Collecting data is easy for marketers. Figuring out what to do with it is hard. Technology has made it almost routine for com­panies to know exactly when, where, and how their customers shop, both online and off. As soon as someone pulls out a credit card—or even better, a membership rewards card—the data floodgates open. United Airlines knows if you think it’s worth $25 to check a suitcase. Verizon knows how often you call your mom. Hilton knows if you prefer a higher floor and a room away from the elevator. But after gathering and crunching all this cus­tomer data most companies have little or no idea how to use it. They either let it go to waste or abuse it with ill-considered, irrelevant, or even creepy marketing pitches. There’s a much better option, as Bryan Pearson has discovered after twenty years of studying the hidden patterns of consumer behavior. It really is possible to turn customer information into customer intimacy— systematically, efficiently, and without invading anyone’s privacy. And intimacy is the key to long-term loyalty, growth, and profits. As Pearson writes: Customers can only be acquired, churned, and reactivated so many times before they tire of your brand. There is a proven marketing equation in which customers willingly share information with you in the expectation of being better served and valued during future transactions. Capitaliz­ing on that equation is our business responsibility. The Loyalty Leap will give you the tools to per­suade customers to share more information in their own best interests. And it will help you make sense of all that data to build strong cus­tomer relationships. It also shares compelling examples, including: How Shell increased sales while reducing its network of gas stations by giving its best customers incentives to buy from another location. How GameStop offers its PowerUp Rewards members access to such events as the Comic-Con convention. How McDonald’s in Finland used location-based marketing to send special offers to customers near one of its locations, with a 40 percent response rate. How Caesars Entertainment uses data from its 40 million Total Rewards members to draw complete customer profiles, resulting in increased visits.  Pearson believes this is one of the most exciting times in the history of marketing, and that loyalty marketing will be increasingly essential for years to come. His book will take you behind the cur­tain to show how the best companies are doing it.

In Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh - the hip, iconoclastic, and widely-admired CEO of Zappos, the online shoe retailer - - explains how he created a corporate culture with a commitment to service that aims to improve the lives of its employees, customers, vendors, and backers. Using anecdotes and stories from his own life experiences, and from other companies, Hsieh provides concrete ways that companies can achieve unprecedented success. He details many of the unique practices at Zappos, such as their philosophy of allocating marketing money into the customer experience, the importance of Zappos's Core Values ("Deliver WOW through Service"), and the reason why Zappos's number one priority is company culture and his belief that once you get the culture right, everything else - great customer service, long-term branding - will happen on its own. Finally, Delivering Happiness explains how Zappos employees actually apply the Core Values to improving their lives outside of work, proving that creating happiness and record results go hand-in-hand.

In this revolutionary bestseller, innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen says outstanding companies can do everything right and still lose their market leadership—or worse, disappear altogether. And not only does he prove what he says, but he tells others how to avoid a similar fate. Focusing on “disruptive technology,” Christensen shows why most companies miss out on new waves of innovation. Whether in electronics or retailing, a successful company with established products will get pushed aside unless managers know when to abandon traditional business practices. Using the lessons of successes and failures from leading companies, The Innovator’s Dilemma presents a set of rules for capitalizing on the phenomenon of disruptive innovation. Find out: When it is right not to listen to customers. When to invest in developing lower-performance products that promise lower margins. When to pursue small markets at the expense of seemingly larger and more lucrative ones. Sharp, cogent, and provocative, The Innovator’s Dilemma is one of the most talked-about books of our time—and one no savvy manager or entrepreneur should be without.

"Your customers are only satisfied because their expectations are so low and because no one else is doing better. Just having satisfied customers isn't good enough anymore. If you really want a booming business, you have to create Raving Fans." This, in a nutshell, is the advice given to a new Area Manager on his first day--in an extraordinary business book that will help everyone, in every kind of organization or business, deliver stunning customer service and achieve miraculous bottom-line results. Written in the parable style of The One Minute Manager, Raving Fans uses a brilliantly simple and charming story to teach how to define a vision, learn what a customer really wants, institute effective systems, and make Raving Fan Service a constant feature--not just another program of the month. America is in the midst of a service crisis that has left a wake of disillusioned customers from coast to coast. Raving Fans includes startling new tips and innovative techniques that can help anyone create a revolution in any workplace--and turn their customers into raving, spending fans.

In the first edition of this landmark book, business loyalty guru Fred Reichheld revealed the question most critical to your company’s future: “Would you recommend us to a friend?” By asking customers this question, you identify detractors, who sully your firm’s reputation and readily switch to competitors, and promoters, who generate good profits and true, sustainable growth.You also generate a vital metric: your Net Promoter Score. Since the book was first published, Net Promoter has transformed companies, across industries and sectors, constituting a game-changing system and ethos that rivals Six Sigma in its power.In this thoroughly updated and expanded edition, Reichheld, with Bain colleague Rob Markey, explains how practitioners have built Net Promoter into a full-fledged management system that drives extraordinary financial and competitive results. With his trademark clarity, Reichheld:• Defines the fundamental concept of Net Promoter, explaining its connection to your company’s growth and sustained success• Presents the closed-loop feedback process and demonstrates its power to energize employees and delight customers• Shares new and compelling stories of companies that have transformed their performance by putting Net Promoter at the center of their businessPractical and insightful, The Ultimate Question 2.0 provides a blueprint for long-term growth and success.

Another extraordinary business fable from the New York Times bestselling author Patrick Lencioni Offers a key resource for gaining competitive advantage in tough times Shows why the quality of vulnerability is so important in business Includes ideas for inspiring customer and client loyalty Written by the highly successful consultant and business writer Patrick Lencioni This new book in the popular Lencioni series shows what it takes to gain a real and lasting competitive edge.

Since publishing the first edition of this classic that has sold over 250,000 copies, the challenges of keeping customers-or creating customer loyalty-has become even more urgent. Ultimately, every successful enterprise must attract, serve, and win the loyalty of customers by providing worthwhile products and delivering excellent service. Turned-off customers produce devastating ripple effects that quickly drag companies into a morass of mediocrity, while organizations that creatively apply a constant flow of small, customer-centered innovations see consistent and persistent strengthening of their customer base. This book will get all managers and employees thinking about the little things that can make all the difference. If everyone in an organization improves awareness of the simple yet powerful ideas in this volume, the company can and will see dramatic improvements in service and customer loyalty. The impact on the bottom line will be dramatic.

The web is undergoing a fundamental change. It is moving away from its current structure of documents and pages linked together, and towards a new structure that is built around people. This is a profound change that will affect how we create business strategy, design, marketing, and advertising. The reason for this shift is simple. For tens of thousands of years we’ve been social animals. The web, which is only 20 years old, is simply catching up with offline life.From travel to news to commerce, smart businesses are reorienting their efforts around people–around the social behavior of their customers and potential customers. In order to be successful, businesses will need to understand how people are connected, how their social network influences them, how the people closest to them influence them the most, and how it’s more important for marketers to focus on small, connected groups of friends rather than looking for overly influential individuals.This book pulls together the latest research from leading universities and technology companies to describe how people are connected, and how ideas and brand messages spread through social networks. It shows readers how to rebuild their business around social behavior, and create products that people tell their friends about.