Connected Strategy

Building Continuous Customer Relationships for Competitive Advantage

By: Nicolaj Siggelkow, Christian Terwiesch

Narrated by: David Marantz

What if there were a way to turn occasional, sporadic transactions with customers into long-term, continuous relationships - while simultaneously driving dramatic improvements in operational efficiency? What if you could break your existing trade-offs between superior customer experience and low cost?

This is the promise of a connected strategy. New forms of connectivity - involving frequent, low-friction, customized interactions - mean that companies can now anticipate customer needs as they arise or even before. Simultaneously, enabled by these technologies, companies can create new business models that deliver more value to customers. Connected strategies are win-win: Customers get a dramatically improved experience, while companies boost operational efficiency.

In this book, Nicolaj Siggelkow and Christian Terwiesch reveal the emergence of connected strategies as a new source of competitive advantage. With in-depth examples from companies operating in various industries, Connected Strategy identifies the four pathways - respond-to-desire, curated offering, coach behavior, and automatic execution - for turning episodic interactions into continuous relationships. The authors show how each pathway creates a competitive advantage, then guide you through the critical decisions for creating and implementing your own connected strategies.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2019 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation (P)2020 Gildan Media

Hmm, How to Rate this Book...

I definitely got a lot out of this book, though it's one of those books that would be better if I could see it physically rather than just hear it audibly. I'm probably going to have to buy a fiscal copy, though I may keep this audio copy in order to listen and visually and this will be read at the same time period

I will definitely get a ton more out of this book once I have the ability to sit down and follow through on workshops.

excellent business strategy learning!

This book should be mandatory reading across MBA programs. It is extremely prescient in regards to where modern business strategy us evolving. The workshops are simple to set up and can help you drive valuable insights into how to pivot and transform your existing tactics.

truly a must listen

this is the next Good to Great or Lean Start Up. perfectly researched, segmented, and with applicable worksheets. when you think about how early adopters of a lean method advanced their careers, Connected Strategy can do this for yours.

If this concept is new for you, the book will help you. Didn’t help me.

I had to stop halfway through. There’s a few gold nugget throughout the book, but at some point it just keeps rambling about what other firms do. I get it’s a valid inspirational point, but..

This firm does A
another firm does B
A third one does C.

Without analysing more in that and concluding anything we can learn from, if showing practical ways. That’s just too easy and cheap. Therefore 3 stars.

But as said - I’d a connected strategy is completely new for you, your get some ideas about what can be done.

Elephant in the room

Let’s have the elephant in the room addressed: cyber security. It is of great challenge that any firm will allow for the connection on massive data volume with a 2nd companies, and the fact that both of them are corporations make it even more difficult.