Customer Equity: Building and Managing Relationships As Valuable Assets

Rating:
Summary: Fails to Advance Ideas and Understanding of the Topic
Review: Although this book is well written, it fails in delivering any new insights, ideas, or analysis. Everything in this book has been tossed around and discussed by both practictioners and academics for atleast three years. Perhaps his book would have been useful a few years ago. The treatment is less rigorous than that by Ronald Rust etc. and it also doesn't go much beyond what they already said in there in book.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I purchased this book looking for insight, but merely found a collection of common practices and ideas. What makes this so disappointing, is the quality of Blattberg's previous works is excellent, I fear that this subject matter has passed him by.

Anyone looking for a fresh perspective or actual insight for the marketplace, try Roland Rust.

Rating:
Summary: Wrong Perspective
Review: The authors failed to account for value (or equity) being measured from the perspective of the customer (and/or other stakeholders such as employees). It is the percieved equity that a customer holds for the business that entices them to maintain a relationship. It is specifically that equity that businesses should focus on. By studying the dynamics of 'that' equity they can better determine what individuals value and focus resources (where applicable) on making sure the equity is either preserved (elimination of barriers) or enhanced (by exceeding expectations).

Businesses don't exist because they have something to sell. They have something to sell because someone is willing to buy it...they need to spend more time figuring out 'why' and enhancing that aspect of the relationship. It's a 'draw' not a 'push'.

Based on the title I thought they had it right. They didn't.