Description
Book SynopsisIn this lively and readable book, the authors argue that in recent years far too much has been made of customer satisfaction, and that this has come at the expense of hard--edged consumerism. Whether or not "the customer is king," the first rule of business is to make money.
Trade Review"…is a stimulating canter through some marketing mantras, dismantling them fairly and frankly before suggesting alternatives…" (Marketing, 16 October 2003)
“… iconoclastic…” (Admap, February 04)
"...The myths put CRM into perspective, explaining what to use and what to discard." (Brand Strategy, September 2006)
Table of ContentsFigures ix
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction xii
1 The seven myths of customer management: Debunking some established wisdom 1
The dangers of customer leadership 1
What is really happening? 5
Myth 1: Customer retention is the key to increased profitability 6
Myth 2: Divesting unprofitable customers will increase profitability overall 9
Myth 3: Customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty 12
Myth 4: Repeat purchase is the same as customer loyalty 15
Myth 5: Organizations should develop relationships with their customers 18
Myth 6: One-to-one marketing is the ultimate goal 21
Myth 7: Technology is the primary enabler of customer focus 25
A different approach 28
2 Testing the water: Understanding where you are today 29
Picking up customer signals 32
Business-to-business customers 36
What research does not tell you 39
New technology, new danger 42
Substituting benchmarking for thought 44
Ten ways to gain real customer insight 46
3 Look before you leap: Developing a customer-focused strategy 50
What is customer-focused strategy? 52
Strategy in context 55
Developing customer-focused strategy 58
Appraising the world outside 62
Seeking to be different 66
Leading on cost 69
Focusing on markets or customers 70
The customer lifecycle 73
Deciding and evaluating alternatives 77
Action planning 80
4 Measuring your way to success: Allocating resources for maximum effect 83
The failure of measurement 85
Customer attitude measures 86
Customer retention measures 87
Customer value measures 89
The failure of management information systems 93
Towards customer value 97
Customer value analysis in action 102
The pitfalls and problems 107
The benefits of value-based management 109
5 Don’t keep it too simple, stupid: The need for a segmented approach 111
Segment or die 113
Understanding customers’ needs and motivations 114
Collecting the data 120
From data to intelligence 120
From intelligence to hypothesis 126
From hypothesis to appraisal 130
From appraisal to strategy 131
From strategy to results 133
Pitfalls and problems 136
Segmentation: a postscript 138
6 Lining up the ducks: Aligning the company for customer focus 140
Aligning finance 142
Aligning product strategy 143
Aligning the proposition: from product to profit 146
Brand alignment 148
Aligning distribution 150
Aligning customer communication 152
Loyalty programmes 158
Alignment: a postscript 163
7 Are you the problem? The role of leadership in creating customer focus 164
Data-less decision making 166
Rearranging the deckchairs 168
The pitfalls of project teams 169
Best practice is sometimes best left alone 170
Incentivizing inappropriate behaviour 172
Technology turmoil 175
Everyone embraces change enthusiastically 179
Reorganizing for focus 183
Changing a light bulb 187
8 Bringing the focus alive: A practical action plan 188
An action plan for customer focus 190
Managing the customer focus process 190
The internal review 193
Customer dynamics and needs 195
Segment objectives and propositions 198
Customer-management objectives, strategy and tactics 200
Channel strategies and implementation 207
Testing and performance measurement 208
Customer and market knowledge management 211
Change planning 213
Technology strategy 214
Index 218
