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

Figures. Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. The seven myths of customer management: Debunking some established wisdoms. The Dangers of Customer Leadership. What's Actually Happening? Myth 1: Customer Retention is the Key to Increased Profitability. Myth 2: Divesting Unprofitable Customers Will Increase Profitability Overall. Myth 3: Customer Satisfaction Leads to Customer Loyalty. Myth 4: Repeat Purchase is the Same as Customer Loyalty. Myth 5: Organisations Should Develop Relationships with their Customers. Myth 6: One--to--one Marketing is the Ultimate Goal. Myth 7: Technology is the Primary Enabler of Customer Focus. A Different Approach. 2. Testing the water: Understanding where you are today. Picking Up Customer Signals. Business--to--Business Customers. What Research Does Not Tell You. New Technology, New Danger. Substituting Benchmarking for Thought. Ten Ways to Gain Real Customer Insight. 3. Look before you leap: Developing a customer focused strategy. What is customer--focused strategy? Strategy in Context. Developing Customer Focused Strategy. Appraising the world outside. Seeking to be different. Leading on Cost. Focusing on markets or customers. The Customer Lifecycle. Deciding and Evaluating Alternatives. Action Planning. 4. Measuring your way to success: Allocating resources for maximum effect. The failure of Measurement. Customer attitude Measures. Customer Retention Measures. Customer Value Measures. The Failure of Management Information Systems. Towards Customer Value. Customer Value Analysis in Action. The Pitfalls and Problems. The Benefits of value--based Management. 5. Dona t Keep it too Simple, Stupid: The need for a Segmented Approach. Segment or Die! Understanding Customersa Needs and Motivations. Collecting the Data. From Data to Intelligence. From Intelligence to Hypothesis. From Hypothesis to Appraisal. From Appraisal to Strategy. From Strategy to Results. Pitfalls and Problems. Segmentation: A Postscript. 6. Lining up the Ducks: Aligning the Company for Customer Focus. Aligning Finance. Aligning Product Strategy. Aligning the Proposition: From Product to Profit. Brand Alignment. Aligning Distribution. Aligning Customer Communications. Customer Loyalty Programmes. Alignment: A Postscript 7. Are You the Problem? The Role of Leadership in Creating Customer Focus. Data--less Decision--making. The Pitfalls of Project Teams. Best Practice is Sometimes Best Left Alone. Incentivising Inappropriate Behaviour. Technology Turmoil. Everybody Embraces Change Enthusiastically. Reorganising for Focus. Changing a Light Bulb. 8. Bringing the Focus Alive: A Practical Action Plan. An Action Plan for Customer Focus. Managing the Customer Focus Process. The Internal Review. Customer Dynamics and Needs. Segment Objectives and Propositions. Customer Management Objectives, Strategy and Tactics. Channel Strategies and Implementation. Testing and Performance Measurement. Customer and Market Knowledge Management. Change Planning. Technology Strategy. Index.