The Seven Myths of Customer Management: How to be Customer-Driven Without Being Customer-Led

THE SEVEN MYTHS OF CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT......Page 3
Contents......Page 7
Figures......Page 11
Acknowledgements......Page 13
Introduction......Page 14
The dangers of customer leadership......Page 17
What is really happening?......Page 21
Myth 1: Customer retention is the key to increased profitability......Page 22
Myth 2: Divesting unprofitable customers will increase profitability overall......Page 25
Myth 3: Customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty......Page 28
Myth 4: Repeat purchase is the same as customer loyalty......Page 31
Myth 5: Organizations should develop relationships with their customers......Page 34
Myth 6: One-to-one marketing is the ultimate goal......Page 37
Myth 7: Technology is the primary enabler of customer focus......Page 41
A different approach......Page 44
2 Testing the water: Understanding where you are today......Page 45
Picking up customer signals......Page 48
Business-to-business customers......Page 52
What research does not tell you......Page 55
New technology, new danger......Page 58
Substituting benchmarking for thought......Page 60
Ten ways to gain real customer insight......Page 62
3 Look before you leap: Developing a customer-focused strategy......Page 66
What is customer-focused strategy?......Page 68
Strategy in context......Page 71
Developing customer-focused strategy......Page 74
Appraising the world outside......Page 78
Seeking to be different......Page 82
Leading on cost......Page 85
Focusing on markets or customers......Page 86
The customer lifecycle......Page 89
Deciding and evaluating alternatives......Page 93
Action planning......Page 96
4 Measuring your way to success: Allocating resources for maximum effect......Page 99
The failure of measurement......Page 101
Customer attitude measures......Page 102
Customer retention measures......Page 103
Customer value measures......Page 105
The failure of management information systems......Page 109
Towards customer value......Page 113
Customer value analysis in action......Page 118
The pitfalls and problems......Page 123
The benefits of value-based management......Page 125
5 Don’t keep it too simple, stupid: The need for a segmented approach......Page 127
Segment or die......Page 129
Understanding customers’ needs and motivations......Page 130
From data to intelligence......Page 136
From intelligence to hypothesis......Page 142
From hypothesis to appraisal......Page 146
From appraisal to strategy......Page 147
From strategy to results......Page 149
Pitfalls and problems......Page 152
Segmentation: a postscript......Page 154
6 Lining up the ducks: Aligning the company for customer focus......Page 156
Aligning finance......Page 158
Aligning product strategy......Page 159
Aligning the proposition: from product to profit......Page 162
Brand alignment......Page 164
Aligning distribution......Page 166
Aligning customer communication......Page 168
Loyalty programmes......Page 174
Alignment: a postscript......Page 179
7 Are you the problem? The role of leadership in creating customer focus......Page 180
Data-less decision making......Page 182
Rearranging the deckchairs......Page 184
The pitfalls of project teams......Page 185
Best practice is sometimes best left alone......Page 186
Incentivizing inappropriate behaviour......Page 188
Technology turmoil......Page 191
Everyone embraces change enthusiastically......Page 195
Reorganizing for focus......Page 199
Changing a light bulb......Page 203
8 Bringing the focus alive: A practical action plan......Page 204
Managing the customer focus process......Page 206
The internal review......Page 209
Customer dynamics and needs......Page 211
Segment objectives and propositions......Page 214
Customer-management objectives, strategy and tactics......Page 216
Channel strategies and implementation......Page 223
Testing and performance measurement......Page 224
Customer and market knowledge management......Page 227
Change planning......Page 229
Technology strategy......Page 230
Index......Page 234