What does "KuZu" actually mean?

Anyone who thinks of invasive neophytes or a Japanese remedy when they hear the four letters is not entirely wrong, but should familiarize themselves with the meaning of the acronym of the same name as soon as possible. KuZu, or customer satisfaction as it is written out, is currently being surveyed everywhere, but unfortunately it is usually treated like invasive neophytes in the industry. Why is that?

There are parallels between the plant and the state of customer satisfaction in the industry. Let's start with the plant: Kuzu, Latin Pueraria lobata, is a climbing plant native to Japan similar to our native vetch, but much more vigorous. In the U.S., it was also originally used as a means to combat soil erosion, which makes another analogy to customer satisfaction obvious, because if it erodes, business erodes. Therefore, it is better to measure than to believe.

Why KuZu has a healing effect

Anyone who takes customer satisfaction seriously in product design, marketing and sales must first and foremost focus on the wishes and needs of their customers. Ideally, a focus on customers is directly integrated into the corporate philosophy; in practice, however, it is often more of a tenacious effort to break away from one's own navel-gazing.

Back to the Kuzu plant. It is so invasive that it is now also called "Mile-a-Minute". It grows at a rate of one meter per day and overgrows everything in its path. The KuZu measurements also progress quickly, but after that it's usually over. Maybe a customer experience or customer centricity manager is hired here and there after a customer survey, but rarely more. The leaves, roots and beans of the Kuzu plant contain medicinal substances or can be used as energy food.

Both would also be in the acronym KuZu and would be just as healing for companies. True customer-centricity requires that the customer is always at the center of decisions that have to do with the performance of a service or the provision of products. If you can do that, you increase customer satisfaction, and that can work wonders. So what CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) is to business economists, CCS (Customer Centricity Score) should be to marketers. The former is the key figure that describes the contribution margin that a customer realizes for a company during his entire existence as a customer, minus acquisition, retention, and recovery costs. The second describes what motivates them to be a customer in the first place.

In successful companies, KuZu is not an isolated measurement of marketing, but a basic strategic attitude that flows through the entire company. That's why anyone who really wants to be customer-centric measures KuZu both from the inside (how customer-friendly we are) and from the outside (how customer-friendly we are perceived to be). So next time, please take part and don't click away, hang up or throw away when you, as a customer or employee, are asked about your satisfaction. Maybe they will stop the erosion of their business.

* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.