Customer Reviews

The Myth of Excellence: Why Great Companies Never Try to Be the Best at Everything

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Summary: Think of this book as an update of The Discipline of Market Leaders as applied to consumer products and services companies. The conclusions are based on a suvey of 5000 consumers and reveal deep discontent with the many manipulative practices that companies use. The authors identify the key dimensions of any consumer products or services company as being defined by price, product, access, service, and experience. The key lesson is to pick one area to outperform everyone else, one area to be a strength, and not to fall below industry par everywhere else. Almost all consumer companies will benefit from reexamining their business models and execution in light of this book's content.

Review: Seldom is a new way of thinking about business models tied to end-user research. That rare linking adds both depth and breadth to the content of The Myth of Excellence.

The methodology was a powerful one. Find out from consumers who they like, and why they like them. Take the results, and analyze them for their potential business model choice implications and to spot weaknesses in implementation.

If you are like me, you will find some of these dimensions to be a little different than the way you usually think about business models. That's good, because it will stretch your thinking. In particular, the concept of access will be new. The idea is to make it easier to get a broader range of offerings. Think of this as being like a concierge who gets things for you at a fine hotel. You don't know the area, or where the best choices are. The concierge shares that knowledge, and your stay is improved.

What hit me most powerfully in this book were the quotes about how angry consumers are about mixed messages out there. For example, many stores say you can take things back . . . but most make the experience of returning items so unpleasant that no one would go back. Or a company may advertise how friendly its stores are, and have large signs about writing personal checks that make it clear that they think the customers are potential fraud artists. A company may promote having low prices, and then raise them by 20 percent connected to giving away something for free that is less valuable. Those examples show hypocritical behavior as well as lack of respect for customers. They think we are very stupid and subservient. Well, your purchases may just go to someone else.

These observations were tied to the concept of there being three levels of business relationship: acceptable, preferred, and trusted. The book's point is that the most successful will be trusted based on their outstanding performance in one dimension, strength in another, and dependable performance in everything else. We are all busy and distracted. We need trusted companies who will look out for our interests, so we can spend the time we would normally use checking up on them doing something more urgent and important . . . like be with our children.

These examples are also helpfully tied down by many examples of businesses that you know, and new examples from Europe and small companies in the United States that you will not know. I thought the examples were very interesting, and look forward to trying the services and products of these new companies to me like Superquinn in Ireland and Circles in Boston.

There is a sort of half science fiction, half tongue-in-cheek section at the end of the book that projects where these levels of performance could be many years in the future. You'll have a good laugh here.

The only weakness I saw in the book is the lack of a serious take on how rapidly new elements of consumer business models might emerge, and how rapidly competition will require companies to be excellent in outperforming others in more business model elements. My own research suggests that the standard described in this book will probably be obsolete in the near future. For those who fall well below this standard now, the book will be a superb resource. For those who are at the top of their industry's game, the book will not be as helpful.

After you finish thinking about this fine work, I suggest that you spend time every week being an anonymous customer of your own company. Buy and use the competitors' products and services as well. Then ask yourself: How are you doing today?

Extend effectively beyond the best . . . always!

As a counsellor and teacher in business management for thirty years, and having completed diagnostic assessments on large and small businesses, locally, nationally and internationally, my opinion of "The Myth of Excellence" comes from first-hand knowledge and experience.

The authors have broken down the key areas of marketing into five basic components: access, experience, price, product and service. For the reasons the book identifies, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to "be the best" in all these areas. Based on case studies and interviews with over 10,000 consumers, it has become evident that the consumer is no longer impressed by a company's catching promotional messages or "world class performance." Today's consumer places little value in cliches that say little and promise nothing. What they do want, and have every right to expect in addition to value for their dollar, is efficient service, honesty, trust, recognition and fairness. From customer service reps through the ranks to CEO's, consumers want someone to listen to them and follow through with prompt, efficient action.

One huge mistake often make by companies, both large and small, is the complacent attitude of managers/owner who believe, "since doors of my business are open, the customer will come." As the authors point out, many businesses are run by inept management who do not listen to Mr. or Ms. Public's concerns or messages, nor, quite frankly, do they care what they have to say. Successful companies who make it to the top in the corporate world, and continue to grow, have already learned an important lesson: if they want to increase sales, minimize costs and increase bottom-line profitability, they better pay very close attention to what the customer is telling them. While many businesses believe they are "successful" for no other reason than the doors remain open and the financials indicate a slight profit, a vast majority of businesses lack sufficient management skills (which includes marketing)to make the business grow to the point where it achieves maximum profitability. Very simply put, they learn to make all the mistakes in the book on their own money - profit goes out the door...along with the customer!

The authors of this book have certainly done their homework on this book. It is well-written, clearly understood, and based on sound, reliable research. "The Myth of Excellence" is highly recommended reading to any and every individual in the world of business today.

In The Discipline of Market Leaders, Treacy and Wiersema assert that "no company can succeed today by trying to be all things to all people. It must instead find the unique value that it alone can deliver to a chosen market. Why and how this is done are the two key questions the book addresses." The authors focus with rigor and precision on three different "disciplines": operational excellence, product leadership, and customer intimacy. Obviously, the most successful companies are those which excel in all three disciplines. However, each places primary emphasis on only one. I mention all this by way of suggesting that Crawford and Matthews take a comparable position in their brilliant analysis of the reasons why "great companies never try to be the best at everything." Hence the appropriateness of their book's title.

In the Preface, they note that "across the globe and across all industries, businesses are spending billions of dollars sending poorly aimed -- and in some cases offensive -- messages to their customers and leaving literally billions of dollars on the table each day. Instead of talking to customers in a language they can understand and find meaningful, most businesses are actually demonstrating -- through advertising, marketing, merchandising, product assortment and selection, transactional terms, and service levels -- that they don't respect or even know whom they are doing business with." In essence, that is the problem to be solved. Crawford and Matthews offer a number of specific strategies and tactics in response to the question "How?"

They organize their material within ten chapters: Field Notes from the Commercial Wilderness, The New Model for Consumer Relevancy, Would I Lie to You? ("The Overrated Importance of Lowest Price"), I Can't Get No Satisfaction ("Service with a Smile?"), I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For ("Access, Physical and Psychological"), Why "Good" Is Good Enough ("Issues of Product Bandwidth"), Do You Really Like Me? ("The Experience Factor"), Making Consumer Relevancy Work, Supply-Chain Realities, and finally,m Consumer Relevancy and the Future. The concept of Consumer Relevancy is central to everything Crawford and Matthews share in abundance and with eloquence. The attributes of Consumer Relevancy (i.e. price, service, access, product, and experience) have remained constant for centuries "and are "somehow inherently integral to the way people go about commerce" and indeed, according to the authors, the five attributes "emerge as almost preconditions to commercial relationships." In the final chapter, they assert that "the real business advantage will fall to to those companies that not only hear [the consumer's voice] but also listen to it and shape their offerings accordingly. And based on what we've found in our work on Consumer Relevancy, that's something much easier said than done."

Crawford and Matthews conducted research which involved more than 5,000 consumers. They were surprised by what that collective "voice" had to say. For example, 64% said that an "honest, consistent" price was more important to them than getting the lowest possible price, 73% rated "respect and courtesy" as the being most important to them in a satisfactory commercial experience, and 69% defined "superior" service as the ability to return products unconditionally..."the acid test" of whether or not a company really stands behind what it sells.

Many of the book's most important value-added benefits are derived from the "Self-Diagnostic" exercises (Price, Service, Access, Product, and Experience). Also from the "Formula for Success" summaries of key points developed within rigorous analyses of companies such as Dollar General, Superquinn, Circles, Record Time, Southwest Airlines, Campbell Bewley Group, and Gourmet Garage. And also from various Tables such as 2.1 ("Hierarchy of Interaction" which suggests what customers are really saying about how they want to interact with companies) and 10.2 ("The Transformation of Symbols, Meanings, and Conventional Practices -- from the Industrial to Post Information Ages"). I commend the authors on how well they write as well as how clearly they think. I also commend them for what I consider to be a unique quality of humility. Even with all of the research data at their disposal, they resist the temptation to say (in effect) "this is the consumer's voice which is telling you precisely how to conduct your business." They effectively challenge certain myths about excellence without replacing them with others.

Occasionally I read a book which can serve as the foundation of a workshop I can conduct for my corporate clients. Here's how it works. Key executives are required to read a given book such as this one in advance, then gather (preferably offsite) for at least a full day. The book's Table of Contents serves as the agenda. Each participant is required to challenge the book's core assumptions, then to suggest which combination of assertions and suggestions is most appropriate to the company's specific needs. Finally, everyone involved collaborates on an action plan to achieve whichever objectives the group has formulated.

I agree with Crawford and Matthews that most decision-makers in so-called "customer-driven" companies suffer from self-inflicted wounds because of their inability and/or unwillingness to eliminate Customer Irrelevancy. Crawford and Matthews wrote this book for them.

I was excited by all the postive reviews posted here. Unfortunately I was dissapointed when I read this book. Little of the time is spent proving their basic premise. Most of the book contains examples that are similar to other excellence books written in the past. The authors spend most of their time telling us about a few companies that are excellent in one of their five categories. That is fine in itself but I wanted to know more about the downside of being excellent in multi categories. The authors talk about leaving money on the table when companies try to be excellent accross the board. But I did not see financial evidence presented, just a theory about lost profits. I do like the basic premise on focus on one thing and think it is essentially correct. However, it is a stretch to say that they have proven anything about the myth of excellence. Most businesses focus on one of the five elements they use in the book. The book is probably more aptly named " The need to focus" not the myth of excellence. Basically the authors tell us that consumers do not expect companies to excel at everything and therefore trying to is a waste of money. I guess that is good advice but I did not see too many examples in the book of companies that try to be excellent at everything and have failed.

A very good book, not only easy to read but enjoyable and motivating as well. I believe these guys are right on the money with their research and analysis. I agree with the interrpretations of the research data and found myself saying "Yes, that's just how I feel." in response to many of the stories of customer interactions.

I believe that this book addresses the most important areas of business today and identifies what consumers are "screaming" for - SERVICE, RESPECT, etc. Most of this book is common sence - it's amazing how uncommon it is that these principles are put into practice. We are at a transition in the business world where product quality is easily duplicated by many competitors. Customer service and the customer "experience" will be the deciding factor in the decades to come. I would hope that all businesses would buy this book and work towards being the kind of companies used in the case studies here. What a pleasure it would be if all of our day to day dealings were with companies of this caliber!

The authors recognition of the end of the Information age and movement into a new age where "appreciation and reverence for life" become the motivating factors for those who wish to succeed, shows just how in-tune they are with the world around us. This recognition will be invaluable to all businesses as time goes on - now, who will take advantage of it and use it wisely?

I highly reccommend this book for everyone from the CEO to the consumer. People are asking (demanding) for RESPECT, as they should, and the businesses that understand this and embrace this will be the future winners.

This is a good book to get you thinking about the need to really remain relevant to your customer - and they change in their own ways to suit themselves (and not us as sellers).

There are the usual smart consultants points of annoyance - they tell stories about people tearing clothes on airplanes and how badly they were treated, but never offer a suggestion as to how they would have fixed the problem - some are so bad that a workable solution may have not been possible.

I once faxed one of the authors (in 1998) a request for his views on my comment on one of his published trade magazine articles (used the fax number in the item) and never got an answer, so no one is perfect after all.

This is worth a read - the answers are not obvious and it is more a prompter to get you thinking. Some of the diagrams are overly simple but the underlying logic is useful - only purchase it if you are willing to take their logic and work it out for yourself as the book will not do it for you.

The Myth of Excellence - trying to be the best at everything makes wasteful use of your resources and confuses consumers. There are five attributes to any business transaction: price, service, access, product and experience. According to this study of 10,000 consumers, executives and client engagements, companies that excel dominate in one category, differentiate in another and are on par with the industry average on the other three. Customers buy for different reasons. It is an outmoded thinking that purchases are mainly based on lowest price or highest quality.

To survive and prosper you must know which attributes of the five that your customers value the most and concentrate on one of them. You do this while being above average on the next attribute and on par with the last three. If you fall below par on any of these, your business will be rejected.

Top businesses engage in customer relevancy - what the customer values most. Customers desire a personal experience that supports their individual value system. They are looking for recognition as individuals. Sam Walton used to ask his employees and customers what they would change if they owned his store - Walmart.

Lowest price is not important to most customers. They do want however a fair price and a feeling of saving money. Most companies fall behind on service because customers are always redefining what good service means. They want to know that they are being given at least due consideration. They expect a basic level of competence. Access has to do with ease of use and availability. Convenience and forthrightness of information is paramount in this attribute. Your product must be credible and of consistent quality. Finally the experience is more than entertainment. It is a sense of intimacy. Courtesy, appearance of staff and store, and respect are part of the experience.

Of these five, the attribute that is capitalized on must inspire the customer. It would intimately handle their needs and problems. It would indivually acknowledge and reaffirm the consumer and deliver a high level of trust. It will be 'the' factor that drives people to your store.

When it is discovered through survey and communications what your customers and potential customers value, and one of their main concerns is addressed with emphasis, and this value-proposition is shared with-in and with-out the company, prosperity will ensue.

Excellent book by two world-renowned business consultants.

Five Stars

No matter how simple the author's theory and logic is, many highly paid intellilgent business executives still have no comprehension of the themes covered in this book. So many companies are so out of tune to what their customers really want.

This book revolves around the theme of "Consumer Relevancy", which described by the authors as the process of aligning business operations and offering to new and targeted markets and moves them forward over time. In my own words it means actually asking the client what they really want and expect from a company in order to retain the consumer over a long period of time.

The book has many real case studies taken from a wide spectrum of companies in the Anglo-Saxon world but felt they could have used more non-US case studies. Actually understanding how these select businesses have come to seek out and really understand their customer base to improve the process and profits gives one inspiration to think about their own business or company.

Fred Crawford and Ryan Mathews evalute a company on a scale of 1-5 (5 is the highest)in five select catagories:access,experience, price, product and service. An enterprise should strive to have a rating of "5" in just one catagory, while trying for "4" in another and not letting the rest of the go below a "3". This study has shown that it is a waste of energy and resources trying to have a "5" in every catagory.

Toward the end of the book they discuss the future and predicting future trends, which they conceed is almost impossible but it is a necessary process to dream and imagine how you think this could be or should be to concieve new ideas.

This is a great book for any business person to read, regardless of their department or rank.

A powerful message for businesses--whether business-to-business(B2B) or business-to-consumer(B2C)--struggling to maintain profit margins, market share or whatever financial outcome tells them that there is "trouble in River City." This book very effectively explains why it is unwise if not impossible to try to be the best at everything or to promise to be the best at everything. "Everything" in this context consists of five attributes of a company's marketplace offering: price, product, service, access and the experience. We all know that it's impossible to be "all things to all people!" Rather, this book suggests choosing one at which to dominate, a second at which to be above average and to be just average at the other three (i.e., "industry par"). These outcomes are possible to achieve--and will clearly communicate to existing and potential customers what you are promising in the marketplace. The book then offers solid, practical "how to" advice about what to do to get there. As a business strategy and organizational alignment consultant, I hope that businesses DON'T read this book! That would give me some assurance that I'm still going to have plenty of customers out there for my work.

I really enjoyed this book. In it I saw many of the problems my colleagues and I have encountered over years in attempting to bridge the gap between product development and customer demand for a specific product. My experience is in R&D and though we tried to interact with marketing,we all too often found that departmental bickering amd management barriers prevented any kind of productive relationships, which eventually led to the sort of customer issues candidly outlined in the "Myth of Excellence". It did not take much to figure out that short-sighted and obstructive management was at the core of our company's counter-productive behavior, which is probably only one reason why we also enjoyed the satirical book, "MANAGEMENT BY VICE". Woven in the witty-sharp humor you'll see how well the "Myth of Excellence" is supported as well as some of the "hair-pulling" shenanigans, which take place during product research and development and many of the real-life reasons why marketing folks, like R&D researchers, end up being so frustrated, the customer remains unsatisfied and the company looses millions in potential profits.