The Business of Doing Good: Can a real customer-centric approach be the key driver of commercial success?

Customer-centricity is the foundation for both the social and financial performance in microfinance. But too often the focus is on ‘good products’ rather than ‘good organisations’. Anton Simanowitz, author of The Business of Doing Good will outline what it takes to create microfinance organisations that consistently deliver positive change for their clients and succeed in increasingly competitive markets.

The presentation starts from the story of AMK, a microfinance organization that has pushed the boundaries of possibility to reach deep into rural Cambodia and now touches the lives of almost two million people. AMK’s focuses on really understanding its clients to create products and services that meet not just their ‘wants’ but their needs; they build an organizational culture and systems that ensure products and services are not ‘lost in translation’; and they have challenged conventional wisdom by building a profitable business model that sought to reach the poorest and most rural Cambodian’s first. An inspiring story!

For 20 years Anton Simanowitz has supported microfinance organisations to be more effective. He led a consortium of 12 organisations that developed the content and training materials for what has now become the Universal Standards for Social Performance Management in microfinance. At Oikocredit he designed and managed a mentoring programme implemented in 10 countries to support investee social performance. Anton is now Director of The Business of Doing Good, a consultancy that works to improve outcomes for microfinance and other social businesses.

Watch the full video report hereunder.