Beyond the Familiar

Strong customer-focused companies have a clear, relevant promise which they obsessively deliver day-in, day-out. At the same time, they relentlessly drive the market by evolving the offer in the face of market developments and opportunities. Because they meet customer needs better than the competition, again and again, they are able to generate sustainable, profitable, market-leading organic growth. The problem the book addresses is how to achieve this. The authors identify five key steps using their framework for success: Offer a clear, relevant customer promise Build customer trust by reliably delivering that promise Continuously improve the promise, while still reliably delivering it Drive the market by innovating beyond the familiar Support all this with an open organization that promotes frank discussion based on clear facts and market feedback. Above all the book runs counter to the fashionable claim that the starting-point for business success should be to find a 'blue-sky', 'out-of-the-box' breakthrough innovation. Barwise and Meehan use many compelling cases to illustrate how managers can find ways within their existing network and organization to achieve long term growth.

Preface vi Acknowledgements ix Chapter 1 What Every CEO Wants 1 Chapter 2 Your Promise to the Customer 19 Chapter 3 Delivering Today’s Promise Better and Better Every Day 39 Chapter 4 Driving the Market by Relentlessly Improving the Promise 67 Chapter 5 Innovating Beyond the Familiar 93 Chapter 6 Opening Up: What Leaders Must Do 119 Postscript 145 End Notes 151 Index 167 About the Authors 174