Books

The Customer Century : Lessons from World Class Companies in Integrated Communications (Routledge Corporate Communication Series) (Routledge Corporate Communication Series)

Average customer rating:

The three dimensions of communication
Lots of good ideas from world-class companies
Fascinating insights and useful framework
A whole new way of looking at business
A business classic

The Customer Century : Lessons from World Class Companies in Integrated Communications (Routledge Corporate Communication Series) (Routledge Corporate Communication Series)
Ander Gronstedt
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0415921996

Book Description

Say goodbye to the production century. Savvy and all-powerful consumers are at the helm. Based on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with senior marketing and corporate communications managers from top companies such as Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, Ericsson, Philips, and Xerox, Gronstedt provides the keys to thriving in the upcoming "customer century." Companies must learn to integrate communications three dimensionally: externally with key customers, vertically between senior management and front-line workers, and horizontally across departments. Packed with hands-on advice, this book is a roadmap to success in the Customer Century.
Explains a hot, new management strategy
Includes practical tips and strategies

Customer Reviews:

The three dimensions of communication.......2006-01-27

In the past companies could succeed based on how well they were able to produce and sell goods. Now, we are moving from the Production Century to the Customer Century, in which success depends on how well a company is able to satisfy its customers. To satisfy customers, companies must integrate marketing and communications throughout the organization.

According to the author, marketing and communications should be integrated along three dimensions.

1. Integrated external communication: this is the process of involving everyone in the company in communication with customers and shareholders.
· Identify the most profitable customers and track their buying behavior.
· Use data to concentrate on improving market share among your best customers.
· Address customer complaints immediately.

2. Integrated vertical communication: this is the process of creating forthright, two-way communication between senior management, middle management and other employees.
· Create a company vision based on the company's core competencies.
· Use the vision to coordinate effort and communication from the top-down and the bottom-up.
· Use the vision to direct employee training towards business goals.

3. Integrated horizontal communication: this is the process of opening up communication among work units, departments and countries.
· Use customer needs as the core beginning to developing effective teamwork practices.
· Facilitate "virtual communities of practice" across the organization to benefit from networking among employees.
· Rotate employees systematically through job assignments to facilitate understanding between work units.

Lots of good ideas from world-class companies.......2000-12-26

I work as a consultant for a PR agency, so I'm supposed to know what is "best practice" in the realm of communications. This book compiles real-world examples from a dozen European and U.S.-based companies that seem to be getting it right: FedEx, Hewlett-Packard, GM Saturn, ABB, and others.

My principal interest in the book was in finding a source of good ideas that I can adapt for use by clients, and I was not disappointed. Anyone in a communications role, whether in-house or outsourced, can benefit by taking some of these ideas and adapting them to the particular needs of their own organization.

The book is especially helpful in getting around a dilemma frequently faced by consultants (internal or external) who are called upon to produce so-called creative ideas, i.e., if you propose something that's really provocative and different---outside the box, as they say---the first thing your client often wants to know is, "Where has this worked before?" Of course, if what you've proposed is truly creative and original, it may not have been tried before---a perfect reason for the client to shoot it down.

By drawing liberally from the ideas set forth in this book, you can come up with good creative PR and internal communications programs that have actually been put into practice by well-known companies. For example, when Saturn had to recall some of its cars to fix a defect, it basically turned the event into a party: car owners were invited to a Thai barbecue while mechanics spent 30 minutes fixing their Saturns. They even got a free car wash to boot. This example is a perfect illustration of a basic truth of PR, i.e., that crisis communications is not simply about damage control. Handled properly, a crisis can be an opportunity to get your customer to see your brand in a whole new light.

Another nice feature of the book is that much of it focuses on internal communication. Gronstedt uses a three-part model (he's a former academic, so he likes models, but don't worry: there's only one, and his writing is lively and clear) to describe communications, and one part consists of External relations, including media relations. But the other two parts are Vertical and Horizontal communications, both of which take place within the organization ("vertical" referring to communications that go up and down the chain of command and "horizontal" meaning communications that cut across different functions or business groups). This emphasis on internal communications gives an enlightened perspective that gets away from the one-way, press agentry model of PR that relies predominantly on placing stories about your company in the newspaper.

So read the book, mark the ideas and best practices of these world-class companies, and then adapt them for your own use. It's a great resource for anyone responsible for organizational communications.

Fascinating insights and useful framework.......2000-03-23

This is the most comprehensive book I've come across on how to strategically managing communications at every point of contact with customer and stakeholders. Gronstedt has written a practical book that provides fascinating insights into the inner workings of companies like Saturn, HP and FedEx. The examples are woven together into a "3D" model of integrated communications, which is a very useful framework for analyzing organizational communications. I'm really looking forward to sharing this book with my the communication classes at the University of Iowa.

A whole new way of looking at business.......2000-03-22

This book sets the stage for the new economy from a customer perspective, in a more clear and complelling way than anything else Ive read. It provides a whole new way of looking at business. Its a real treasure trove of inspiring ideas and captivating stories from the front lines of integrated communications and supports many concepts I have found useful in my own international consulting. Ill definitely be referring back to it time and time again.

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