(5:20 Q&A Video) “Treating Customers as Your North Star to Business Growth”

In this 5:20 video, Amit Shankardass defines client centricity as the organization’s North Star. He urges teams to begin with the buyer’s frame and then shape propositions. He explains that sustainability comes from solving needs across the near and longer terms. He reinforces the importance of thinking like a customer.

Treating customers as the North Star begins with a daily choice to see decisions through the buyer’s lens. Amit Shankardass offers a practical way to make that choice stick. Leaders start by grounding every plan in customer reality and then work backward to what the team will build and deliver. He explains how to balance urgent needs, near-term anticipation, and longer-term adaptation so momentum does not stall after quick wins.

Amit also addresses a common gap. Many leaders recognize the value of customer input but struggle to use it consistently. The solution is to make listening a habit across all roles and to remove biases that obscure genuine signals. The result is cleaner decisions, faster alignment, and growth that customers can feel.

“The customer should be the North Star for how we think and evaluate. Start from the B2B buyer’s perspective, then work backward to what you provide.” – Amit Shankardass

To learn more, watch the 5:20 video or read the article below.

To catch the full interview with Amit on “Why Client Centricity Is Your North Star,” CLICK HERE.

Article: “Treating Customers as Your North Star to Business Growth”

This article is based on an interview with Amit Shankardass, Chief Marketing Officer at VXI Global Solutions, LLC

Define The North Star In Plain Terms

Amit’s guidance is plain and memorable. He advises teams to “literally write the phrase, think like a customer,” and keep it visible. The cue helps teams initiate planning by aligning with the buyer’s goals and constraints. It also creates a shared language that cuts through internal preferences. As Amit says, “It should be the point with which we begin to think, process, evaluate.” When teams begin here, they frame problems accurately and avoid building for internal convenience.

Working backward from buyer needs then shapes services, propositions, and delivery that feel relevant. This approach clarifies messaging and improves handoffs across product, marketing, sales, and service. Teams set outcomes that customers will recognize in their daily work. The practice also speeds decisions. Ideas that do not help the customer win are reshaped or paused without drama. The North Star becomes practical, not poetic.

Why Teams Miss The Mark

Many leaders agree that customers spark innovation, yet feedback often gets trivialized. Meetings usually drift toward defending past choices. People explain why a comment does not apply or why the messenger lacks authority. Amit names the blocker directly. “It isn’t easy to take criticism,” which is why teams replace customer signals with internal narratives. He recommends a “very cognitive” effort to remove bias when processing feedback so real input remains intact.

Bias reduction is a team sport. Leaders can broaden the scope of who listens and how listening occurs. Diverse roles hear different things and notice different patterns. Rotating listeners into executive reviews reduces blind spots. Written summaries improve recall and lower the heat in tough debates. When the team treats feedback as data rather than a verdict, learning accelerates. Plans improve without finger-pointing. Trust rises because people see the customer’s view carried forward.

Make Listening Actionable

Thinking like a customer becomes real when listening is structured and repeatable. Teams should capture rational and emotive needs, not just scores. Verbatims preserve emotion and explains why a score moved. Strategic reviews create space to connect signals to choices. Cross-functional conversations test how insights change priorities and investments. Over time, this rhythm reduces assumptions and reveals tradeoffs early, before they become expensive.

Multiple conversations across roles deepen understanding. Sales, marketing, delivery, and finance engage buyers directly and compare notes. Patterns become more visible, and isolated anecdotes lose their influence. Decisions are then anchored to shared evidence. The outcome is growth that customers recognize. Offers feel timely. Experiences feel consistent. The organization learns to anticipate what comes next with confidence, looking ahead around corners.

Conclusion

Client centricity is a series of consistent choices that add up. Begin with the buyer’s perspective and keep the reminder in plain sight. Balance immediate delivery with near-term anticipation and longer-term adaptation. Keep listening for unbiased and actionable insights so real signals guide your plans. These habits align teams and produce outcomes that customers can feel and remember. Growth follows because the work is built around what matters most to the people you serve.

ELEVATING CONTENT MARKETING STANDARDS RAISES A CRUCIAL QUESTION:
Why shouldn’t the very act of creating thought leadership content also spark new conversations with in-pipeline deals, top prospects, and high-priority customers for revenue expansion? Or serve as the cornerstone for learning and applying voice-of-customer strategies? That’s the power of ABM Podcasting—engaging B2B buyers and customers in meaningful conversations that uncover essential go-to-market insights, support long sales cycles, reinforce your market perspective, build peer-level trust, and dismantle objections that kill deals.

Steven MacDonald

Steven MacDonald is the founder of Content Strategies, CEO of a MarTech SaaS Company, fractional CMO consulting with leading B2B companies and former Director of Strategy and Client Service at top ten digital marketing agencies.

Follow Steve on LinkedIn.

Steven MacDonald

Follow Steve on LinkedIn.