The Undiscovered Consumer . . .and the Mistake of Universal ExcellenceWhat do customers really want? And how can companies best serve them? Fred Crawford and Ryan Mathews set off on what they describe as an "expedition into the commercial wilderness" to find the answers. What they discovered was a new consumer -- one whom very few companies understand, much less manufacture products for or sell products or services to. These consumers are desperately searching for values, a scarce resource in our rapidly changing and challenging world. And increasingly they are turning to business to reaffirm these values. As one consumer put it: "I can find value everywhere but can't find values anywhere."Crawford and Mathews's initial inquiries eventually grew into a major research study involving more than 10,000 consumers, interviews with executives from scores of leading companies around the world, and dozens of international client engagements. Their conclusion: Most companies priding themselves on how well they "know" their customers aren't really listening to them at all. Consumers are fed up with all the fuss about "world-class performance" and "excellence." What they are aggressively demanding is recognition, respect, trust, fairness, and honesty.Believing that they are still in a position to dictate the terms of commercial engagement, businesses have bought into the myth of excellence -- the clearly false and destructive theory that a company ought to be great at everything it does, that is, all the components of every commercial transaction: price, product, access, experience, and service. This is always a mistake because "the predictable outcome [is] that the company ends up world-class at nothing; not well-differentiated and therefore not thought of by consumers at the moment of need."Instead, Crawford and Mathews suggest that companies engage in Consumer Relevancy, a strategy of dominating in one element of a transaction, differentiating on a second, and being at industry par (i.e., average) on the remaining three. It's not necessary for businesses to equally invest time and money on all five attributes, and their customers don't want them to. Imagine the confusion if Tiffany & Co. started offering deep discounts on diamonds and McDonald's began selling free-range chicken and tofu.The Myth of Excellence provides a blueprint for companies seeking to offer values-based products and services and shows how to realize the commercial opportunities that exist just beyond their current grasp -- opportunities to reduce operating costs, boost bottom-line profitability, and, most important, begin to engage in a meaningful dialogue with customers.

Soundview Executive Summaries - books selected in 2001
2002-2004 Berry-AMA Book Prize Winners and Runner Ups - Marketing and Related Fields

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Collins James
The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market by Treacy, Michael

Being Excellent By Yeilding Excellence and Defining Your Excellence
The Myth of Excellence - trying to be the best at everything makes wasteful use of your resources and confuses consumers. There are five attributes to any business transaction: price, service, access, product and experience. According to this study of 10,000 consumers, executives and client engagements, companies that excel dominate in one category, differentiate in another and are on par with the industry average on the other three. Customers buy for different reasons. It is an outmoded thinking that purchases are mainly based on lowest price or highest quality. To survive and prosper you must know which attributes of the five that your customers value the most and concentrate on one of them. You do this while being above average on the next attribute and on par with the last three. If you fall below par on any of these, your business will be rejected. Top businesses engage in customer relevancy - what the customer values most. Customers desire a personal experience that supports their individual value system. They are looking for recognition as individuals. Sam Walton used to ask his employees and customers what they would change if they owned his store - Walmart. Lowest price is not important to most customers. They do want however a fair price and a feeling of saving money. Most companies fall behind on service because customers are always redefining what good service means. They want to know that they are being given at least due consideration. They expect a basic level of competence. Access has to do with ease of use and availability. Convenience and forthrightness of information is paramount in this attribute. Your product must be credible and of consistent quality. Finally the experience is more than entertainment. It is a sense of intimacy. Courtesy, appearance of staff and store, and respect are part of the experience. Of these five, the attribute that is capitalized on must inspire the customer. It would intimately handle their needs and problems. It would indivually acknowledge and reaffirm the consumer and deliver a high level of trust. It will be 'the' factor that drives people to your store. When it is discovered through survey and communications what your customers and potential customers value, and one of their main concerns is addressed with emphasis, and this value-proposition is shared with-in and with-out the company, prosperity will ensue. Excellent book by two world-renowned business consultants. Five Stars

I believe that this book addresses the most important areas of business today and identifies what consumers are "screaming" for - SERVICE, RESPECT, etc. Most of this book is common sence - it's amazing how uncommon it is that these principles are put into practice. We are at a transition in the business world where product quality is easily duplicated by many competitors. Customer service and the customer "experience" will be the deciding factor in the decades to come. I would hope that all businesses would buy this book and work towards being the kind of companies used in the case studies here. What a pleasure it would be if all of our day to day dealings were with companies of this caliber!

The authors recognition of the end of the Information age and movement into a new age where "appreciation and reverence for life" become the motivating factors for those who wish to succeed, shows just how in-tune they are with the world around us. This recognition will be invaluable to all businesses as time goes on - now, who will take advantage of it and use it wisely?

I highly reccommend this book for everyone from the CEO to the consumer. People are asking (demanding) for RESPECT, as they should, and the businesses that understand this and embrace this will be the future winners.