Connected Strategy

The framework Siggelkow and Terwiesch offer is a solid one, both comprehensive and nuanced. This book approaches customer relationships from a strategy and operations perspective, and makes a solid case for how continuous contact with customers enables companies to streamline their operations and reduce costs while creating value for customers. The authors are also right to underscore that different customers may have different preferences for the type of relationship they have with companies, and that communications strategy should reflect this.

Given the authors’ backgrounds in strategy and operations, this book naturally excels when discussing these aspects of customer-centric business models. However, customer-centric and relationship-centric business models require holistic transformations – not only to operations and strategy, but also to culture and branding. After all, any attempt to build a customer-centric operations model can be held hostage by an enduring product-centric culture within the organization. Readers who are interested in how organizational culture and brand transformations can be achieved are advised to consult the Senteo methodology on Culture and Brand & Communications. Furthermore, the authors could place a stronger emphasis on managing relations with the customer beyond gathering data to enhance sales. This involves establishing a meaningful dialogue with the customer outside the product offering – it is not clear that the authors have this dialogue in mind.

What if there were a way to turn occasional, sporadic transactions with customers into long-term, continuous relationships–while simultaneously driving dramatic improvements in operational efficiency? What if you could break your existing trade-offs between superior customer experience and low cost?

This is the promise of a connected strategy. New forms of connectivity–involving frequent, low-friction, customized interactions–mean that companies can now anticipate customer needs as they arise, or even before. Simultaneously, enabled by these technologies, companies can create new business models that deliver more value to customers. Connected strategies are win-win: Customers get a dramatically improved experience, while companies boost operational efficiency.

In this book, strategy and operations experts Nicolaj Siggelkow and Christian Terwiesch reveal the emergence of connected strategies as a new source of competitive advantage. With in-depth examples from companies operating in industries such as healthcare, financial services, mobility, retail, entertainment, nonprofit, and education, Connected Strategy identifies the four pathways–respond-to-desire, curated offering, coach behavior, and automatic execution–for turning episodic interactions into continuous relationships. The authors show how each pathway creates a competitive advantage, then guide you through the critical decisions for creating and implementing your own connected strategies.

Whether you’re trying to revitalize strategy in an established company or disrupt an industry as a startup, this book will help you:

• Reshape your connections with your customers
• Find new ways to connect with existing suppliers while also activating new sources of capacity
• Create the right revenue model
• Make the best technology choices to support your strategy

Integrating rich examples, how-to advice, and practical tools in the form of “workshop chapters” throughout, this book is the ultimate resource for creating competitive advantage through connected relationships with your customers and redefined connections in your industry.

This book offers a solid framework for understanding and applying operational changes aimed at and developing stronger relationships with customers and creating additional value. However, we would advise readers to consult the Senteo Methodology for similar changes to organizations’ culture, brand, and environment, all of which are no less important for implementing a truly customer-centric business model.