Building a Customer Solutions Practice

One of the people I have been very influenced by about marketing and the role of marketers is Yum Brands CEO and chairman David Novak. His thinking is applicable across brands and industries well beyond Yum's restaurant niche. Here in QSR magazine he gives one of his thought provoking statements:

My marketing mantra for the organization is, “What consumer perception, habit, or belief do you have to either change, build, or reinforce in order to grow the business?” I think that when you truly listen to the voice of the customer and answer that question, you’ll have a home run.

Unpacking this is a handful. Each word is worth savoring -- when was the last time you thought about your customer's "perception, habit, or belief" and how have you connected this to a set of customer experience competencies in your business that can "either change, build, or reinforce" them? To my mind this is central to the CEO-imperative of a customer-centric business. A business where all of the functional organizations that touch the customer are connected and working together -- leveraging shared capabilities toward a common purpose: grow the business. And I love the plain spoken colloquial advice that when you do this, "you'll have a home run." Follow along over the next few weeks as I think out loud about how to develop a home run for the Customer Solutions Practice at Cognizant...

1. Features vs. Benefits

2. Three Imperatives

3. ...