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A leader’s guide to keeping customers happy and loyal

Leading Off

Know their needs ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
Leading Off

Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Axel Karlsson, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms

Welcome to the latest edition of Leading Off. We hope you find our insights useful. Let us know what you think at Alex_Panas@McKinsey.com and Axel_Karlsson@McKinsey.com.

—Alex and Axel

For businesses in all sectors, providing the best possible customer experience (CX) is a must. It’s also an increasingly complex challenge. CX strategies—which encompass everything a company does to deliver high-quality experiences, value, and growth to customers—are changing rapidly, as younger consumers exert more influence and technology reshapes the ways that both B2C and B2B organizations fulfill their customers’ needs. This week, we look at how leaders in various industries can help their organizations create an exceptional CX.
An image linking to the web page “Engaging the evolving US healthcare consumer and improving business performance” on McKinsey.com.

Consumers increasingly expect more convenience, cost transparency, and personalized engagement from businesses of all kinds. Healthcare offers one example. Many organizations in the healthcare industry have been slow to adapt to customers’ preferences, giving both providers and payers a substantial opportunity to deliver a better CX and improve business results by addressing consumers’ evolving expectations. According to McKinsey Partner Jenny Cordina and her coauthors, three McKinsey surveys of US consumers revealed low to medium satisfaction with many elements of their healthcare journeys. The authors recommend six steps for upgrading the healthcare CX, including more expedient options for care, more competitive pricing, and the use of digital tools in health management. “Leaders of healthcare organizations who invest in building strong consumer foundations will be well positioned to compete in a market that’s increasingly empowering consumers to own their healthcare journeys,” the authors say.
An image linking to the web page “Think you know what consumers want? Think again.” on McKinsey.com.

Shortages of certain products during the COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to a phenomenon of weakened brand loyalty that continues to shape consumer activity. “A lot of these behaviors stuck: switching brands, switching channels, exploring alternatives,” Senior Partner Sajal Kohli says in an episode of The McKinsey Podcast on the state of consumer behavior. A McKinsey survey of 15,000 consumers revealed that more than one-third of shoppers in more developed markets had tried different brands over the previous three months, and some 40 percent had switched retailers to find better prices or discounts. “That is pretty unprecedented in terms of consumer choices,” Kohli notes. These changes suggest that companies will need to dig deeper to understand consumers’ desires and motivations. “It’s about investing in data and advanced capabilities to really understand consumers at an individual, small, or microsegment level,” Kohli says.
An image linking to the web page “Fueling growth through moments of customer delight” on McKinsey.com.

Advertising and marketing campaigns that deliver “surprise and delight”—from scrappy viral marketing campaigns to big-money Super Bowl commercials—are time-tested tools for wooing new customers. But the importance of delighting customers goes far beyond getting them to buy for the first time. Delight is critical to customer loyalty and business growth, according to McKinsey’s Ankit Bisht and Sangeeth Ram and their coauthors. Through surveys of 25,000 customers across industries, including tourism, insurance, and banking, they found that companies that prioritize customer delight outperform their competitors in both revenue growth and total shareholder returns. Their research also indicates that service excellence and product innovation are the biggest factors in keeping customers happy and coming back to the company. “By prioritizing customer delight and implementing smart, sustainable strategies, companies can unlock new frontiers of service and drive lasting returns without incurring prohibitive expenses,” the authors say.

Lead by satisfying your customers.

— Edited by Eric Quiñones, senior editor, New York

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by "McKinsey Leading Off" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 04:17 - 14 Apr 2025