The Business/Customer Relationship

 July 14, 2009

Interview with Jim Champy author Inspire!: Why Customers Come Back
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Mike Carruthers:
The lifeblood of any business is its customers. And getting and keeping those customers isn't as easy as it used to be.

Jim Champy:
It's about having a value proposition in what you offer that inspire customers to come back - and I mean that truly not just superficially.                    

Jim Champy author of the book Inspire!: Why Customers Come Back.

There are some customers who are attracted by what I call a sense of crusade - a company that has a very high sense of purpose. I write in the book about a company called Stonyfield Yogurt that is highly committed to the environment. And for some set of customers, that keeps them coming back. There are other examples… a company called Zipcar, which is in the business of what they call "shared automobile ownership." And customers keep coming back because the business proposition is so wonderful. It allows you to basically have access to a car at any time in your neighborhood at a fraction of the cost.

But what consistently keeps customers coming back, says Jim, is authenticity.

I define authenticity as being true in everything you say and everything you do to what you express yourself to be. That is, if you say you're an environmentally sound company, you better be authentic and be environmentally sound in everything you do. If you say that "we're about really delivering convenience to our customers…" Then you better continuously improve your customer experience.

  
To listen to the complete unedited interview,click here.