What is your iCustomer Level

If the customer interaction (iCustomer) is an important part of marketing you should be able to measure it. But first, let’s review a few of other popular “scores” out there. Net Promoter is a customer loyalty metric developed by (and a registered trademark of) Fred Reichheld, Bain & Company, and Satmetrix. It was introduced by Read More …

Does the Customer Experience mimic the Employee Experience?

After reading The Zappos Experience: 5 Principles to Inspire, Engage, and WOW it really got my mind spinning. So much has been written and said about Zappos that I can’t say the book surprised me but it did allow me to gain a deeper understanding of the internal workings. More so, the book really generated Read More …

Brilliant – Learn by Doing

Some kids learn by listening; others learn by doing. Geoff Mulgan gives a short introduction to the Studio School, a new kind of school in the UK where small teams of kids learn by working on projects that are, as Mulgan puts it, “for real.” One theme I keep hearing over and over is engagement Read More …

Is Zappos the Next Toyota

Toyota has led us through the turn of the century and beyond establishing “Respect for People” as one of the most important ingredients of the Toyota Production System and Lean Thinking. This has led to establishing a culture of Servant Leadership versus the more traditional command and control type organization. This type of thinking in Read More …

Lean Sales and Marketing: The iCustomer

One of the main reasons that I have attached marketing to the Lean methodology is the simple approach that is used and termed “Learn by Doing.” The Toyota Production System is known for Kaizen/PDCA that is explicitly built upon learning-by-doing effects. Kaizen is a daily process, the purpose of which goes beyond simple productivity improvement. Read More …

Is Customer Centricity the Answer?

I have come to believe that in many successful companies there is not a lot of low-hanging fruit left. They simply cannot make efficiency changes that will create significant differences in the market place. Does that mean you should stop? Not at all, that’s part of the dilemma. Your competitors are improving so that means Read More …