During a recent customer service workshop, I was reminded again of the outstanding work done by Jan Carlzon on "Moments of Truth" - this great idea that a moment of truth is any "opportunity that a customer gets to create and develop  an impression of your business." 

In his book, “Reorganize for resilience, putting customers at the centre of your business” (Harvard Business Press, 2009) Ranjay Gulati demonstrates that companies looking to reestablish themselves after the recession will need to take an “outside-in” approach to customer service.  Customer centricity is not just a good idea; it is fundamental to business survival.  The customer centric approach to business requires both insight and action. These companies who organize around the customer are characterized by their agility, their ability to work across silos  and their obsession  with producing solutions to customers problems rather than simply trying to move products or services. 

There is more than enough evidence to link a company's financial performance to its ability to successfully execute on a marketing plan. If marketers are to gain credibility in the boardroom, they will need to demonstrate an ability to design and deliver on a marketing plan that:

The concept of an "Academy" dates back to the time of Plato.  

academy |əˈkadəmē|
noun ( pl. -mies)

This is a great book for marketers looking to engage around the sustainability debate. What sounds like an oxymoron, "Sustainability Marketing", is examined as part of the evolutionary process of marketing thought. The authors propose that this approach needs to be brought into the mainstream of marketing. They suggest that sustainability marketing is marketing that is:

Surviving and thriving in the modern world of business, means determining, defining and delivering a competitive value proposition to your customers.

As I work with sales teams both in South Africa and abroad, I am amazed how quickly they respond to the question, “Why should I buy from you?” with a somewhat vanilla “because of my personal service.” Whilst service is to be commended, the research shows that that customers tend to punish bad service more readily than they reward delightful service. Delighting customers doesn’t build loyalty, rather reducing your customers’ effort –the work they must do to get their problem solved- does. 

Creating and communicating value –by Andy Brough

If you aim to survive In the modern world of business, determining competitive advantage is a non-negotiable. This week as I worked with two different sales teams to define their  competitive advantage , I was struck by how quickly they responded to the question, “Why should I buy from you?” with a somewhat vanilla “because of my personal service.” Whilst service is to be commended, Dixon, Freeman, and Toman, (2010) observed that customers tend to punish bad service more readily than they reward delightful service. Delighting customers doesn’t build loyalty, rather reducing their effort –the work they must do to get their problem solved- does.

If ever there was a great example of how to close a deal on the phone, it must be Chris Varick, Vin Diesel’s character in the movie “Boiler Room”. The particular scene I am thinking of shows Varick coaching his sales team on how to sell options to an unsuspecting doctor using every 'schmooze' closing technique in the book. It truly is a master class in closing and his “students” are left completely overwhelmed at his powers of persuasion.  Of course, the only problem is that (without completely spoiling the movie if you havent seen it) the company is a scam, the products don’t actually exist, and any clients who are suckered in are eventually left high and dry.