About the Book
How much more profit could you make if you had customers who couldn’t imagine doing business with anyone but you? In your dreams! Tell that to Virgin Atlantic or Harley Davidson.
How great would life be if 40% of your new business simply knocked on your door without you having spent a cent advertising for it? Impossible! Tell that to First Direct.
The companies in this book have managed to turn customers into advocates. Advocates who constantly refer their friends and colleagues to those businesses. Why? Because those companies have created a Branded Customer Experience®. They have managed the relationship to the point where customers can't imagine wanting to do business with anyone else.
How can you gain this unbeatable competitive advantage? Managing the Customer Experience shows you how. It takes you through the step-by-step process of creating Loyalty by Design. It shows you how to re-think your business from the customer’s point of view and then design and deliver a customer experience that drives loyalty and profitability.
Table of Contents:
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
1. THE AGE OF EXPERIENCE
Evolving brands
Experiencing the brand
Branding the experience
The Branded Customer Experience
2. BEYOND SATISFACTION
Satisfaction is not enough
Loyalty at work
From loyalty to advocacy
3. LOYALTY BY DESIGN
Define Customer values
Design and brand the customer experience
Equip People and deliver consistently
Sustain and enhance performance
4. A NEW BRAND OF LEADERSHIP
Deserving to be followed
Understand your customers
Bring the courage of conviction
Unleash the power of people
Manage the business from the customer in
Create leaders at every level
Create an obsessive culture
5. CREATING TRIAD POWER
Marketing’s part in the triad
HR’s real potential
Operations and customer service
Partnership behaviors
6. PEOPLE FIRST
Hire people with the competencies to satisfy
Train employees to deliver experiences
Reward for the right behaviors
Drive the behaviors from the top
7. THE BRANDED SALES EXPERIENCE
Start with segmentation but drive to personalization
Design a sales process that creates value for customers
Align the sales process with the whole organization
Train,coach and reward the desired sales behaviors
Manage the sales process to deliver a Branded Customer Experience
8. PUTTING THE "E" IN EXPERIENCE
Building customer confidence
We live in a multi-channel world
Blending high-tech with high-touch
Aligning the inside and the outside
Online in practice
Building brands in an online world
9. THE BRANDED PRODUCT EXPERIENCE: MORE THAN A DOUGHNUT
Experiencing the bear
The affluentials
The last of the real sports cars
Multi-sensory experience or doughnut?
10. KEEPING THE EDGE
Brand revitalization
Keeping the edge
11. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The secrets of uncommon practice
Forum's research themes
12. LOYALTY BY DESIGN IN PRACTICE
Define customer values
Design the Branded Customer Experience
Leadership results
The end or the beginning?
About the Author :
Shaun Smith, Senior Vice President, Customer Experience Practice, Forum Europe, an FT Knowledge Company Shaun is one of the leading consultants in helping organizations differentiate through customer service and deliver their brand through their people. He is an inspirational presenter with a wealth of worldwide practical experience. He has been featured on the 'Ask The Expert' program on CNBC a number of times and is the co-editor of the book Uncommon Practice: People who deliver a great brand experience. He is also the author of the Organizational Alignment Survey used by companies worldwide to assess employee opinions and assess the need for change. Shaun began his career in the airline industry becoming Head of Customer Service, Sales and Marketing Training world-wide for British Airways. He became Managing-Director of Cathay-Performa consulting specializing in advising airlines on customer service strategies. Shaun then ran his own company, Service Skills International, based in Hong Kong, for eleven years consulting to many leading international companies before joining Forum. Joe Wheeler, Executive Vice President, Customer Experience Practice, Forum, an FT Knowledge Company Joe Wheeler is based in Forum's Boston office and leads the firm's Customer Experience consulting practice. Over the years he has led many Branded Customer Experience(R) client engagements that have achieved significant business results. Organizations that Joe has worked with include Unilever, RBC Financial, Air Products, Fairmount Hotels, Nortel Networks, FleetBoston, AT&T, and Dow Corning. A sought-after speaker, he has provided keynote addresses to business executives around the world, including presentations for The Conference Board and various industry associations.
Review :
"Refreshing and practical. "Managing the Customer Experience "shows companies how to build the power of their brand. Wheeler and Smith inspire your organization to deliver a different and more valuable offering to your targeted customers." Bradley T. Gale, author of "Managing Customer Value "and President, Customer Value, Inc. "Delivering customers a consistently superior set of benefits is probably the most important driver of value creation. This book provides a number of practical insights which will guide the reader on the difficult but fascinating path leading to great customer value delivery." Jean-Claude Larreche, The Alfred H. Heineken Professor of Marketing, INSEAD "A fascinating and insightful book which is equally relevant for the leaders of professional services firms looking to build 'trusted advisor' relationships with their key clients." Michael Bray, Chief Executive, Clifford Chance "Managing the Customer Experience "is an incredibly practical guide for building customer loyalty in the new century." Marshall Goldsmith - Founding Director of the Financial Times Knowledge Dialogue and the Alliance for Strategic Leadership. "Smith and Wheeler show us what the 21st Century Company has to look like if it is to be successful. They show that great brands are not primarily built through advertising but by the experience and value they offer customers." Professor Peter Doyle, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick "This book shows how to unlock the full value potential of the customer experience, supported by a wealth of examples from world leaders such as Tesco and Harley-Davidson. The connection made between the Marketing, Human Resources and Customer Service functions is very powerful. This, combined with the emphasis on the role of leadership, makes "Managing the Customer Experience "required reading for CEO's, Marketing, Human Resource, and Operations Directors, and their teams." William Gordon, Strategy Partner, Accenture and co-author of "Brand Manners". "In their book, "Managing the Customer Experience", the authors bring forward the concept of loyalty and advocacy in customer experience in a very targeted way ! unearthing one of the most essential branding rules, which is to make your preferred customers your best ambassadors." Marc Gobe, President and Executive Creative Director, Desgrippes Gobe Group, author of "Emotional Branding: the New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People". "If you are interested in increasing customer loyalty, "Managing the Customer Experience "is the book for you. Most books on the subject focus on your company's image and tell why it's important. This book makes the business case for branding but then shows you how to do it. Full of practical "how to" advice, illustrative anecdotes, and application exercises, it is not only a good read, but a significant investment in your future success." Richard Whiteley, author of "The Customer Driven Company" "Managing the Customer Experience "provides a comprehensive blueprint for any organization that wants to deliver a customer experience that supports and builds its brand. Smith and Wheeler bring this intriguing concept to life through a well-researched variety of examples, insights, methods, and tools. Don't just read this book -- use it!" Scott Timmins, Vice President, College Marketing, Millea Hall, Babson College
