Customer Reviews

Creating a Customer-Centered Culture: Leadership in Quality, Innovation, and Speed

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With the vast array of performance improvement and customer focus books on the market, readers need to be somewhat selective about what they read. This book should definitely be on any manager's list. The tools described in the book apply to any type of organization, public or private, and at any level of the organization. At the Missouri Department of Revenue, we've used Robin Lawton's customer-centered culture approach as a touchstone for many successful Performance Excellence Teams.

The only thing worse for a results-oriented leader than not reading this book would be to read it and not put it into action. Unlike so many performance improvement books, the clear guidance is more than matched by the clarity and simplicity of the steps to implementation.

Robin Lawton has shared with us a missing link! There are books that discuss how to fix problems, books about the "balanced scorecard", and books about meeting customer expectations. However, none of them seemed able to address a critical question: what objective measure will enable us to track our level of success? By answering that question, this book enahnces the value of all other volumes on six sigma, management, and problem solving. Lawton does so by guidng the reader through a straightforward process. By all means, read the other books - but only after you read this one first!

Not all customers are created equal. Some are indeed the end user, others broker or "fix" your product or service on behalf of the end user. Where does your company focus it's energies? And does your company really focus on what the end customer wants? And are you really measuring what the end customer truly cares about (versus what you, the producer cares about)? Read this illuminating book that gives you the secrets to Creating a Customer-Centered Culture within your organization. I have found Rob Lawton's model extremely useful for manufacturing as well as service organizations. I highly recommend it!

Robin Lawton has managed to articulate a model for improving customer satisfaction that makes sense. As a university president, I have too often been disappointed by many other approaches that focus on quick-fix training rather than using a broad framework for really measuring and improving internal and external customer satisfaction. Lawton's process begins by getting the reader to understand that even service industry employees have products that can be measured and improved. His method shows how to get employees and customers together to define end-user requirements. He also makes the reader aware that most customer service surveys are not worth much because end-users are typically not part of the survey design process. The whole customer satisfaction approach outlined by Lawton is clear, focused and a must read for all executives concerned about really improving customer satisfaction holistically.

This is a great thought provoking book. It proposes a paradigm shift in the way we think about work, about how we organize ourselves, and how we can create fans out of customers. It is also a hands on manual with a practical guide to how we can make changes in our organizations and dramatically improve the way we do things. In doing our work, most of us concentrate on the issues that pre-occupy us and the organizations we work for - issues like "How much does it cost us to produce such and such?"; "How well are we organized?"; "Do our processes comply with policy/standards/established procedures, etc.?" This little book suggests that we think about our work as a matter of producing discreet products. For those who are in service and information organizations, this is not an easy concept to grasp initially. It requires a paradigm shift in thinking. However, once you see the work you do in these terms, you can then (1)identify the "customers" of such products and (2)begin applying product redesign concepts to create customer satisfaction. For anyone who is ready for a leadership challenge in their organization, this book is required reading.

These are exciting times, and these are trying times. We want to satisfy our customers! ...But, first, we need to understand their wants and needs. We as managers sometimes need to look to experts to aid us in leading our organizations toward improved customer satisfaction, and here is where Robin Lawton can help. His innovative methods outlined in the book, "Creating a Customer-Centered Culture", can help your organizations. How? Learn how to connect your PRODUCTS (What are your products, really?) with the CUSTOMER (Do you really know who your customers are, and what outcomes they want?).

This is a great book with a proven model and practical approaches to creating positive change based on customer-driven expectations. Robin Lawton presents a unique approach to looking at customers categorized by the way the customer interacts with your product. The approaches Robin Lawton presents can be used in both the private and public sectors. In the public sector, we are using the model to look at our customers in a different way; to identify which customers to focus on, and to identify and use customer expectations to build successful performance management tools. We have found Rob's methodology not only very useful, but also a model that the whole organization can identify with. By using it, we have become more outcome-focused and customer-centered. In August 1998 the California Council for Quality and Service recognized our department for "best practices" for mastering customer focus in the public sector. This book is a must read for those companies looking for positive change.

At last, a book that makes sense of what it takes for an organization to really be customer focused! Unlike many other methods, the practical approaches described in this book apply specifically to knowledge and service work. The improvement or change strategy described in Customer-Centered Culture outlines how to identify knowledge/service work in terms of tangible products, differentiate customers by the roles they play with these products, determine what customers want, and design or redesign products and processes to achieve customer-desired outcomes. Most important, these methods get results. As the case study and numerous examples throughout the book illustrate, the paradigm presented by Mr. Lawton enables innovative team proposals and leads to outcome-focused change.

While Deming concentrated his thinking mostly around re-engineering the processes we use to deliver our products, Lawton starts us out at the beginning of the product story: What are our customer's needs and what outcomes do we want to achieve. He teaches just the right questions to ask in order for us to gain the understanding, if we are even delivering the right product to meet the needs of our customers! His teachings resulted in our ability to develop just the right strategies to set us up for tremendous success in our business. His business insights are not confined to "for profit" companies. Recently, I used his principles to develop a Christian Education Plan for our Church...and guess what? Participation in adult classes doubled within 3 months! Nobody can afford NOT to read his books and attend his workshops.

Lawton brings an innovative yet simplified approach to understanding the VOC, clarifies the outcomes that are most important to the sucess of the customer-centered organization. This book is a MUST to leaders that are involved in innovation, quality, lean, and product development improvements.