Synopses & Reviews
"McKeans compelling book reveals how companies must compete for customers as people in this new customer era and why shareholders will suffer if they falter." Horst H. Schulze, Founding President, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company
"The rise of customer power is one of the most important trends in business today. As John McKean points out in his compelling new book, successful firms are using the power of the Internet and related technologies to humanize their interactions with customers. This means building trust and working toward a win-win outcome based on convenience, simplicity, honesty and openness." Erik Brynjolfsson, Schussel Professor, MIT Sloan School Co-Director, Center for eBusiness at MIT
"Deluged by technology buzzwords and designer customer approaches, its sometimes easy to forget that human beings are the real secret to business success. But John McKean hasnt forgotten it, and his powerful book is a testament to the fact that, in the final analysis, all business achievements boil down to plain, old-fashioned human interaction." Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Peppers and Rogers Group, authors of The One-to-One Future and One to One B2B
"John McKeans simple yet powerful book is a timely reminder that an organizations people and technology can too often divorce themselves from customers rather than enabling what really matters - each human interaction. John McKean clearly illustrates how to transform a customers reaction from I don't want to be loyal, and will shop around on price, value, range and convenience into You showed that you understand me as a consumer and person, so I trust you and am loyal to you. " Clive Humby FIDM, Chairman, Tesco Customer Analytics
Review
"…very useful for those who have anything to do with customers and clients…" (Business Plus, February 2003)
"…this book makes important points well…in my view this book does provide food for thought…" (Managing Information, June 2003)
"…This book has simple ideas that marketers would do well to heed, written, for once in plain English…" ( Marketing Is Everything Vol. 01,No. 02, 2003)
“…He [McKean] offers some insightful examples of good and bad practice…” (Marketing, 8 January 2004)
Synopsis
Although 70% of the customer's decision to buy is based on how they are treated as people, few ornganizations have recognized its importance as well as understanding how to implement the "human touch" art as a science. John McKean provides a practical guide to implementing this art as consistent, business-wide, technology-enabled science drawn form proven approaches from world-class human touch practitioners.
Synopsis
Customers are people first and foremost, just as we are all customers.
How do we choose a product? And how do we choose from whom to buy?
We look for the best product at the right price and, when faced with a choice between similar products and prices, we choose the company who treats us best.
In competitive markets 70 % of customer decision making is based on how we are treated, with only 30 % being determined by the product itself. Yet surprisingly, only 10 % of company resources are invested in how "humanly" the organization interacts with its customers.
Customer initiatives often appear to focus on treatment differentiation under the premise of "relationships". However, they tend to concentrate on better marketing techniques rather than the primary driver of long-term sales growth a companys "human touch". Most importantly, the truth is, customers do not want what the word "relationship" implies - closeness, intimacy and shared privacy. Customers simply want to buy the product that best suits them and to be treated as human beings in the process.
Without the anchor of treating customers as people, business continues to be caught up in an endless cycle of unprofitable product, price manipulation and the corresponding cycle of fleeting loyalties. Ironically, treating customers as human beings is something that has always been second nature to the worlds best sales people, marketers and service professionals.
Based on research involving the worlds top "human touch" practitioners, John McKean has created a practical guide to help you understand the "art" of the human touch and to implement it as a consistent and profitable "science" across your entire business.
About the Author
John McKean is the Executive Director of the Center for Information Based Competition, which provides thought-leadership to help businesses advance their understanding of customers, both as consumers and human beings. John is frequently called on by the worlds leading businesses to inspire new levels of customer awareness and effectiveness, through fact-based insights combined with a passion for customer excellence.
John McKeans real-world customer work is balanced with the academic rigors of guest lecturing at MIT Sloan Graduate School and postgraduate work at Harvard University. He holds a BSc in Economics and a Masters degree in Business.
Table of Contents
Preface.
Acknowledgements.
Customers as People.
Leading the Human Firm.
Acknowledging Customers.
Treating Customers with Respect.
Building Trust with Customers.
Communicating Humanly with Customers.
Human Torch as a Series of Interactions.
Human Torch as a Process.
Implementing Technology to Humanize (Not Dehumanize).
Conclusion - Releasing your Business's Humanity.
Index.