Beyond the Familiar: Long-Term Growth through Customer Focus and InnovationISBN: 978-0-470-97631-9
Hardcover
184 pages
April 2011, Jossey-Bass
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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 it
- Drive the market by innovating beyond the familiar
- Support 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.