Customer king now more than ever before

Is there anything new to be said about customer service? We all know the customer is king, queen, number one and dear to our hearts. For those who may balk at the thought of reading another such guide, “The Customer Century” is a pleasant surprise.

The work of Superior’s Anders Gronstedt is packed with dozens of interesting and useful stories that tell how firms like FedEx, Motorola and Ericsson bring integrated marketing communications to bear on their businesses.

Gronstedt makes a convincing argument that branding will remain a vital part of most firms’ success in this new century. He draws a line, however, between old-style firms, those of the “production century,” and new ones, the “customer century” firms.

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Production century firms were mass producers of goods and services, pushing sales by using lots of advertising. Once a sale was made, Gronstedt said customer service was not a priority. Acquiring more new customers got top billing.

Today that’s a losing game, he said. Gronstedt maintains that technology is so widespread that it is becoming increasingly difficult for firms to differentiate themselves from competitors based on better bells and whistles. “The only real sustainable advantage a company has these days is in relationships,´ said Gronstedt. And those relationships are based on communication.

Gronstedt expands on the traditional definition of communications in the customer century, taking it beyond the public relations, advertising and marketing departments and into all levels of an organization. It is this all-encompassing communication that embodies the idea of integrated marketing and communications.

Front line employees, those who interact with customers most frequently, become important ambassadors of a firm’s brand, its image and its mission. A great example, and one Gronstedt uses frequently in the book, is FedEx.

The overnight delivery giant facilitates what the author describes as “3-D Integrated Communications” in many ways. One dimension, “vertical communications” between front line employees, middle managers and senior staff, is helped along by FedEx’s daily broadcasts on its satellite network..

FedEx stays in touch with its 140,000 workers spread around the globe by holding 300 to 400 electronic town hall meetings a year. Employees call in questions – in Larry King Live style – to senior managers and sometimes to founder Fred Smith, who takes the queries and answers them on the spot. This kind of openness keeps senior managers informed of the problems FedEx front line workers experience as well as customer complaints and concerns that otherwise might go unheard.

The other dimensions of Gronstedt’s integrated communications spectrum are “external” communications with customers and outside stakeholders and “horizontal” communications between peers within the firm and among colleagues at the same level but in different departments.

Throughout the book, Gronstedt uses informative charts and figures to illustrate his points, making efficient use of the extensive research that went into his book. From his digging and interviews, he’s gleaned such gems as the cost of acquiring a new customer, which is five to 20 times pricier than keeping an old one, and the story of how a top manager at Xerox is working the phones, taking calls and answering questions in the customer service department each day.

In summary, “The Customer Century” is a fun and informative book. It’s a quick read that offers wonderful examples of leading-edge firms and their approach to keeping customers informed, delighted and profitable. Pick it up.