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Customer Centricity in Lubricants: The uncomfortable truth.
If you’re leading a lubricants business, from the C-suite, heading commercial, or driving sales strategy, this one’s for you.
You probably believe your company is customer centric. Most do. Yet the data tells a different story. While your website promises “customer first,” your structure still revolves around product, price, process and internal politics. It’s time to confront the uncomfortable truth: the lubricants sector talks about customer centricity far more than it lives it.
Something I have noticed more and more in our industry has been bothering me lately.
Everywhere I look, I see talk of being “customer centric.” It is on websites, in presentations, and in sales pitches. You know the lines:
“Customer service drives us.”
“Customer first.”
“Your satisfaction is paramount.”
They sound impressive. They tick the right boxes. But when you strip away the language, what does any of it actually mean?
When we dig into the Buyer Revolution data, a very different picture emerges. It shows an industry that talks about the customer but is still largely built around itself.
Ok, are you ready for an uncomfortable truth? We are not truly customer centric. We are product centric, inward looking, and often more focused on our processes than on the buyer’s experience.
So What Prevents True Customer Centricity in the first place?
If everyone claims to be customer focused, why do so few deliver on it?
The Buyer Revolution data points to some familiar but uncomfortable truths.
1. Legacy systems and silos
Sales, marketing, and technical teams often operate separately. Data does not flow. To the buyer, the supplier looks disjointed and slow.
2. Overreliance on product expertise
Product knowledge remains a comfort zone, but buyers are not looking for chemistry lessons. They are looking for confidence in outcomes.
3. Operational friction disguised as process
Internal approval loops, sign-off delays, and rigid systems exist for the company’s convenience, not the customer’s. They quietly erode trust.
4. Fear of personalisation
Some teams still hide behind corporate messaging, even though 68.8% of buyers say personalised communication builds more trust than corporate messages.
In protecting the brand, we often remove the human connection that makes it trustworthy.
5. Metrics that reward the wrong things
If we measure litres sold or calls made, we teach people to chase activity, not impact. Customer centricity struggles to exist when the scoreboard rewards internal efficiency instead of customer experience.
Some thoughts on how we can become more customer centric…and demonstrate it!
The Modern Buyer Is Self-Directed, Yet We Still Sell Like It’s 2005
According to the Solve Your Own Problems data, 93% of lubricant buyers use search engines to research suppliers before engaging, and 75% already know what they want before they speak to a salesperson.
The traditional product-push model no longer fits. Yet many sales and marketing teams still lead with catalogues, datasheets, and price lists instead of outcomes and value.
Even more telling, 64.7% of buyers say a supplier’s value proposition is critical when making a decision, but most supplier communication still talks about what we sell, not why it matters.
If customer centricity really mattered, the message would not start with us at all.
We Talk About Responsiveness, But Buyers Still Wait Too Long
The Speed of Response study found that 34.5% of buyers expect a reply within three hours, 27.6% expect same-day contact, and 96.6% believe fast responses strengthen long-term relationships.
Yet across the sector, response times still reflect internal habits rather than customer expectations. Many teams reply “when they can” instead of when the buyer needs them.
The data is clear. Speed is not just a service expectation, it is a buying criterion.
Relationships Still Matter, But Buyers Do Not Want Corporate Noise
The People or Brand data shows that 81% of buyers say personal connection builds confidence in supplier information, and 0% said they prefer corporate messaging to personal outreach.
Yet the industry continues to rely on generic emails, templated presentations, and tightly controlled corporate language. Buyers want human insight, not another slogan.
Customer centricity is not about being perfectly polished. It is about being meaningfully personal.
We Ignore Where Our Buyers Actually Spend Their Time
The Day to Day Activities study reveals that 83% of lubricant buyers spend most of their time on other responsibilities, and 92% are active on LinkedIn, with 66% active in the evening.
This means our buyers are busy, distracted, and consuming information outside of traditional working hours. If your approach depends on scheduled calls or trade show meetings, you are missing where they actually are.
Customer centric businesses adapt to buyer behaviour. The rest expect buyers to adapt to them.
The Account Manager Still Matters, But Only When They Add Value
From The Account Manager dataset, 75% of buyers already know what they want before engaging sales, and 67% say they want relationships that are more value adding.
Many account managers still arrive unprepared, relying on routine check-ins and price updates. Buyers describe those experiences as “frustrating,” “repetitive,” and “under valued.”
Buyers do not need someone to sell them lubricants. They need someone who helps them think, plan, and improve.
So What Does Real Customer Centricity Look Like?
1. Show buyers you understand them before you sell to them. Audit your website and materials. Do they talk about your products, or your buyer’s problems?
2. Measure speed of response as a performance goal, not a courtesy metric.
3. Let your people be the brand. Encourage them to build presence and trust through their own voice and expertise.
4. Match your communication to buyer habits. An evening post may have more impact than a 9 a.m. sales email.
5. Add value or lose relevance. The account manager who brings insight, not offers, will win the future relationship.
In summary, the lubricant industry does not have a language problem. It has an execution problem.
Buyers already behave differently. They research differently. They decide differently. The question is no longer whether we talk about customer centricity. It is whether we are ready to actually live it.
Personal vs Personalisation in the quest for customer centricity
Customer centricity starts with people, not platforms. This article explores the balance between genuine human connection and the smart use of data to personalise communication. It challenges sellers to stop hiding behind automation and re-discover the personal touch that builds trust, loyalty, and lasting value in B2B relationships
https://orange-dunlin-317451.hostingersite.com/b2b-selling/personal-vs-personalisation
Sales and marketing alignment for a customer focussed future
Customer experience breaks down when sales and marketing are out of sync. This piece shows how alignment across teams is the foundation of true customer centricity in the lubricants sector. It connects internal silos, shared data, and consistent messaging directly to improved buyer confidence and commercial performance.
From volume to value. Building longer lasting relationships in the lubricants industry.
This article unpacks why chasing volume sales no longer works in modern lubricants markets. It argues that sustainable growth comes from understanding buyer outcomes, not pushing more product. For any team serious about customer centricity, it’s a roadmap for shifting from transactional sales to value-led partnership thinking.
https://orange-dunlin-317451.hostingersite.com/buyer-revolution/from-volume-to-value
Further reading from the web!
Customer Centricity: What It Is & Why It’s Important” (Qualtrics). A deep dive into what “customer centricity” actually involves organisationally.
“Why Customer-Centricity Drives Sustainable B2B Growth” (SuperOffice). An overview of what customer-centricity means in B2B, why it matters, and common barriers as perceived by Super Office.
