2003 Q3 Book Review
The Customer is CEO
by Seth Godin
The author offers an interesting and novel concept – The customer is the CEO. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 is intended to prompt readers to ask questions about the ramifications of customer satisfaction. For example, what is involved in creating a customer-centered culture?
Part 2 reviews the current approaches used in business today including total quality management, reengineering, the learning organization and organizational transformation and how each relates to customer satisfaction.
Part 3 examines how customer centeredness can influence the way key departments function. It contrasts enlightened, customer driven attitudes and activities with the traditional way of doing business.
Part 4 deals with the business tools that are fundamental to becoming customer centered, especially the importance of measurement or metrics. The author notes that the number of companies that profess to be sensitive to and committed to meeting the needs and wants of customers far exceeds the number of companies employing even the most basic of customer satisfaction measurements.
The author does a good job of encapsulating several business approaches into a well-organized approach to achieving customer satisfaction.