reflection

That is why we often end conversations with a simple, but honest question.

Not intended as a reproach. But as a mirror.

Is the customer truly at the heart of your organisation?

Or the KPI?

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