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Simply Better: Winning and Keeping Customers by Delivering What Matters Most by Robert Morris

Simply Better: Winning and Keeping Customers by Delivering What Matters Most
Patrick Barwise and Sean Meehan
Harvard Business School Press

The authors assert that theirs ³is a back-to-basics manifesto for businesses -- the majority, we think -- that have have failed to keep their eye on the ball, failed to listen to their customers, failed to deliver on the basics.² They then explain that their book carries two central themes: ³First, everything hinges on giving customers what matters most to them, even if that proposition seems less exciting than focusing on novelty, uniqueness, or the latest management or technology fad. Second, what separates winners from losers is usually not their strategies but their differing ability to execute those strategies. Most companies should first improve their execution and only then look for a better strategy.² After they have read these brief excerpts, several people may have the same questions I initially had: How to know which ³ball² to watch? How many customers really know what they want? Are ³basics² the same for all organizations? If so, what are they? In fairness to Barwise and Meehan, they anticipated questions such as these (as well as others) and make an earnest effort to respond to them. Books such as this one can be more valuable because of the questions they raise (or evoke) than the answers they provide. For me, the book¹s greatest benefits are derived from its function as a ³reality check.² At the end of each of the first six chapters, the authors provide a primary question, followed by related questions. The task is to answer the primary question by answering the other questions. This is more than a clever device. It places responsibility on the reader to complete, chapter-after-chapter, a rigorous diagnosis of her or his own organization. For example, exactly how customer-focused is it in terms of differentiation? (The focus in Chapter 1) How serious is it about customer responsiveness? (The focus in Chapter 6). The authors pull all of their key concepts together brilliantly in the final chapter, ³How to Be Simply Better.² Obviously, it remains for their readers to cherry-pick the most relevant material and then adapt it to the specific needs of their own organization. When doing so, they would be well-advised to remember Warren Buffet¹s observation that cost is what they charge but value is what the customer thinks it¹s worth.