Inside Your Customer's Imagination

Book excerpt: “A journey into a powerful idea . . . the more people you involve as creators and contributors, the greater your innovation capacity.” —Polly LaBarre, New York Times-bestselling coauthor of Mavericks at Work Organizations need to offer customers breakthrough products, services, and solutions to effectively compete in today’s innovation-hungry economy. The challenge is customers often don’t know precisely what they want. As Henry Ford is reputed to have said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” To surprise and awe your customers, Chip Bell advises developing co-creation partnerships with them. Co-creation partnerships are about fulfilling customers’ hopes and aspirations, not just their needs and expectations. Co-creation partnerships require (1) curiosity that uncovers insight, (2) grounding that promotes clear focus, (3) discovery that fosters risk-taking, (4) trust that safeguards partnership purity, and (5) passion that inspires energized generosity. Using examples from organizations like McDonald’s, DHL, Marriott, Lockheed Martin, Discover Financial, Ultimate Software, and many more, Bell shows how co-creation partnerships enable you to tap into the treasure trove of ideas, ingenuity, and genius-in-the-raw within every customer. “Innovation through partnership is the blueprint for business growth in the future. Inside Your Customer’s Imagination provides the instruction and inspiration to make it a success.”—Marshall Goldsmith, #1 New York Times-bestselling author “Chip Bell’s unique perspective, lively illustrations, and practical advice result in one terrific resource for anyone eager to tap a customer’s ingenuity for creating breakthrough results.” —Jeanne Bliss, founder and CEO, CustomerBliss; and cofounder, Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA)