By Bill Self on March 3, 2010
Make sure that your organization is prepared for change by putting some customer-centered monitors in place that will condition everyone to look for new ways by questioning the old ways. Set up a process to evaluate change on customers’ terms, not yours. It will be a great platform to start discussions of ways to strengthen your organization by consistently looking for ways to outperform.
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Posted in Leading Change | Tagged customer closeness, Differentiation, Innovation, Leading Change
By Bill Self on February 24, 2010
Customer-centricity will not happen unless your organization is curious about customers and what they will need in the future. Create a culture that is continuously looking for ways to learn more about customers. Don’t become complacent. Be an explorer.
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Posted in Leading Change, Uncategorized | Tagged Change Management, customer closeness, Innovation
By Bill Self on February 17, 2010
Our success in generating innovative customer-centered thinking becomes stronger when our “ability to make new combinations is heightened by our ability to see relationships.” As in a kaleidoscope. new patterns develop and create exciting combinations when the variety of experiences that our teams bring to the search lead to fresher ideas within our organizations.
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Posted in Customer-Centricity | Tagged Creativity, Design Thinking, Differentiation
By Bill Self on February 10, 2010
Be very reluctant to toss the word “engagement” out casually. Eventually, the word will lose its impact. The better metaphor for connecting with customers is dance—cooperation with a partner for a single purpose. In this customer-centered view, you would not “win” and “keep” customers and they would not be opponents, but rather, partners, moving in the same direction, enjoying the moment together, interested in each other.
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Posted in Customer Loyalty | Tagged customer closeness, Differentiation, Leading Change
By Bill Self on February 3, 2010
Value equates to how the individual customer feels about doing business with you. It is your “fit” with their needs and it is embodied in an emotional connection. Execution involves deep understanding and a high degree of flexibility because “fit” is judged by your delivery in its broadest, most proactive, sense.
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Posted in Leading Change | Tagged customer closeness, Differentiation, Flexibility
By Bill Self on January 27, 2010
Tomorrow’s success does not come from yesterday’s thinking. Dramatic change can only happen through commitment to a heuristic system which enables organizations to focus on designing products and services driven by customers’ needs.
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Posted in Leading Change | Tagged Customer Needs, Design Thinking, Great Performances
By Bill Self on January 20, 2010
Default procedures offer companies the chance to save their customers time and money, and help them maneuver through complexity. In every process, however, leaders should imagine themselves in the shoes of the people they serve.
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Posted in Customer Education | Tagged customer care, customer closeness, Great Performances
By Bill Self on January 13, 2010
No organization can afford to stand still. The best way to avoid inertia is to think like a customer. Because innovation is on a continuum, companies must constantly evaluate where they are.
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Posted in Leading Change | Tagged customer closeness, Differentiation, Leading Change
By Bill Self on January 6, 2010
Level 3 is transformational. At this stage, organizations have created a system that is based on design thinking, which makes us attentive, like a good designer and helps us “discard pre-existing ideas” about what customers value.
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Posted in Differentiation | Tagged Customer-Centricity, Great Performances
By Bill Self on December 30, 2009
There is a fundamental quality of great customer relations that many organizations have lost. The timeless system for customers is not going back, but beyond what exists today. The new paradigm represents congruence with your customers. It is authentic.
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Posted in Customer Loyalty | Tagged customer closeness, Customer Connection, Organizational Culture