Creating a Customer-Centered Culture: Leadership in Quality, Innovation, and Speed

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Summary: Creating a Customer-Centered Culture
Review: At last, a book that makes sense of what it takes for an organization to really be customer focused! Unlike many other methods, the practical approaches described in this book apply specifically to knowledge and service work. The improvement or change strategy described in Customer-Centered Culture outlines how to identify knowledge/service work in terms of tangible products, differentiate customers by the roles they play with these products, determine what customers want, and design or redesign products and processes to achieve customer-desired outcomes. Most important, these methods get results. As the case study and numerous examples throughout the book illustrate, the paradigm presented by Mr. Lawton enables innovative team proposals and leads to outcome-focused change.

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Summary: Who is my customer?
Review: Finally, a process that is clear and specific on how to answer the question, "Who is my customer?" This book not only helps us find an answer to that question, but gives us specific methods of getting input from those customers, and tells us how to use that input to improve our processes. Wanting to be customer-focused is not enough...we needed the process outlined in this book to show us how.

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Summary: The Best "HOW TO PUT THE CUSTOMER FIRST" Book Available !
Review: If your organization wants to increase revenue, then follow Rob Lawton's process for creating cultural change - it works! He offers a common sense method that succeeds in achieving a customer focus throughout the entire corporation. It's actually changed the language we use, while providing a framework for considering the customer in every aspect of our business. It's a "must read" for every manager and executive who's seious about success.

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Summary: What do your customers want? Rob tells you how to find out!
Review: Not all customers are created equal. Some are indeed the end user, others broker or "fix" your product or service on behalf of the end user. Where does your company focus it's energies? And does your company really focus on what the end customer wants? And are you really measuring what the end customer truly cares about (versus what you, the producer cares about)? Read this illuminating book that gives you the secrets to Creating a Customer-Centered Culture within your organization. I have found Rob Lawton's model extremely useful for manufacturing as well as service organizations. I highly recommend it!

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Summary: Critical Gap Has Been Bridged!
Review: Robin Lawton has shared with us a missing link! There are books that discuss how to fix problems, books about the "balanced scorecard", and books about meeting customer expectations. However, none of them seemed able to address a critical question: what objective measure will enable us to track our level of success? By answering that question, this book enahnces the value of all other volumes on six sigma, management, and problem solving. Lawton does so by guidng the reader through a straightforward process. By all means, read the other books - but only after you read this one first!

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Summary: Critical Gap Has Been Bridged!
Review: Robin Lawton has shared with us a missing link! There are books that discuss how to fix problems, books about the "balanced scorecard", and books about meeting customer expectations. However, none of them seemed able to address a critical question: what objective measure will enable us to track our level of success? By answering that question, this book enahnces the value of all other volumes on six sigma, management, and problem solving. Lawton does so by guidng the reader through a straightforward process. By all means, read the other books - but only after you read this one first!

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Summary: Get Connected with your Customers -- Finally!
Review: These are exciting times, and these are trying times. We want to satisfy our customers! ...But, first, we need to understand their wants and needs. We as managers sometimes need to look to experts to aid us in leading our organizations toward improved customer satisfaction, and here is where Robin Lawton can help. His innovative methods outlined in the book, "Creating a Customer-Centered Culture", can help your organizations. How? Learn how to connect your PRODUCTS (What are your products, really?) with the CUSTOMER (Do you really know who your customers are, and what outcomes they want?).

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Summary: Creating A Customer-Centered Culture
Review: This is a great book with a proven model and practical approaches to creating positive change based on customer-driven expectations. Robin Lawton presents a unique approach to looking at customers categorized by the way the customer interacts with your product. The approaches Robin Lawton presents can be used in both the private and public sectors. In the public sector, we are using the model to look at our customers in a different way; to identify which customers to focus on, and to identify and use customer expectations to build successful performance management tools. We have found Rob's methodology not only very useful, but also a model that the whole organization can identify with. By using it, we have become more outcome-focused and customer-centered. In August 1998 the California Council for Quality and Service recognized our department for "best practices" for mastering customer focus in the public sector. This book is a must read for those companies looking for positive change.

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Summary: Creating A Customer-Centered Culture
Review: This is a great book with a proven model and practical approaches to creating positive change based on customer-driven expectations. Robin Lawton presents a unique approach to looking at customers categorized by the way the customer interacts with your product. The approaches Robin Lawton presents can be used in both the private and public sectors. In the public sector, we are using the model to look at our customers in a different way; to identify which customers to focus on, and to identify and use customer expectations to build successful performance management tools. We have found Rob's methodology not only very useful, but also a model that the whole organization can identify with. By using it, we have become more outcome-focused and customer-centered. In August 1998 the California Council for Quality and Service recognized our department for "best practices" for mastering customer focus in the public sector. This book is a must read for those companies looking for positive change.

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Summary: Rethinking work, quality, and satisfaction.
Review: This is a great thought provoking book. It proposes a paradigm shift in the way we think about work, about how we organize ourselves, and how we can create fans out of customers. It is also a hands on manual with a practical guide to how we can make changes in our organizations and dramatically improve the way we do things. In doing our work, most of us concentrate on the issues that pre-occupy us and the organizations we work for - issues like "How much does it cost us to produce such and such?"; "How well are we organized?"; "Do our processes comply with policy/standards/established procedures, etc.?" This little book suggests that we think about our work as a matter of producing discreet products. For those who are in service and information organizations, this is not an easy concept to grasp initially. It requires a paradigm shift in thinking. However, once you see the work you do in these terms, you can then (1)identify the "customers" of such products and (2)begin applying product redesign concepts to create customer satisfaction. For anyone who is ready for a leadership challenge in their organization, this book is required reading.