By Bill Self on June 23, 2010
Most supplier-centric organizations rationalize that they know what customers need. What these companies perceive to be needs fall far short of what customers want. Customer-centric organizations look for new opportunities to offer to their customers, rather than waiting for them to be asked for.
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Posted in Great Performances | Tagged Competitive Advantage, Customer Closeness, Innovation, Thinking Like a Customer
By Bill Self on September 30, 2009
The new approach to customer-centricity embodies being a caretaker for the customer ecology in every interaction between external customers and your organization.
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Posted in Customer-Centricity | Tagged Abundance Gaps, Competitive Advantage, Customer Commitment, Customer-Centricity, Thinking Like a Customer
By Bill Self on March 11, 2009
Everything-products or services-can be enhanced to perform better than it does today. Rather than thinking about what the service currently looks like, envision what it can be in the future. The secret is to approach it from the user’s viewpoint–by thinking like a customer.
Harvard professor Ted Levitt defined this development process 40 years ago in
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Posted in Differentiation | Tagged Brand Loyalty, Competitive Advantage, Customer-Centricity, Differentiation, Innovation
By Bill Self on February 25, 2009
The most important question that every organization must answer is “Exactly how is the customer changing?” Adrian Slywotzky and David Morrison, in The Profit Zone: How Strategic Business Design Will Lead You to Tomorrow’s Profits, challenged businesses: “To create a strategic and dynamic perspective on the customer, one must have a clear and compelling point of
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Posted in Customer-Centricity | Tagged Competitive Advantage, Customer Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Customer-Centric, Differentiation, Great Performances
By Bill Self on February 4, 2009
When a plant is put in a window, over time it begins to lean toward the light. In the same manner, generous, abundant actions by businesses create a positive energy source that attracts customers. These suppliers are viewed as legendary, not ordinary.
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Posted in Customer Loyalty | Tagged Add new tag, Brand Loyalty, Competitive Advantage, Customer Closeness, Customer Loyalty, Thinking Like a Customer
By Bill Self on January 14, 2009
Organizations will not be successful by making old ways more efficient. The competitive environment is changing so rapidly that a lean cost structure is no longer a differentiator. Instead, the advantage going forward will go to the companies that can develop a solidly different vision that tests their decisions based on what is best for
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Posted in Differentiation | Tagged Competitive Advantage, Differentiation, Thinking Like a Customer, Vision
He is a member of the National Speakers Association and delivers dynamic presentations on the transformative power of genuine customer-centric behavior at conferences or in settings for individual companies. Visit Bill's speaking page to learn more.
