The Cult of the Customer. Create an Amazing Customer Experience That Turns Satisfied Customers Into Customer Evangelists

What you need to know about your customers Now more than ever, every interaction you have with customers is critical. Customers today have unlimited information at their fingertips—and can influence the purchase decisions and behaviors of millions of others. With this comes a shift in the balance of power, and every company must come to terms with the fact that the customer is in control. Interacting with customers in the way they want is an essential business strategy and in many industries, the key to business success. Executives still refer to B2B and B2C business models, as though companies control demand by going to customers with products and services. But as Bill Price and David Jaffe (authors of The Best Service is No Service) show, a new business model is emerging in which the customer directs the relationship. It is becoming a world of «Me2B»—one in which the customer, not the business, dictates the terms of engagement. In order for your business to thrive, you must create positive experiences to fulfill a range of customer needs. Though the mediums for customer engagement continuously evolve, Price and Jaffe show that customer needs remain unchanging. In Your Customer Rules!, they define a critical hierarchy of seven needs that your company can meet and apply as a methodology. Throughout this practical guidebook, Price and Jaffe share examples of companies who succeed by meeting these seven needs, including Amazon, Apple, IKEA, Nordstrom, USAA, Shoes of Prey, Vente-Privee, and Yamato Transport, as well as those that didn't. Your Customer Rules! offers tailored advice for companies at every stage, from nimble startups to legacy firms with established customer service practices—and everyone in between. With a simple, elegant solution for driving lasting value for customers, Your Customer Rules! is a clear guide for strengthening customer relationships and competing on more than price. It is essential reading for executives at all levels—business owners, marketing managers, and anyone who works directly with customers.

UnSelling is about everything but the sell. We put all of our focus on the individual purchase transaction, while putting the rest of our business actions second. We've become blind to customer service, support, branding, experiences and even product quality. Sixty percent of a purchasing decision is made before a customer even contacts you. We have funnel vision, and it needs to stop. Unselling is about the big picture: creating repeat customers, not one-time buyers. Create loyal clients that refer others, not faceless numbers. Becoming the go-to company for something, before they even need you. You don't need social media, but you can be connecting with your clients socially. Your video doesn't have to be viral in front of a million people, just contagious in front of your specific market. Content, connection, engagement. It's time to separate from the pack of noise. It's time to UnSell.

The marketer's guide to modernizing platforms and practices Marketing in the digital era is a whole new game: it's fundamentally about competing on the customer experience. Marketers must integrate a complex set of technologies to capture the customer's digital body language—and thereby deliver the right experiences, at the right times, via the right channels. This approach represents a formidable technological and practical challenge that few marketers have experience with. The methods that enable marketers to meet this challenge are emerging from an unexpected place: the world of software development. The Agile methodologies that once revolutionized software development are now revolutionizing marketing. Agile provides the foundation for alignment between the marketing and product management sides. It can unleash a whole array of new marketing opportunities for growth hacking as well as for «baking» marketing directly into your products or services. Beyond that, as a discipline it can serve as a bridge to strategic alignment, positioning the chief marketing officer alongside the chief product officer as the two primary drivers of the business. Written by a premier practitioner of modern marketing, this book will provide you with: Insights on the evolution of product development and management in the organization—and why marketing must partner with them in the new era An understanding of Agile methods and their application to marketing A plan for integrating Agile with your traditional methods Tactics to drive alignment with product management A pathway to becoming the steward of customer experience Rich with examples, case studies, illustrations, and exercises drawn from the author's wide-ranging experience (from startups to a top global technology company), The Agile Marketer will help you transform marketing in your organization, in spirit and practice—and help realize its critical roles in product management and the customer experience.

Your customers are your future. Smartphones, social media and the internet have given customers access to more information than ever before. If your business fails them, they will switch to your competitor and never return. So how do you keep them? By mapping their journeys, identifying potential hazards and reshaping your business with customer experience (CX) at its heart. From services to products, online to in-person, small-scale to multinational, your customers’ loyalty depends on how you interact with them. Transform Customer Experience is your ultimate guide to putting your customer first. Author and CX expert Isabella Villani shows how you can implement a customer strategy from planning to execution. Transform Customer Experience offers real-life insights into effective strategies for developing and implementing Customer Experience (CX) programs in a range of corporate, governmental and non-profit environments. • Shows you how to address dimensions of diversity in the customer base • Outlines customer journey mapping • Discusses the implications of customers’ omnichannel engagement • Addresses the importance of positive employee experience in establishing a supportive CX culture. Transform Customer Experience explains why you need to embed customer experience in your organisation and shows you how to do it.

How organisations can drive growth in the Customer Economy The Digital Revolution has changed the business landscape in remarkable ways and will continue to do so. Organisations across industries and around the world are being disrupted and digitised at increasing pace – putting far more power in the hands of both customers and end-consumers. The traditional inside-out, functionally-siloed business model, typical of the product and sales-led growth era is over. The Customer Catalyst shows how organisations can put customers truly at the heart of their business and catalyse genuine, sustainable growth. Future business models are no longer about functions – they are beginning to revolve around customers. Customer-led companies will, over time, unpack their static functional activities and transform their structure. Customer advocates already wield massive influence in a customer’s buying process, and this is only set to increase. This is already changing the role and nature of business functions and Sales is no longer seen as the only source of growth. The Customer Economy is placing greater demands on businesses and offers greater rewards to the businesses that meet and exceed customer expectations. This invaluable book will enable readers to: Lead their organisations to more profitable and sustainable growth Transform their organisations to become truly customer-centric with the C-change growth engine Explore in-depth stories from leaders of companies such as Zoom, Signify, Starling Bank, Ritz Carlton, Microsoft and Finastra with frank advice and practical steps to achieve success Help their companies adapt to, and profit from, the new realities of the Customer Economy Gain important insights from business leaders on best practice in key customer-centric growth areas The Customer Catalyst shows businesses how to survive the transition to the Customer Economy, transform to align around today’s dynamic customer needs, and ultimately, drive sustainable business growth.

Deliver maximum value to customers and clients with this blueprint to customer success  In  The Customer Education Playbook: How Leading Companies Engage, Convert, and Retain Customers , customer learning experts Barry Kelly and Daniel Quick explain how teaching customers to best engage with your products and services is the key to converting them from prospects to loyal advocates of your brand.  In this book, you’ll examine how to define success for your customer, create a customer education development plan, and pursue customer success and revenue metrics. You’ll also:  Learn why you should prioritize customer learning and invest in customer training and education Discover how to create a detailed customer success and retention plan that emphasizes delivered value Determine how to implement a learning strategy that maximizes and scales lifetime customer value Perfect for founders, executives, managers, and practitioners at companies of all kinds,  The Customer Education Playbook  is especially practical for SaaS company executives seeking to extract and provide maximum value from their customers over the long haul.

Gain, engage, and retain customers with positive experiences A positive customer experience is absolutely essential to keeping your business relevant. Today's business owners need to know how to connect and engage with their customers through a variety of different channels, including online reviews and word of mouth. Customer Experience For Dummies helps you listen to your customers and offers friendly, practical, and easy-to-implement solutions for incorporating customer engagement into your business plans and keep the crowds singing your praises. The book will show you simple and attainable ways to increase customer experience and generate sales growth, competitive advantage, and profitability. You'll get the know-how to successfully optimize social media to create more loyal customers, provide feedback that keeps them coming back for more, become a trustworthy and transparent entity that receives positive reviews, and so much more. Gives you the tools you need to target customers more precisely Helps you implement new social and mobile strategies Shows you how to generate and maintain customer loyalty in order to achieve success through multiple channels Explains how a fully-engaged customer can help you outperform the competition Learn how to respond effectively to customer feedback Your brand's reputation and success is your lifeblood, and Customer Experience For Dummies shows you how to stay relevant, add value, and win and retain customers.

The practical, expert guide to reaching the new consumer Customer-Centric Marketing is a comprehensive game plan on succeeding in the new marketing landscape by focusing on the customer. Written by one of Canada's top communications pioneers, this book examines the complex forces influencing the rise of empowered and demanding customers and outlines a framework that helps marketers exploit these forces to engage them. You'll find actionable advice to help you pull together these seemingly independent elements to create a customer-centric business model that is ideally positioned to take on the dynamic requirements of today's marketing environment, and learn the strategic rules that CMOs can use to model their organizations to win. Valuable insights on customer experience, innovation, content, social media, and operating strategies will help you formulate a workable plan, and when combined with the practical guidance and expert advice, enable you to put your plan into action today. The new purchasing journey has created a whole new set of customer touch points with unique needs, and has identified key activity areas that drive success or failure in the marketplace. This guide helps you sort it all out, and make your organization rise to the top. Define the new customer-purchasing journey Identify and influence the new consumer Engage, nurture, and utilize brand advocates to spread your message Position your organization to win in the new marketplace As customers evolve, smart companies evolve with them, and, with a track record that speaks for itself, putting the customer at the center of strategic thinking is the key to a winning plan,. Consumer evolution is happening more rapidly than ever before, and keeping your organization out in front has never been more important. Customer-Centric Marketing provides the concrete framework, expert insight, and actionable advice that turns strategy into reality.

Deliver a better business experience, for every kind of customer A «one-size fits all» approach to customer service is no longer viable. Businesses competing on service need to understand and cater to customers' racial, ethnic, religious, generational, and geographic differences in order to meet or exceed customers' service expectations. Crafting the Customer Experience to People Not Like You shows how companies, brands, and products struggling to differentiate themselves in a sea of sameness can foster long-term loyalty and brand preference with exceptional and customized customer service. A detailed guide to core customer groups including women, the five generations (matures, Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z), racial and ethnic segments, such as Hispanics and African-Americans, as well as those who are defined by key lifestyle and life-stage attributes Includes onsumer insights that will help business leaders deliver a better business experience with every customer You cannot control the economy, the stock market or the costs of goods and labor. But you can control your organization's customer service. It's an empowering thought. Customer service is 100% in your control at all times and it's more important than ever.

What's the Secret? gives you an inside look at the world-class customer service strategies of some of today's best companies. You'll learn how companies like Disney, Nordstrom, and The Ritz-Carlton get 50,000 employees to deliver world-class customer service on a consistent basis- and how your company can too. Packed with insider knowledge and a wealth of proven best practices, author John DiJulius will show you how your company can emulate the world's best customer service providers.