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.
Read the full story...
High-performing companies use customer closeness in order to become “great innovators” and “ferocious defenders” of their position in the markets they serve. Customer-centered hidden champions describe their greatest strength as the “long-term relationship with their customers.”
Read the full story...
Research which we do for our clients indicates time and time again that customers who reported a problem and were delighted with the outcome have higher satisfaction than the ones who never experienced a problem at all. Why would any company simply want to break-even with these opportunities? Service recovery should energize the organization to become more customer-centered.
Read the full story...
If you are constantly looking at what your competitors are doing, you will simply end up imitating each other. Being customer-centered, on the other hand, brings better clarity to organizations because it focuses them on thinking like a customer, instead of a competitor.
Read the full story...
The organizations that will survive and thrive five years from now are the ones that have educated customers. That’s because smart customers will remain loyal to suppliers that deliver high value. This value goes far beyond a generic product or service. It educates its customers as part of the relationship. Customer-centered suppliers understand this as
Read the full story...
There is a simple method for outperforming and growing your business. It involves what author Jim Champy describes as “finding something that you can do better than your competitors.” Every process that touches your customers represents an opportunity to distinguish your organization as better in the eyes of your customers. Here’s how you can identify
Read the full story...
When I conduct client workshops I often ask participants this question: What could your competitors be developing for your customers right now that you don’t currently offer?
We know it is impossible to draw an accurate picture of the future. As Yogi Berra said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” But we continue to
The greatest challenge of escaping the sameness of your product or service is to stay ahead of what your direct competition offers. Adjust the space that you operate in. That is, design and sustain a service that is truly different from the rest of your market segment. The key, of course, is to make certain
Read the full story...
Here’s the reason that you want context from your customers: There is no greater source of new opportunities. Forget what you thought you knew about being customer-focused. The new business model is built around a culture in which employees, as Dev Patnaik says, “possess a shared and intuitive vibe…that helps them see new opportunities faster
Read the full story...
We have all experienced the paradox that “the more successful a company becomes, the more likely it is to become removed from customer segments.” (The Open-Empathy Organization, Dev Patnaik and Peter Mortensen, from Rotman Magazine, Spring 2009). If the phrase “taken out of context” has negative overtones (as it should) of misquoting, bad information and
Read the full story...
