Who Speaks for the Customer?

Who Speaks for the Customer? uniquely focuses on raising the customer's voice to the strategic level by linking the customer experience to business economics. It also illustrates how businesses can improve their bottom line and succeed by providing outstanding customer experience while still creating a solid profit. The book explores both the theory and the practical foundation to change into or build a customer-centered business that can help transform companies. It is written with the intent of helping business leaders achieve good financial results by leveraging core success factors. Through this process, all of us who are customers might just benefit from a better business experience as well!
Successful businesses change and adapt regularly. Change is often inspired by external market factors, such as economic downturns, globalization, politics, pandemics, new technology including AI, and disruptive competitive practices. Businesses are driven to make a profit, and they operate with an internal focus to create and execute strategy that drives the "bottom line." In practice, this often happens at the expense of good customer experience. Companies that take a longer-term strategic view and understand how to include customer experience in their strategy can perform better and achieve more profit than those that focus their strategy primarily on product or market trends or technology. We live in a business era where technology is integral, AI is influencing interactions, personalization is expected, and shifts in generational preferences are changing the way we work and communicate. What used to be "good enough" as a customer experience can now put a company out of business. Customer experience is essential for a company to succeed, but most executives and managers lack a full understanding of what that means for their business.
The subscription business model is prevalent in many sectors. Unfortunately, business school curriculum and most legacy businesses do not understand the economics behind these overarching shifts in how business is operated. Businesspeople are unaware of how customer-centered strategy can positively impact this current business environment, and they often choose not to prioritize it. They don't recognize how directly it impacts their bottom line. The information in this book provides existing executives, managers, and those who are studying business with techniques that have the proven potential to change how businesses operate, improve customer experience, and positively impact financial success.

SECTION 1. THE FOUNDATION FOR A CUSTOMER-DRIVEN BUSINESS, 1. The Era of the Customer, 2. Who Is Your Customer?, 3. Leveraging the Customer Voice, 4. The Economics of Customers, 5. Understanding the Customer's Journey, SECTION 2. PUTTING THE CUSTOMER AT THE CENTER OF YOUR BUSINESS, 6. Building an Effective Customer Journey, 7. Measuring Business Results around Customers, 8. Managing Customer Information-Data Analytics and AI, 9. Organizing to Ensure a Customer-Centric Focus, 10. Aligning Customer Strategy, 11. Business Is about People, 12. Minimizing Friction That Impacts Customers, 13. Customer Operations-Retention, Expansion, and Advocacy, 14. Communication-A Fundamental Skill, SECTION 3. WHO SPEAKS FOR THE CUSTOMER?, 15. Becoming Customer Centered-Bringing It All Together