Shift

Shift: Transform Motion into Progress in Business

Understand what's required to deliver top-of-the-line customer experiences

As organizations around the world do their best to deliver meaningful, effective, and efficient customer experiences, many are encountering difficulty translating their actions into progress. These businesses find that, despite a plethora of initiatives, programs, and plans, inclusive and excellent customer service remains stubbornly out of reach.

In Shift: Transform Motion into Progress in Business, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officers at Merkle and dentsu offer business leaders a practical and coherent approach to creating the consistently exceptional customer experience that would set their business apart from the competition.

The authors link three key themes—a clear vision with clear performance indicators, an aligned team, and a deep understanding of the marketplace—and outline their importance in the quest for the ideal client experience. They explain the importance of measuring progress through the eyes of the customer and ensuring that the measures that matter to customers are improving.

A necessary addition to the reading lists of innovation and business development professionals, Shift deserves a place on the bookshelves of managers, executives, and other business leaders attempting to set their organization apart from the competition.

Foreword vii

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: Rocking Horses Don’t Belong in Boardrooms 1

Part One Principal 13

1 The Peppered Moth 17

2 The Chicken KPI 31

3 The Queen’s Gambit 59

Part Two The Crew 103

4 Make Every Shot Count 107

5 Row the Boat in Time 141

Part Three The Season 169

6 Turn Headwinds into Tailwinds 173

7 It Will Rain on Your Parade 195

8 Go for the Albatross 235

Conclusion 265

Epilogue 271

About the Authors 279

Index 285

Richard Lees is Chief Strategy Officer for Merkle and dentsu's EMEA Customer Experience Management service line. He has over 30 years of experience applying data to solve business challenges, equipping clients to deliver targeted, personal experiences.

Azlan Raj is Chief Marketing Officer for Merkle and dentsu's EMEA Customer Experience Management service line. He positions and works across all of dentsu's commerce, data, and technology platforms, including analytics, media, customer experience, content, and B2B.

Virtually every business in the world attempts to create the best and most inclusive customer experience. High-end client service is, rightfully, seen as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Every business approaches this goal in a unique way, but many of them fail to achieve it. In short, they fail to translate their actions into progress.

In Shift: Transform Motion into Progress in Business, a team of expert strategy and marketing executives share a variety of ways to create the superlative customer experience that accelerates business growth. The authors link three straightforward themes that businesses must connect to create a seamless ecosystem for success: a clear vision with clear measures of performance, a team with an aligned purpose, and a deep understanding of the marketplace.

Eschewing the notions of silver bullets and quick fixes, this book focuses on enabling the meaningful transformation of organizations from slow and unwieldy to agile and fast. Emphasizing that motion does not necessarily equal progress, Shift explores ways to achieve organizational goals by starting with the end in mind and actively seeking out and measuring a company’s progress.

Shift is a can’t-miss book that belongs in the libraries of executives, managers, and other business leaders seeking to drive long-term customer engagement and differentiate their businesses from their competitors. It is filled with compelling anecdotes from industry leaders that will help leaders continually invent the future they’re taking their companies into. It’s also an essential resource for business development professionals and members of innovation teams attempting to grow their organization.

Understand what’s required to deliver top-of-the-line customer experiences

As organizations around the world do their best to deliver meaningful, effective, and efficient customer experiences, many are encountering difficulty translating their actions into progress. These businesses find that, despite a plethora of initiatives, programs, and plans, inclusive and excellent customer service remains stubbornly out of reach.

In Shift: Transform Motion into Progress in Business, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officers at Merkle and dentsu offer business leaders a practical and coherent approach to creating the consistently exceptional customer experience that would set their business apart from the competition.

The authors link three key themes—a clear vision with clear performance indicators, an aligned team, and a deep understanding of the marketplace—and outline their importance in the quest for the ideal client experience. They explain the importance of measuring progress through the eyes of the customer and ensuring that the measures that matter to customers are improving.

A necessary addition to the reading lists of innovation and business development professionals, Shift deserves a place on the bookshelves of managers, executives, and other business leaders attempting to set their organization apart from the competition.