About ‘Customer at the Heart — How B2B Leaders Build Successful Customer-Centric Organisations

Could a business leader learn anything about customer centricity from 15 senior executives who have been there and done that?

John O’Connor and Peter Whitelaw are both experienced business leaders in their own right. They have not only shared their own considerable knowledge about customer experience, but they have enticed business leaders from across Europe and Australia to be interviewed on how their organisations have changed their culture — positioning their customers at the heart of their organisation.

This book, targeted at C-suite leaders, is about how to do it. It includes topics that cover how to lead a customer centricity transformation, developing the strategy, tactics and execution of a customer centricity project and how to change the culture. The results for companies who have followed this guidance are remarkable.

Gavin Patterson, Chief Executive of BT Group plc — “As a CEO you've got to ask the right questions, so when people give recommendations to you, you must ensure that actually you start with the customer and end with the customer. You look at the financial impacts of something, you look at the risks that go with it, but ultimately what is in it for the customer, how has it improved a customer's life and ultimately make the decisions on that basis.”

Sue de Wit, Head of Customer Experience at Atos UK — “I think everybody gets focused by following whatever the leader does. If they're a charismatic, influential person it immediately puts the spotlight on. Leadership was a huge influence on the rest of the organisation and that's absolutely key. If you don't have that very senior sponsorship to any change that you're trying to drive, it's just not going to work. Everything we do starts with ‘Client At The Heart’.”

David Thodey, CEO of Telstra — “I've realised that customer centricity is greater than just the service. Because it's around what you stand for, and it turns the company out to the outside, and it creates this drive for change and reinvention. The culture is putting the customer at the centre of everything you do and bringing the voice of the customer into the discussion and giving people permission to say if you serve the customer well, then you will get a good profit outcome.”

John O'Connor