Customer Crusaders

摘要

Creating and implementing a successful customer-based strategy isn't a job for the faint of heart. It takes courage, tenacity and an unwavering conviction, even in the face of nay-sayers, that it's the right thing to do. Yes, you need sound technology, but any initiative is doomed to fail if it doesn't have leadership―a term that President Harry S. Truman once described as "the ability to get people to do what they don't want to do and like it." Examine any successful customer-focused strategy and one prevailing truism emerges: Each has an internal champion leading the charge. These champions are more than enthusiastic; they're evangelical about putting customers front and center. We've found 10 of them who are profiled here. As you read their stories, you'll see that they have diverse backgrounds and come from many different corners of the organization. They lead with personal power, not positional power. They're skilled negotiators and communicators who are well-regarded, upbeat, and not afraid to take chances. Tom Peters might have called them change agents. Malcolm Gladwell, in "The Tipping Point," refers to them as mavens (see sidebar). We call them customer crusaders.