Indispensable: How to Become the Company That Your Customers Can't Live Without

Indispensable: How to Become the Company That Your Customers Can't Live Without

by Joe Calloway
Released April 2005
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780471703082

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Book description

A five-step strategy for turning a commodity into a necessity

When products and services become interchangeable, price becomes the ultimate determinant for consumers. Indispensable shows businesses how to break out of that cycle by using The Five Drivers-a strategy that takes companies to the next level of performance. Renowned business consultant Joe Calloway looks at how real companies have made their product or service "mission critical," and satisfied customers in the process.

Indispensable goes straight to the heart of the issue and reveals how successful companies-of any size, in virtually any manufacturing, selling, or service endeavor-achieve market leadership through The Five Drivers of fierce customer loyalty. Indispensable shows readers how to:

  • Create and sustain momentum: overcome organizational inertia and keep moving forward

  • Develop habitual dependability: make consistency of performance a defining characteristic

  • Connect continuously

  • See the Big Picture Outcome: create compelling customer experiences

  • Engage, Enchant, Enthrall: make magic in the marketplace

With interviews, detailed case studies, and dozens of real-world, effective customer service ideas and initiatives, Indispensable is just what today's forward-thinking businesses need.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. Preface
  4. 1. The Default Choice
    1. 1.1. Quick—Give Me a Name
    2. 1.2. Best Pizza on the Block
    3. 1.3. Price Plummets in Importance
    4. 1.4. Master of One
      1. 1.4.1. Do You Love It?
      2. 1.4.2. Being Good at It and Loving It Aren't Enough
    5. 1.5. Customer Magnet
      1. 1.5.1. Being Famous
  5. 2. The Five Drivers
    1. 2.1. Monotonous Success
    2. 2.2. No Template
    3. 2.3. What's Your Version?
    4. 2.4. The Five Drivers
      1. 2.4.1. Create and Sustain Momentum
      2. 2.4.2. Develop Habitual Dependability
      3. 2.4.3. Continuous Connection
      4. 2.4.4. Big Picture Outcome
      5. 2.4.5. Engage, Enchant, and Enthrall
  6. 3. Case Study: Deluxe
    1. 3.1. Deluxe Makes Checks
    2. 3.2. Getting beyond Commodity
    3. 3.3. The Deluxe Knowledge Exchange Series
    4. 3.4. Why Would You Do That? What's in It for You?
    5. 3.5. Creating Relevance to the Customer
    6. 3.6. Full Accountability
    7. 3.7. The Expos: Repositioning the Company
    8. 3.8. Know What the Customer Really, Really Wants
    9. 3.9. Getting Employee Buy-In
    10. 3.10. Breaking the Inertia
    11. 3.11. Courageous Decisions
    12. 3.12. But Is It Working?
  7. 4. Back to the Six New Basics
    1. 4.1. Radical Today—Basic Tomorrow
    2. 4.2. New Basic 1: Say "Why Not?" Continuously
    3. 4.3. New Basic 2: Get Back Inside the Box
    4. 4.4. New Basic 3: You Will Partner
    5. 4.5. New Basic 4: Selling Is Dead
    6. 4.6. New Basic 5: Whatever Happens Is Normal
    7. 4.7. New Basic 6: The Internet Didn't Change Anything
  8. 5. Case Study: W Hotels
    1. 5.1. Making My World a Better Place
    2. 5.2. What Can I Learn?
    3. 5.3. You're a Customer—What Do You Want?
    4. 5.4. You Might Be Wrong—Do It
    5. 5.5. Everything Working for the Vibe
    6. 5.6. Equals Cool
    7. 5.7. Back to the Tour—Back to the Lesson
    8. 5.8. Consistent Performance
    9. 5.9. That's What Everybody Says
    10. 5.10. What Is Your Uniqueness?
    11. 5.11. I Can't Get It Anywhere Else
  9. 6. Create Community
    1. 6.1. Los Lobos
    2. 6.2. The Power of Community
    3. 6.3. I Like You Because You're Like Me
    4. 6.4. Can Any Business Create Community?
      1. 6.4.1. Sex and the City
    5. 6.5. Shared Experiences—Good and Bad
    6. 6.6. We Are What We Buy
    7. 6.7. Stop Advertising and Start Hanging Out
    8. 6.8. The Heart of Business
    9. 6.9. An Inside Job
  10. 7. Case Study: Gitomer
    1. 7.1. Gitomer Rocks
    2. 7.2. Create Value, Then Give It Away
    3. 7.3. They Don't Do What I Do
    4. 7.4. The World-Class Expert
    5. 7.5. The Web Mistress and the Queen of Events
  11. 8. Obvious but Often Overlooked
    1. 8.1. Duh!
    2. 8.2. Obvious 1: You Had Me at Hello
      1. 8.2.1. What's the Secret Password?
      2. 8.2.2. But That Doesn't Happen Here
    3. 8.3. Why Clichés Become Clichés
    4. 8.4. Obvious 2: Saying It Doesn't Make It So
    5. 8.5. A Job Well Done Exceeds Nobody's Expectations
    6. 8.6. This Is Very Cool
      1. 8.6.1. We'll Take Care of It
      2. 8.6.2. Expectations Compared to What?
    7. 8.7. It Wasn't the Way He Wanted It
    8. 8.8. Obvious 3: Tell the Truth
      1. 8.8.1. A Litany of Lies
      2. 8.8.2. The Truth Starts Internally
      3. 8.8.3. A Standing Ovation for Bad News
      4. 8.8.4. We'll Be Departing on Schedule
      5. 8.8.5. Accuracy Is Indispensable
      6. 8.8.6. Call Them on It
      7. 8.8.7. I Didn't Show Up—I Was the Hero
    9. 8.9. Do We Really Have to Be Reminded?
  12. 9. Right Place—Right Time
    1. 9.1. Eat Here Now
    2. 9.2. It's in the Right Place
    3. 9.3. It Depends
    4. 9.4. Open All Night
    5. 9.5. Finding the Balance
    6. 9.6. Nobody Does That in This Business
    7. 9.7. Have You Lost Your Mind?
    8. 9.8. What Rules Are You Going to Break?
    9. 9.9. Can You See Me?
    10. 9.10. We've Got a Lot of Things to Do
    11. 9.11. I Can't Go to the Doctor Today—I Have to Go to Target
  13. 10. Case Study: The Pancake Pantry
    1. 10.1. Pancakes
    2. 10.2. Art—Magic—Voodoo
    3. 10.3. It's the Mix
    4. 10.4. I Don't Get It
    5. 10.5. It's a Mystery
    6. 10.6. Not Everyone Will Like Your Product
    7. 10.7. Service with a Smile—Or Not
    8. 10.8. Pixie Dust
    9. 10.9. Throwing Paint on a Canvas
  14. 11. Big Picture Outcome
    1. 11.1. Andrea and the Walk to the Ballroom
    2. 11.2. Creating a Big Picture Outcome
    3. 11.3. Beyond Job Performance
      1. 11.3.1. The Power of a Whisper
      2. 11.3.2. A Huge Deal
    4. 11.4. Simple and Extraordinary
    5. 11.5. Creating a Mini-Friendship
      1. 11.5.1. It Changes Everything
      2. 11.5.2. Slap Your Forehead
    6. 11.6. What's the Point?
    7. 11.7. Bring Jess to Me
    8. 11.8. He Got It
      1. 11.8.1. They Didn't Get It
    9. 11.9. This Is about You
    10. 11.10. Don't Be the Coke Machine
    11. 11.11. The View from 50,000 Feet
  15. 12. Twenty-Eight Indispensable Lessons
    1. 12.1. Right under Your Nose
    2. 12.2. Figure It Out!
    3. 12.3. Lessons to Be Learned
      1. 12.3.1. Lesson 1: Have the Lowest Price
      2. 12.3.2. Lesson 2: Compete against Lowest Price with Your Version of "More"
      3. 12.3.3. Lesson 3: Wow—Nobody Else Has This
      4. 12.3.4. Lesson 4: Become a Way of Life
      5. 12.3.5. Lesson 5: Be the Good Guys and Lesson 6: with a Great Product
      6. 12.3.6. Lesson 7: Know Your Customers and Lesson 8: Change as They Change
      7. 12.3.7. Lesson 9: Be One Less Thing to Worry About
      8. 12.3.8. Lesson 10: Make Life Easier
      9. 12.3.9. Lesson 11: Know When It's Not Your Job
    4. 12.4. Lesson 12: Best Effort Every Time
    5. 12.5. Short Subjects: Lessons One Bite at a Time
  16. 13. Case Study: Pinnacle Financial Partners
    1. 13.1. If You Could Make It Up
    2. 13.2. Beyond a Pound of Nails
    3. 13.3. There's Another Way to Play This Game
    4. 13.4. The Differences
    5. 13.5. People—People—People
    6. 13.6. Bottom Line
  17. 14. Repeatable Process
    1. 14.1. Is It in the Genes?
    2. 14.2. Removing the Element of Chance
    3. 14.3. You Don't Want Superstars
    4. 14.4. You Want Process
    5. 14.5. So What's the Big Mystery?
    6. 14.6. What Gets Measured—And Other Things Obvious to All
    7. 14.7. How Does Anything Happen Consistently?
    8. 14.8. Hoping for a Different Person
    9. 14.9. You Figure It Out
    10. 14.10. Just Do What You Think Will Work
    11. 14.11. Deciding in Advance
    12. 14.12. Simple—Not Easy
  18. 15. Stop Apologizing—Start Doing Your Job
    1. 15.1. Measure Twice—Cut Once
    2. 15.2. Suit Yourself
    3. 15.3. A Pretty Good Shuttle Driver
    4. 15.4. Don't Apologize—Do Your Job
    5. 15.5. Competence Trumps Nice
    6. 15.6. Tell Me Exactly What Happened
    7. 15.7. The Lesson Is in Your Priorities
    8. 15.8. It's Like Shoes
  19. 16. Case Study: LawTalk
    1. 16.1. They Have to Buy It from Somebody
      1. 16.1.1. Making Continuing Education a Compelling Experience
      2. 16.1.2. The Highest Level of Customer Service—Ever
    2. 16.2. A Transferable Strategy
  20. 17. The Customer Decides
    1. 17.1. Stories from the Front Lines
    2. 17.2. Not Easy
    3. 17.3. The Beer Guy
    4. 17.4. Four Fundamental Lessons
    5. 17.5. Duh: Identify Customer Need
    6. 17.6. See the Big Picture Outcome
    7. 17.7. Engage, Enchant, and Enthrall
    8. 17.8. Give Away Some Baseballs
    9. 17.9. The Follicle God
    10. 17.10. Lemons to Lemonade
    11. 17.11. What's the Deal with Dry Cleaners?
    12. 17.12. The Magic Touch
    13. 17.13. It Takes a Village
    14. 17.14. I Pay Extra
    15. 17.15. Comfort Food
    16. 17.16. Cheap Joe's
    17. 17.17. They Answer Their Phone
    18. 17.18. Twenty-Four Years Later

Product information

  • Title: Indispensable: How to Become the Company That Your Customers Can't Live Without
  • Author(s): Joe Calloway
  • Release date: April 2005
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780471703082