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Compelling insights can only be discovered by going out and exploring the customer’s world in depth. They represent an unlimited potential for growth. Alcoa, a firm that supplies the aluminum for soft drink cans uncovered a compelling insight while watching how people take cans out of a twelve pack sitting in their fridge. They noticed that as the box emptied it was harder to get at a can. They developed a cardboard box that constantly presents a new can as one is removed. The result? A 25% increase in sales of 12 packs for Alcoa’s customers, and lots more aluminum sold to make cans.

Tools:
Insight discovery matrix

Compelling value can create the customer traction essential for momentum. It has to tap into the customers’ dreams, fantasies, and nightmares, to reach the essence of their emotions. Why does the iPod still have such a huge market share so long after its launch? Because the whole package of great design, ease of use, high profile celebrity users, iTunes, and the feeling of being a member of a club of cool Apple users connects at a much deeper level with customers than other cheaper, and perhaps technically comparable or even superior, players can offer.

Tools:
Customer value map
Customer value wedge

Compelling equity is essential to justify the investment in providing compelling value. Customers are a firm’s most essential assets. Their value as assets includes not just the purchases they will make over time but many other aspects. Selection of customers and other decisions have to aim at creating a compelling equity. While other games manufacturers sold their consoles as loss leaders, Nintendo managed to make a profit on its Wii units because it targeted customers who offered compelling equity.

The families that were so taken with the Wii were not only more affluent than traditional gamers, they were also much less demanding in terms of graphics and processing power. This meant that Nintendo could reduce the cost of making its console, making them much more profitable.

Tools:
Customer equity map
Customer equity wedge

The spark that ignites momentum comes from the power offer. That power is built into the offer by aligning compelling value for a particular customer with the compelling equity that customer offers in return.  The process is iterative and never-ending. Great power offers are constantly tweaked to become ever more powerful. Take the Swatch, originally designed as an affordable, mass-produced Swiss watch to compete with cheaper Asian products it became one of the defining power offers of the 1980s. The plastic strap and body, originally intended to save production costs, opened up endless design opportunities, turning the Swatch from a cheap, good quality watch into a premium fashion accessory that happened to tell the time.

Tools:
Customer value path to power offer design
Customer equity path to power offer design

Perfection is rarely achieved first time round. Power offers need to be constantly monitored and improved to ensure that any potential momentum killers are identified and eradicated while momentum boosters are harnessed and amplified. The Walkman is a classic example of a beautifully designed power offer that almost failed to release its full power. On launch, it was perceived to have one crippling defect: Customers compared the Walkman to the more familiar tape recorder and focused on the fact that it couldn’t record. With a masterstroke of execution Sony managed to transform the perception of the Walkman from a tape recorder that couldn’t record into a portable personal sound system.

Tools:
MDC (mobilize, detect, convert) action roadmap
Momentum execution matrix

A customer satisfaction rating is a simple statistics that only reflects a self reported state of mind. Positive action happens only when satisfaction is intense, when it creates emotions. This is vibrant satisfaction. To create vibrant satisfaction, Enterprise Rent-a-Car began reporting only what it called “top box” satisfaction. It made sure its managers and employees became ambitious about satisfaction levels and delivering the sort of service that would drive repeat business and enthusiastic word of mouth recommendations.

Tools:
Friction detection matrix

Keeping customers is a minimum objective in business. Passive or irritated customers do not, however, create growth. Momentum is only built when customers are active, committed and positively loyal to the firm. This is vibrant retention. We know of a Virgin Atlantic customer who works in Boston and spends her weekends in Dublin. Despite the availability of cheaper and faster direct flights, she chooses to fly with Virgin from Boston to London and catch a connecting flight to Dublin. Other Virgin customers book their vacation by seeing where Virgin flies to and then selecting a holiday destination. That is the power of vibrant retention.

Tools:
Customer retention portfolio

Sometimes a firm executes a power offer so well that its customers become passionate advocates. These customers enthusiastically recommend the firm to friends, adopt supplementary offers, give suggestions for improvements, and want to be associated with the firm. This is vibrant engagement. Imaging actually loving your bank! First Direct, the UK-based virtual bank, made banking such a pleasurable experience that it secured incredible levels of vibrant engagement. So much so that 70% of its customers recommend it to friends at least once a year. The impact of this word of mouth can be seen in the fact that more than 30% of its new customers joined on the strength of personal recommendation rather than in response to advertising.

Tools:
Customer engagement portfolio