Understand Consumer Psychology to Drive Profits and Growth

Want to know exactly what's driving your customer's behavior?
"NOW YOU CAN "

"The Customer Service Solution" explains how consumers perceive services and shows you how to enhance the customer experience--every time.

In this economic climate, the customer service experience is more critical than ever. Most leading service firms advocate the TLC mantra: Think Like a Customer. That's a good practice, but first you have to understand what your customer is thinking and feeling. Today's business leaders cannot afford to neglect the psychological principles that govern customer satisfaction and long-term loyalty.

What are the factors that really determine customer satisfaction? Two of the nation's leading authorities on service psychology, Sriram Dasu and Richard Chase, have written this groundbreaking guide that identifies and demystifies the psychological triggers behind customer behavior. You'll go where customer satisfaction surveys, mystery shoppers, and focus groups can't--and learn exactly why customers respond and behave the way they do.

With findings drawn from behavioral science research, this book provides all the tools you need to evaluate your current service platforms and design future strategies to enhance customer perceptions positively and drive your sales.

"The Customer Service Solution" illustrates why even companies with high levels of satisfaction are missing tremendous opportunities by neglecting the emotional elements that govern consumer interactions.

This book will show you how to: Shape and manage customer perceptions Understand implicit versus explicit outcomes Develop the roles of control and choice among buyers Design emotionally intelligent processes Build trust among customers

Whatever your business may be--healthcare, hospitality, financial services, e-commerce, and more--this book is an essential tool to help you increase profits by leveraging your company's customer experience.

PRAISE FOR "THE CUSTOMER SERVICE SOLUTION: "

""Harnessing the power of emotions will help to drive an exceptional customer experience creating customers for life to help your business thrive. Finally, a guide to help us better understand how to do this."" -- James Merlino, MD, Chief Experience Officer, Cleveland Clinic

""Required reading for anyone designing a service encounter."" -- James Heskett, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School, coauthor of The Service Profit Chain and Service Future

""I have always known that our customers shop with us because they want to, not because they have to. How to make them want to is the secret that this great book unlocks."" -- Kevin Davis, President and CEO, Bristol Farms

"" Dasu and Chase] share easy-to-understand ideas and guidance to operations managers who typically do not think about the psychology of customers in designing their services."" -- Mary Jo Bitner, PhD, Professor and Executive Director, Center for Services Leadership, W. P. Carey School, Arizona State University

""Dasu and Chase provide an excellent set of ideas for delivering emotional customer service experiences through systems and operations."" -- Rodolfo Medina, Vice President, Marketing & Commercial, Rock in Rio

""This book provides valuable insights to managing and molding the customer's emotional journey, leading to ultimate satisfaction and sustainable loyalty."" -- Ali V. Kasikci, Regional Managing Director, Orient-Express

To meet increasing competition and the increasing demands of customers, Woodruff and Gardial argue that businesses must redesign and improve information processes to help managers learn about customers and markets, and these processes must be linked to key customer value dimensions.

"Know Your Customer" incorporates newer approaches to customer value measurement into an new, integrated information process called customer value determination, basing satisfaction measurement on the concept of value. Every step of customer value determination is discussed in depth, with guides to both qualitative and quantitative measurement techniques. The book also discusses applications of customer value determination to decisions across the entire organization, ranging from strategic to tactical.

This cutting-edge reference represents a new phase in the talkRA project-an initiative dedicated to improving the discipline of revenue assurance (RA) for communication providers. From blog to podcasts and now a book, the project offers a platform for a select group of RA experts to share ideas and best practices in revenue assurance, revenue management, business intelligence, and fraud prevention in telecommunications and other industries. Drawing on the expertise and insights of some of the leading minds in RA, Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers supplies high-powered ideas and techniques for the effective management, planning, strategy formulation, and measurement of RA performance. Presented as a series of articles on current and emerging topics of interest, it provides extensive and multi-faceted guidance to help readers move up the scale from basic checks to optimizing performance. Covers the fundamentals of revenue assurance Explains the relationship between revenue assurance and fraud management and how revenue assurance sits within the wider context of enterprise risk management and the control environment Provokes readers to think of creative ways to adapt RA to the needs of their business, whether they are initiating the RA process or seeking to take an established RA function to the next level Shows how to measure the financial benefits delivered by the RA team and how to appraise the RA maturity of the whole business Illustrates how to perform root cause analysis through Q&A discussion of how top experts deal with a variety of leakages Identifies trends in how RA techniques are changing, and links these to developments in tools and technology Entertains through sympathetic and sometimes irreverently humorous observations about the working life of an RA practitioner The book provides an analysis of the drivers for RA products and services, enabling RA suppliers and consultants to compare their competitive offerings with what customers really want and need. Complete with real-world tips and case examples, it supplies the well-rounded understanding that will enable you to best fit the needs of your business and best support its objectives. This book will give you the confidence to determine the most effective and efficient methods to achieve and maintain healthy revenue streams in the ever-changing landscape of electronic communications. Praise for: ... draws upon the actual experience of a number of RA professionals-those who have actually lived through the journey, learned from setbacks, and adapted their approaches to determine best practices in the field. -Julian Hebden, Director of Enterprise Information Management, Telstra

The ability to look after your customers is crucial to anyone who wants to advance their career. Written by Di McLanachan, a leading expert on customer care as both a coach and a practitioner, this book quickly teaches you the insider secrets you need to know to in order to keep your customers happy and coming back. The highly motivational 'in a week' structure of the book provides seven straightforward chapters explaining the key points, and at the end there are optional questions to ensure you have taken it all in. There are also cartoons and diagrams throughout, to help make this book a more enjoyable and effective learning experience. So what are you waiting for? Let this book put you on the fast track to success!

The customer service book that will help you blitz the competition and win life-long customers! The options customers have today to get what they want are so plentiful that not a single company, or representative of that company, can afford to be powerless in the competitive world of service. Through the story of a $6,000 Egg, Deb and Todd Duncan reveal that even the smallest interactions have the power to create lifelong patrons, or on the flipside, alienate once-devoted customers. The 10 Golden Rules of Customer Service represents the costly mistake of removing customer satisfaction from the bottom line. The teachable moments divulged throughout the book transcend industry, position, and career level and encourage everyone to contribute, coaching readers to go above and beyond in order to get ahead and create a one-of-a-kind customer experience. Perfect for readers of Be Our Guest, The Service Culture, and Raving Fans! "The $6,000 Egg blows up the traditional customer service model and presents a new, exciting, and revolutionary way to win customers for life. Todd and Deb's 10 NEW Golden Rules will transform the bottom line of both he provider and the customer forever!"-Dave Ramsey, New York Times bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio show host

Strong customer-focused companies have a clear, relevant promise which they obsessively deliver day-in, day-out. At the same time, they relentlessly drive the market by evolving the offer in the face of market developments and opportunities. Because they meet customer needs better than the competition, again and again, they are able to generate sustainable, profitable, market-leading organic growth. The problem the book addresses is how to achieve this. The authors identify five key steps using their framework for success: Offer a clear, relevant "customer promise"Build "customer trust" by reliably delivering that promise"Continuously improve" the promise, while still reliably delivering itDrive the market by "innovating" beyond the familiarSupport all this with an "open organization" that promotes frank discussion based on clear facts and market feedback.

Above all the book runs counter to the fashionable claim that the starting-point for business success should be to find a 'blue-sky', 'out-of-the-box' breakthrough innovation. Barwise and Meehan use many compelling cases to illustrate how managers can find ways within their existing network and organization to achieve long term growth.

The Simple Truths of Service is a customer service classic that will grab your heart and not let go! More than five million people have been touched by this story. Have you? Your competitive edge in today's business environment is in how your customers are treated. If you want to succeed, then it's time to get creative about customer service! The Simple Truths of Service is an unforgettable true story about a very special young man who takes a chance and changes the culture of a grocery store. Each and every member of your team will be coming up with their own ideas of how to deliver that extra special service after they read this book. Johnny is young man living with Down Syndrome who changes the culture of a grocery store by being creative and giving the customers more than they expect. He puts his own personal signature on each and every interaction. Read about Johnny and other great customer experience stories that will have your customer service team bursting with new ways to make your company stand out from the crowd.

PRAISE FOR THE BRAND WHO CRIED "WOLF" "Powerful brands command. Read this insightful book and allowScott to share how to make your brand stand out and deliver youbuckets of money!" Mark Victor Hansen, bestselling author of the ChickenSoup for the Soul(r) series "Deming's approach to branding is not about gimmicks. It's aboutrelationships-the real formula for building and sustaining yourbrand and your business." Rieva Lesonsky, Editorial Director, Entrepreneurmagazine "It doesn't matter what you sell. We're all selling service.Deming's book shows businesses of all sizes how to createincredible brand power through innovative service levels. TheBrand Who Cried Wolf will not end up on your book shelf; itwill stay in your briefcase or on your desk as a daily referenceguide. If you want to grow your business, get this book!" John Valletta, President, Super 8 Motels "Deming's revelations on creating an emotionally engagingexperience between you and your customer are without equal!" Joel Bauer, bestselling coauthor of How to PersuadePeople Who Don't Want to Be Persuaded "The Brand Who Cried Wolf explains how every customerinteraction, large or small, impacts your brand's image andreputation. This is an easy-to-read book veryone inyour organization needs to own." Patrick Sweeney, coauthor of the New York Timesbestseller Succeed on Your Own Terms; cohost of thenationally syndicated radio show Winning in Business "Deming delivers an essential message to businesses and deliversin a way you won't forget. You know the fairy tales, just adapt itto your unique brand: you!" Wayne Kandas, CFP and host of nationally syndicatedBloomberg Radio "Stories sell, and that's what helps sell the ideas in thisbrilliant book. If you're in business-any business-you need thisbook. Get it now!" Robert G. Allen, bestselling coauthor of Cracking theMillionaire Code; CEO of The Enlightened MillionaireInstitute Chapter 8: Just Call Me Slick! People Really Hate to be "Sold" What We ve Accomplished So Far By now you know that branding is not exclusively about businessidentity in the form of a logo or advertising. You mightrecognize the Nike brand from its iconic swoosh logo. Youmight immediately think of McDonald s when you think of fastfood because McDonald s commercials are ubiquitous, but bythis point, you know that icons and awareness do not constitute abrand. You also know that big businesses are not the only brands. Your business does not have to be the size of GM, Microsoft, AOLTime Warner or Wal-Mart. Your business could be run out ofyour home with you as the sole employee. You could conductbusiness from a small office with a single assistant, or in a storewith several employees. The size, scope, and location of yourbusiness does not change the fact that it s a brand, norshould any of these factors truly impact your brand if you refocusing on one-on-one relationships. Businesses are not the only brands, either. Everyindividual is a brand, as are organizations from non-profits topolitical parties to social clubs. For example, the GatesFoundation, the Red Cross, UNICEF, Make-A-Wish Foundation, BoyScouts, Girl Scouts, Kiwanis Clubs, Rotary Clubs, Republican Party,and Democratic Party all are brands. The concept ofbranding I ve been articulating is personal, which meanseveryone needs to develop one. Each category from individuals to organizations tobusinesses large and small brings with it its own branddevelopment challenges. At the same time, however, thesechallenges are minimized when you understand your brandidentity. Throughout this book, I have written about creatingunique and memorable experiences for your customers. Chapter2 defined a brand in terms of establishing relationships with yourcustomers. Chapter 3 distinguished between types ofexperiences you can generate for your customers, and differentiateda brand experience from ones that are merely transactional orsimply meet customer expectations. Chapter 4 highlighted theimportance of changing your perspective to adopt yourcustomer s point of view, rather than emphasize your productor service. Chapter 5 analyzed the results of changing yourperspective. Chapter 6 admonished you to avoid overstatingyour own worth. Finally, Chapter 7 focused on the rippleeffects of your actions. Thus, most of the facets of brandingI ve been articulating since the beginning of this book haveemphasized how you affect the customer s perceptions. In other words, I ve been talking about the customer sconnection to your brand. Now I m going to talk abouthow you perceive your own brand, and about yourconnection to your own brand. Creating An Authentic Brand Identity: Sincerity Can tBe Faked! First, you must take stock of your brand identity. In theIntroduction to this book I stated that everyone is abrand. Everyone has a brand identity, but not everyoneunderstands their own brand correctly, or even knows what itis. You cannot develop an authentic, sincere brand withoutthis understanding. And you cannot create brand evangelists people who trust you and praise your brand every chancethey get without an authentic, sincere brand. Youearn someone s trust through your actions, soyou d better know how to act! Understanding your brand identity, and developing the trust thatturns your customers into evangelists, involves knowing what yourown beliefs and values are. The fact is, when you walk inyour customer s shoes, when you change your perspective todeliver the impossible, you re reflecting a core element ofyour identity, your values, and your beliefs. When you aresincere about trying to understand your customers needs,desires, and what they d truly love from you, a genuineconnection is made that is the foundation of trust between you andyour customers. Compassion and sincerity can t be faked. Branding isnot a matter of putting on a persona that others will like. It s not playing a role, putting on a mask, or pretending all that is superficial, a veneer that covers up the real you. Moreover, a veneer can be quicklyspotted. I don t think there s anyone thathasn t had the experience of being sold. It s uncomfortable precisely because it s notauthentic. The experience simply feels hollow. Thinkabout the slick car salesman who s going to do what ittakes to get you into this car! Maybe he s heavyon the hale fellow well met, demeanor, or drenchesyou with flattery. When the time comes to make an offer onthe car, he engages in an overly dramatic show of anxiety. I m gonna see my manager right now and see if I cantalk him into this one. Between you and me, he s havinga bad day, but I m really gonna work on him. Eventually, the long, drawn out ceremonial dance ends with yousigning the lease or sale papers, but you walk away knowing thewhole experience could have been different, and you dread theprospect of going through it again. Why do you dread it? What has soured you on going throughthe process again? In a word: insincerity. Insincerityis the wolf trotting around in sheep s clothing pretending tobe something he s not. When you experience a wolf insheep s clothing, you re soured on futureinteractions. It is this sort of insincerity that destroys abrand or prevents an authentic one from being established. The car salesman example is cliche, just like the salesgirl at the clothing store who tells you every single piece ofclothing you try on looks so good! Thoughthey re cliche for a reason, we tend to forget just whatthat reason is. We instantly recognize the cliche, butnot what made it true in the first place.

Almost every advertising, promotion, or marketing communications textbook is based on an inside-out approach, focusing on what the marketer wants to communicate to customers and prospects. This text takes a different view - that the marketer and the customer build the ongoing brand value together. Rather than the marketer trying to 'sell', the role of the marketer is to help customer buy. To do that, a customer view is vital and customer insight is essential. Customer insights allow the marketer to understand which audiences are important for a product, what delivery forms are appropriate, and what type of content is beneficial. "Building Customer-Brand Relationships" is themed around the four key elements marketing communicators use in developing programs - audiences, brands, delivery, and content - but provides an innovative approach to marketing communications in the 'push-pull' marketplace that combines traditional outbound communications (advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, and PR) with the inbound or 'pull' media of Internet, mobile communications, social networks, and more. Its 'customer-centric' media planning approach covers media decision before dealing with creative development, and emphasizes measurement and accountability. The text's concepts have been used successfully around the world, and can be adapted and adjusted to any type of product or service.

This invaluable resource is the training manual you need to give your employees the thorough training, review, and--if necessary--overhaul they need in the vitally important area of customer service. If their interactions with you and your employees were the only things your customers knew about your business, what would they say about it? Would they use descriptions such as "uninformed," "rude," "hot-tempered," "uncaring"? For your customer, nothing else represents your business more than your employees; therefore, nothing is more important than arming them with the knowledge and skills they need to find the best solution for every customer. Using scenarios, guidelines, and practice exercises, Customer Service Training 101 will train them in: Creating positive first impressions Speaking and writing effectively Listening attentively Identifying needs Making customers feel valued Confidently handling customer complaints Your business plan is sound. Your product is needed. Your growth strategies are ground-breaking, but poor customer service can bring it all to a crashing halt. Equip you and your employees with the necessary skills before it's too late.

This book contains the latest and most up-to-date research results from the fields of brands, labels and product, presented at the international colloquium COBLI 2021, held in Orleans, France. It covers a wide range of topics from the fields of economics, psychology, information technology and social sciences. In particular, the book deals with various areas of application such as consumer behavior in the omnichannel, the influence of the coronavirus pandemic on attitudes and customer behavior, franchising, origin labelling, transparency in the agri-food industry, tourism and the triptych of brand/label/product. The contributions are gathered under the following main topics: Consumer behavior and decisions, labeling strategy, brand market trends, branding of local brands, territorial impact on brand/label/product, theoretical and managerial research methods.

This book represents the work of some of the contemporary world leaders in marketing. The contributors are authors of a set of path-breaking books on marketing. To ensure sufficient depth of coverage, the contributors have taken the essence of their earlier books and combined it with their latest understanding and cases. This has served to enhance the content and put it in the readers' current context. It is common knowledge that keeping pace with the growing application of marketing requires a novel approach. With new ideas and nuances being discovered every day, it has become a real challenge for marketers and students of marketing to keep up to date on important contemporary marketing concepts. Given its unique approach and thoughtful curation, this book presents readers with diversity of perspectives along with a unique depth of thinking.

Electronic Customer Care (ECC) ist seit Erscheinen der zweiten Auflage ein Bestseller fur Softwareanbieter geworden. Unter dem Begriff Customer Relationship Management (CRM) bieten boomende Firmen Losungen zur Optimierung der Kundenprozesse an. Sie werben mit hoher Kundenzufriedenheit und reduzierten Kosten. Auch traditionelle Softwaregiganten beginnen, Losungen im Bereich Marketing, Sales und Service zu vermarkten. Fur viele Unternehmen allerdings ist die Reorganisation der sogenannten Front-Office-Prozesse Neuland. Auf was mussen Unternehmen achten, wenn sie CRM-Projekte starten? Wichtig ist es, vom Kundenbedurfnis auszugehen und die Kundenbeziehung ganzheitlich zu betrachten. Das Buch abstrahiert die Kundenbeziehung anhand des Customer Buying Cycles und schafft so einen neutralen Orientierungsrahmen fur CRM-Projekte. Die dritte Auflage nimmt neue Themen wie e-Marktplatze in die Betrachtungen auf und bietet einen aktuellen Uberblick uber fuhrende CRM-Anbieter."

Eine Kundenbeschwerde als zunachst einmal unangenehmes Ereignis kann Ausgangspunkt fur beachtliche Qualitatsschube innerhalb eines Unternehmens sein. Damit sowohl die Kunden als auch die Dienstleister als Adressaten fuhlbar und schnell von den Verbesserungen profitieren konnen, mussen die Verantwortlichen sinnvolle und effektive Arbeitsablaufe im Beschwerdemanagement etablieren. In diesem Buch beschreiben anerkannte Praktiker nutzliche, leicht umsetzbare Konzepte. Die Autoren verraten ausserdem, wie man den Teil der Unzufriedenheit entdeckt, den die Kunden gar nicht erst ausdrucklich formulieren. Auch hier liegen grosse Potenziale fur zukunftige Ertrage. Dieses Buch haben vornehmlich Experten aus dem Bereich Finanzdienstleistungen geschrieben. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse sind aber problemlos auf andere Branchen ubertragbar."

Swiping a grocery store's loyal-customer card has become second nature to shoppers these days. "Scoring Points," one of the seminal marketing books of the last decade, tells the story of how British supermarket chain Tesco conceived, launched and developed its hugely successful Clubcard program -- and transformed itself into a winning brand. Authors Clive Humby and Terry Hunt, two key members of the project, and Tim Phillips, a leading business writer and broadcaster, bring a compelling, behind-the-scenes account of Clubcard -- the successes, failures and lessons learned. They show how Tesco made customer loyalty marketing work, even when almost every other loyalty program failed, thanks to vision, a strong team ethic and a company-wide commitment to customer satisfaction. It includes three new chapters, including an examination of the US retail market and the authors' work with both Tesco and Kroger.

Learn how to develop the values proven to boost sales performance, to ensure customers choose you over the competition in today's crowded marketplace. For years, sales people have struggled with cliched views of how they sell, while at the same time customers have become more sophisticated and discerning, stopping off at different or unconventional places in the sales funnel. The result is that the technique of sales people controlling the sales conversation and learning how to influence the customer no longer works. Selling Transformed introduces the new world of selling, and addresses the reasons why sales people are so poorly perceived. Selling Transformed provides fresh, tangible ideas on how to develop better sales practices. Focusing as much on the customers as on the sellers, it explains key theories of selling effectively and introduces four proven strategies that are based on the values customers look for in sales people: authenticity, client-centricity, proactive creativity and being tactfully audacious. Explaining what customers look for in sales people, and advising on how to develop and deliver these values, this is a new type of sales manual guaranteed to improve sales performance.

The sales function is the front--line of any business. Keeping up with the latest sales techniques is essential, as well as ensuring you have a motivated, incentivised and focused sales team well--versed in the basics of selling, from identifying new prospects and getting repeat business to closing the deal. This module gives essential insight into all the key sales drivers such as account management, handling complex sales, selling services, FMCG selling, customer relationships and self--development for sales people.

RockStar Service, Rockstar Profits reveals a new, fast, easy way to increase revenues, grow a business, and create loyal customers for life. Imagine for a moment that your favorite artist, musician, group or rock star came into your office or called you today requesting your product or service. What would you say to them? What would you do to serve them? Now ask yourself: When was the last time I treated a customer or a client like a rock star? What would it do for your business if you treat every customer and client like a rock star? Rockstar Service, Rockstar Profits shows business owners, executives, customer service reps, and others a more effective way for their team to deliver world-class, rockstar customer service to their customers. Inside, business coach David Brownlee teaches how to build rapport in 60 seconds or less, create customized customer service strategies to implement immediately, and how to look at customers in a new light. Rockstar Service, Rockstar Profits reveals how to increase revenues, grow a business, and create raving fans-clients that will never leave.

Based on four empirical studies, Moritz Merkle examines the introduction of humanoid robots to the frontline service encounter in a customer-centric approach focusing on customer expectations and customer responses. The author identifies desirable robotic behavioral cues and shows that service robots meet great acceptance among customers. After service failures, customers are even more likely to forgive service robots than human employees. Further, he shows how crucial it is to manage customer expectations that depend on cultural dimensions and internal reference categories.

Improving service quality has finally become a top priority of management today, yet according to service quality expert Leonard Berry only a handful of companies have managed to determine exactly what to improve and how to improve it. For the past two years, Berry studied dozens of companies of all sizes renowned for their capacity to deliver what they promise and more. From his on-site observation of the strategies and practices of such companies as Mary Kay Cosmetics, Tattered Cover Book Store, Longo Toyota & Lexus, Lakeland Regional Medical Center, and Hard Rock Cafe, Berry has constructed a dynamic new framework for improving service.

This framework provides a roadmap for implementation found nowhere else in the service quality literature. In every chapter Berry draws on his twelve years of research in service quality to explain each part of the framework in detail. He provides rich insights and inspiring examples of great service -- including numerous examples unique to this book as well as the classic success stories of USAA, Taco Bell, and many more. Berry shows that a company must (1) develop service leadership skills and values -- a concept substantially different from developing general leadership; (2) build a service quality information system; and (3) create a comprehensive service strategy based on the four principles of great service: reliability, surprise, recovery, and fairness. He demonstrates how these four principles, when adopted by the leadership and infused into the systems of a service company, are the building blocks of the framework and form the anchor for implementation.

Berry shows how the "artistry" of great service can be systematically created from this foundation through a company's organizational structure, technology, and often under utilized human resources assets. He challenges service managers to set their service quality aspirations higher, and his innovative, practical ideas will help them achieve those higher standards. Linking service excellence to value creation, Berry provides solid financial reasons for the necessity of great service. Here, at last, is the book for which managers in every service industry have waited: Leonard Berry's "operating manual" for turning plans for great service into action.

This volume includes the full proceedings from the 2011 World Marketing Congress held in Reims, France with the theme The Customer is NOT Always Right? Marketing Orientations in a Dynamic Business World. The focus of the conference and the enclosed papers is on marketing thought and practices throughout the world. This volume resents papers on various topics including marketing management, marketing strategy, and consumer behavior. Founded in 1971, the Academy of Marketing Science is an international organization dedicated to promoting timely explorations of phenomena related to the science of marketing in theory, research, and practice. Among its services to members and the community at large, the Academy offers conferences, congresses and symposia that attract delegates from around the world. Presentations from these events are published in this Proceedings series, which offers a comprehensive archive of volumes reflecting the evolution of the field. Volumes deliver cutting-edge research and insights, complimenting the Academy's flagship journals, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS) and AMS Review. Volumes are edited by leading scholars and practitioners across a wide range of subject areas in marketing science.

"Designing the Customer-Centric Organization" offers today 's business leaders a comprehensive customer-centric organizational model that clearly shows how to put in place an infrastructure that is organized around the demands of the customer. Written by Jay Galbraith (the foremost expert in the field of organizational design), this important book includes a tool that will help determine how customer-centric an organization is- light-level, medium-level, complete-level, or high-level- and it shows how to ascertain the appropriate level for a particular institution. Once the groundwork has been established, the author offers guidance for the process of implementing a customer-centric system throughout an organization. "Designing the Customer-Centric Organization" includes vital information about structure, management processes, reward and management systems, and people practices.

To stay in business and thrive during this recession, companies need to focus and hone their value. If clients complain about the cost of a product or service, then a company is not demonstrating the superior value of their product or service. Discounting is always an option, but this means losing value during the sale - value that will be hard to regain in the future.

Instead, companies need to prove their superior value to clients using bottom-line terms - i.e. they need strong value propositions. "Creating and Delivering Your Value Proposition" shows how to do this. It explains what a value proposition is and how to build and deliver one. The authors argue that, contrary to the norm, value propositions cannot rest on unsupported marketing claims. Rather, a value proposition must be must be created at the strategy level and expressed in measurable terms.