Steve Yastrow’s book We, The Ideal Customer Relationship, is my favourite book yet on marketing and customer relationships. Reading it both confirmed and transformed my own thinking on business and marketing in an environment where the old rules are changing fast.
I wrote in my piece “What If Your Business Disappeared Tomorrow?” that all businesses function somewhere on a continuum between commodities & relationships/experiences . Yastrow’s book is an elegant and practical text on how to focus your business squarely on the relationship end of that spectrum.
In a world where customer loyalty is the most important constant in sustained business success, great relationships matter. They have always mattered, but in the emerging business environment, consumers are looking more closely than ever at every value proposition. Limited discretionary spending, growing cynicism about traditional marketing and advertising approaches, increasing competition from determined and well-informed competitors; all are contributing to a ‘survival-of-the-fittest’ environment. And in this environment, it is the values and approaches that build sustained relationships with employees and customers that matter.
Yastrow’s book makes the point that if our customers think about themselves and us as ‘We’ rather than ‘us and them’ you have created a powerful shift in thinking; a shift that creates the kind of loyalty every business requires to survive.
The book takes us through five basic sections:
1. Why We? In this section Yastrow challenges us to take the paradigm that Pine & Gilmore’s 1999 The Experience Economy proposed (“Experiences are as distinct from services as services are from goods.”) and push it one step further. We can’t just ‘push’ experiences any more; we must engage our customers by connecting with them as individual people. Yastrow challenges us to develop relationships with our customers that are rooted in empathy and ongoing dialogue. This is modern branding taken one step further: it’s not about us, it’s not even about them, it’s about ‘We’.
2. Encounters: The Building Blocks of We Relationships. Yastrow frames the ‘encounter’ as being a positive ‘interaction’, as distinct from a depersonalized ‘transaction’. This section connected with me because the three elements of a ‘We’ encounter are also elements of the improvisational approach to business that I am exploring: Engagement in the Moment, Conversation, and Uniqueness.
“An encounter is never scripted. It is always fresh. It is clear to the participants that the moment has never happened before. And, the people involved in the encounter are irreplaceable.”
Exactly.
3. From Encounter to Relationship: The Ongoing Conversation. This section builds on the role that dialogue and conversations play in ‘We’ relationships. Series of encounters build connections and memories. One role of great encounters is to build a shared narrative with your customers, one that has as its backbone great memories and great moments held in common.
4. The Continuity Develops: Revealing the Way We Complement Each Other. The discussion of complementary understanding is perhaps my favourite part of the book. Yastrow uses great stories and a logical argument to develop our understanding:
- Begin with what is unique about each person in the relationship;
- Focus on how those differences can complement each other;
- Nurture complementary goals that become drivers for mutual success
Yastrow builds a strong case that investing in each other`s success is the best way to ensure we all thrive!
This section re-enforces the value of truly listening and being genuinely responsive to our customers’ needs and directions. Even more, it reinforces that in a mature ‘We’ relationship, our commitment to mutual success finds a concrete expression in complementary goals.
As Yastrow writes: “Our goals are complementary because our successes are mutually reinforcing. We are interdependent with each other and bonded to each other. It is a sign that our relationship has meaning. It has real substance and staying power.”
A great business relationship is based on truly listening, being truly present, and being truly empathetic. This focus on the present of the relationship creates sustainable value for both parties that a focus on the end-point of a transaction (a sale/close) could never hope to.
5. We Among Many: Relationships between Organizations. This final section explores the importance of embedding the value of ‘We’ relationships throughout the organization. Critical actions include:
- Developing a culture that walks the talk at every level;
- Developing the kinds of ‘We’ relationships with employees that you want them to have with customers;
- Giving employees the tools and training to support their focus on ‘We’ relationships;
- Being clear and explicit with your team about your values and expectations around great customer relationships.
A skilled teacher, Yastrow also walks us through practical and detailed actions we can take to improve the quality of our ‘We’ relationships, and the sustainability of our businesses as a consequence. Any business committing to the actions suggested here, will see a positive difference.
In the end what I love most about this book and about Steve Yastrow’s writing on his blog, is that it touches on an idea important to me: that in the end great business is no different than a great life. I believe business and sports have a fascination because in them we see stories of ‘real’ life played out in. Codified and intensified, in models & metaphors, but the same stories nonetheless. Relationships, passion, success, failure, growth, risk & reward, community & competition, surviving, thriving, extinction, and triumph. Its’ all there. And in this book, the unshakable constants of relationships and community are explored, and their value confirmed.
It is not a surprise that Yastrow`s inspiration for this book comes from an exploration of Martin Buber`s book I and Thou. This confirms that connection between business and the rest of life. It also speaks to the truth that the seeds of the best transformational thinking in business are not found in business books. Work that takes you outside the frame allows you the fresh perspective to say something truly new.
You should read this.
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