Supercharging the Customer Experience: How Organizational Alignment Drives Performance
Alan Williams & Dave Stubberfield
LID Limited (November 2024)

The unique power and enduring value of organizational alignment and coordinated execution throughout the given enterprise

As I began to read this book, I was again reminded of one of Saint Paul’s first letters to Corinth in which he introduces his concept of “many parts, one body.” The core principles he cites were certainly true then of the emerging Christian community of faith and it is also true of cultures within organizations today in the secular as well as the religious realms of our society.

In their book, Alan Williams and Dave Stubberfield focus on customer experience in terms of delivering measurable business results across a balanced scorecard when managing complex projects to improve a variety of business initiatives that are customer-centric. Years ago when Southwest Airlines’ chairman and CEO, Herb Kelleher, was asked to explain why his airline was more profitable and had a greater cap value than all of its largest competitors …combined. His reply? “We take great care of our people. They take great care of our customers. And our customers take great care of our shareholders.”

The first part of Williams and Stubberfield’s book provides an introduction and background information to help you understand the content that follows. Part 2 explores “the importance of context over content.” Then in Part 3, they explain in detail the three core elements of their approach (i.e. brand identity, employee engagement, and customer experience) and how they can/should be developed in alignment. Then in Part 4, Williams and Stubberfield explain in detail how those three elements are supported by delivery, systems and processes, and measurement & insight. In Part V, the focus shifts to four carefully selected mini-case studies: Hanbury Manor, EMC Gref, Nordstrom, and BT Group). In the last Part, they highlight “key topics to consider when you are planning the development and implementation of your customer experience strategy.”

Benjamin Graham once asserted, “Cost is what you charge but value is what people think it’s worth.” More recently, Ted Levitt added that “people don’t want quarter-inch drills. They want quarter-inch holes.” And I add another key point. All of the major surveys 0f customer satisfaction reveal that [begin italics] feeling appreciated [end italics] is ranked at or near the top of what is most important to respondents.

Whatever the given transaction may be, the customers experience must combine maximum value, fulfillment of expectations, and seamless service. Theodore Levitt’s most widely quoted insight has wide and deep relevance. For example,  people don’t buy meals in a restaurant; rather, a dining experience.

These are among Alan Williams and Dave Stubberfield’s concluding thoughts: “Conscious alignment of all aspects of the organization focused on the customer experience, informed throughout by the organization’s organization and values, is the core strength of the approach. It develops a level of agility that more traditionally organized businesses have struggled to achieve. As the pace of change and disruption continues to accelerate in the world, perhaps this deep sense of coherence will prove to be a priceless point of differentiation for organizations. Of course, it is not a ‘fix-all’ solution — nothing is — and successful application depends on effort, discipline, and resilience.”

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Here are two suggestions while you are reading Supercharging the Customer Experience: First, highlight key passages Also,  perhaps in a notebook kept near-at-hand (e.g. Apica Premium C.D. Notebook A5), record your comments, questions, and action steps (preferably with deadlines).

These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will expedite frequent reviews of key material later.