Linkages are pre-planned connections from one offering that pulls through the next offering. The connections are made by carefully pre-planned and executed sales activities. Of course in reality, linkages do not begin at the end of one project and end at the beginning of the next. Linkages are positioning activities that take place during the initial sales process and during projects. The positioning may not only be related to the next project in the Service Chain, but also can be made with regard to the entire Service Chain.
Developing Compelling Service Chain Linkages
Evaluating Ideas: Criteria to Foster Customer Intimacy
When developing Service Chains™ it is important to evaluate their business value and your ability to implement them in the market. At McMann & Ransford, we recommend tracking the following criteria to help foster customer intimacy:
Leading with Ideas: The Key to Customer Intimacy
Let’s take some time and discuss the power of ideas and their importance as the central component of a True Solutions™. Good ideas facilitate the road to true customer intimacy.
A solution is the embodiment of an idea – and how the idea can be realized. The idea is the kernel of the change in the relationship from pushing products and discussing business opportunities. Often conversations that are supposed to be about solutions are really about how to better use our products and get more bang for the buck in our relationship; these are valuable issues but not True Solutions™ discussions.
Developing True Solutions – Not Product Development
Typically in the Form phase of the Customer Intimacy Journey, you will develop the initial True Solutions™ sets and take them to market. Like product development, a framework and process exists to define, develop and take your Solutions to market in a deliberate and defined manner. This building block is key to your Intimacy Engine™ success, so it is important to recognize early on what is different about developing True Solutions™ compared to typical product development.
So what is different?
Beyond Solution Selling: Customer Intimacy as a Path to True Solutions
During the first stage of the Customer Intimacy Journey it is important to create and deliver solutions that have a visible impact with your clients.
As you know, terms like “solutions” and “customer intimacy” are overused in the management consulting industry, and I believe often mean too little. In this blog, we’ll try to distinguish our thoughts with not-so-clever use of the terms True Solutions™ and Intimacy Engine™. I want to talk about what True Solutions™ are and how it is crucial to the building of the Intimacy Engine™ business model.
The Customer Intimacy Journey: A Blueprint for Change
The challenge for any significant change initiative is maintaining motivation and focus throughout the effort. Most change initiatives fail because of this very issue. Both individuals and corporations suffer from this phenomenon – personal improvement (like weight loss) is difficult because the change in habit must be maintained for a long period of time without … Continue reading “The Customer Intimacy Journey: A Blueprint for Change”
The Sustainable Advantage: Shifting Mindsets and Business Models from Innovation to Customer Intimacy
What’s wrong with driving your business using the historic S-curve (innovation) model? The innovation model has virtually dominated all literature, organization design, sales training, and investment strategies since the world economic boom following World War II. This is the common and erroneous management belief that we can continue to grow our business by improving current … Continue reading “The Sustainable Advantage: Shifting Mindsets and Business Models from Innovation to Customer Intimacy”