Unlock New Engines of Growth with These 5 Customer-Centric Moves: Expert Advice from the B2B Influence Podcast

B2B organizations today face increasing pressure to deliver measurable growth, but doing so in a buyer-driven market requires more than tactics. It demands a clear, company-wide commitment to customer-centricity.

Recently on the B2B Influence podcast I had the opportunity to talk with VisionEdge Marketing President Laura Patterson, who has guided more than 300 companies to turn the concept of customer-first into a disciplined, scalable growth engine. Her perspectives echo recent findings from McKinsey. Their article, “The CMO’s Comeback: Aligning the C-suite to Drive Customer-Centric Growth,” notes that companies that elevate the CMO’s role and align the C-suite around customer-led growth strategies can achieve up to 2.5x higher revenue growth than peers.

Here are five essential takeaways from the discussion with Laura, along with insights from McKinsey, that every business leader should consider:

1. Operationalize Customer-Centricity Company-Wide

“Customer-centricity” may be a common mantra, but Laura stresses that most organizations struggle to put it into practice. Being customer-centric means making every strategic and tactical decision through the lens of delivering measurable customer value. This involves breaking down silos, coordinating cross-functional execution, and ensuring even well-intentioned programs don’t result in “random acts” that alienate loyal customers.

“If you create customer value, you’ll create business value,” Laura says.

Did you know?
According to McKinsey, companies that embed customer insights into cross-functional processes are 60% more likely to exceed growth targets.

2. Define What Success Means to You

VisionEdge’s Circle of Traction model emphasizes aligning growth initiatives with customer outcomes and measuring accordingly. Too often, however, businesses treat metrics as an afterthought or pull generic KPIs from a checklist.

“There’s no universal list of KPIs,” Laura explains. “Your KPIs, your metrics, and your measures are going to be tied to the outcomes of success for you. And what your outcomes are might be very different than another company’s, and your strategy for achieving them might be very different than another company’s.”

She recommends starting with clear definitions of success, such as growing your product adoption rate with a specific segment of customers, then building the measurement framework from there.

Did you know?
McKinsey reports that only 12% of CMOs feel they have access to the right data to influence strategic decisions—yet those who do help their companies achieve outsized returns.

3. Align Around the Customer Buying Journey

Laura compares business growth to football: each player—marketing, sales, product, customer success—has a role, but the team must be coordinated and aligned toward a common goal. The buying journey, not departmental functions, should determine who does what and when.

“You need to know who owns each step of moving the buyer forward. It’s not just about generating leads—it’s about orchestrating the journey.”

Did you know?
Millennials now make up 72% of B2B buyers, and most prefer to self-educate, “completing up to 70% of the buying process online before engaging with a supplier,” according to Salesforce. B2B marketing and sales teams must understand where and how these buyers seek information. For more insight on engaging younger audiences, check out our recent blog on generational marketing.

4. Be Disciplined

Growth isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing the right things well. Laura urges marketers to invest in routines, team structures, and technology that reinforce customer-centered processes, without chasing disconnected trends or spreading budgets too thin.

“Talk the talk all you want. If you don’t have the discipline to operationalize customer-centricity, it’s just another buzzword,” she says.

Did you know?
McKinsey finds that companies with unified C-suite alignment around customer value are 3x more likely to outperform their peers on customer satisfaction and retention.

5. Bring It All Together

Through her strategic work with hundreds of companies, Laura said these are some of the traits the most successful ones have in common:

• A relentless focus on delivering measurable customer value
• Strong cross-functional collaboration
• Intentional discipline in how they plan and execute

“They don’t just guess or plug questions into the latest AI tool—they gather real data from their customers and markets to inform their decisions,” she explains.

These companies align their internal incentives around customers. They experiment, but they don’t follow trends for the sake of novelty. Instead, they use technology, including AI, to enhance execution—not replace strategic thinking.

Laura underscores that customer-centricity isn’t “a one-time initiative, but a long-term business investment” with the potential to unlock new engines of growth. Go here to watch or listen to this very insightful podcast episode, and to access all of our B2B Influence interviews.

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