This article unpacks what is meant by customer-centricity, and provides a guide and practical tips for disability service providers looking to take a customer-centric approach to transforming their operating model.

How does customer-centricity intersect with co-design or human-centred design? They all stem from a similar philosophy – incorporate the perspective of the person who uses the product or service. However, the difference is that most co-design and human-centred design projects are one-off and stop at the program or service. (This is typically due to how these projects are designed rather than being the fault of co-design or human centred-design as methodologies).

In our view, building a customer-centric organisation requires taking the customer perspective into the very architecture of an organisation, including its structure, processes, and measures, and embedding a loop of continuous feedback and improvement, not just creating a one-off design.

Many disability providers are redesigning their services to ensure they can deliver within the NDIS price guides. However, without considering who their target customer is and what they need from services, organisations risk spending time, money, and resources making changes that are not fit-for-purpose or fit-for-future.

We have distilled a process for building a more customer-centric operating model to help guide organisations seeking to embark on this journey to become more customer-centric and on lessons from the corporate sector. It is based on our experience working with disability service providers.