Entrepreneurs looking for the next big thing need to grab
a copy of our book and this one, and fast.”

– Bob Dorf, co-author with Steve Blank
of THE START UP OWNER’S MANUAL:
The Step-by-Step Guide for
Building a Great Company

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

SMART CUSTOMERS, STUPID COMPANIES pulls no punches. Dynamic and a quick read, this full color book focuses like a laser on disruptive innovation and what it takes for a company to profit from it, instead of getting crushed by it.

The book makes the case that four disruptive forces are making customers smarter than the companies that wish to serve them, and that being dumber than your customers is not a sustainable business model.

Michael Hinshaw and Bruce Kasanoff argue that 25% to 30% of Fortune 500 CEOs are running the next Kodak, but they don’t know it yet. They’ve been lulled into complacency because it has taken two decades for technology to reach a tipping point.

In 1995, or even 2005, technological change wasn’t capable of toppling governments. Now it is. In 2000, the biggest media companies in the world hadn’t lost control of their business models. Now they have. Major companies are so far behind their customers’ expectations that almost a third of them will never catch up.

This book is for those companies who can still survive – and even thrive – if they act decisively and be utterly tenacious in their conviction to act as smart or smarter than their customers.

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RECENT PRESS:

Smart Customers in the News Harvard Business Review The Huffington Post 1to1 Media Fast Company CNBC TIME Bloomberg Businessweek

ADVANCE PRAISE:

“Technology-enabled customers are getting smarter every day, while companies mired in the same old ways of doing business just come off as stupider and stupider. Do not let that happen to you.

Instead, follow Hinshaw and Kasanoff's prescription to ride the waves of today's perfect storm of disruptive innovations.”

– B. Joseph Pine II, co-author,
THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY and INFINITE POSSIBILITY: Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier

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Download Chapter One:

Smart Customers Stupid Companies

How smart are your customers? If your company is like most, they’re likely smarter than you realize. How smart, you ask?

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READ AN EXCERPT:

It is not a sustainable strategy to act dumber than the customers you wish to serve.

At the same time, everything and everyone has become or is becoming interconnected. Customers have smartphones loaded with apps that let them check prices, compare service agreements, read reviews, and check in with friends (and strangers) even as they examine your offers and products, and those of your competitors.

Consumers and businesses alike research, connect, and purchase online and over their phones without a second thought.

With these tools come radically higher customer expectations. Higher expectations of experience. Greater demands for personalization and customization. Lower tolerance for mistakes, for running through inane hoops, or for interactions that require mindless repetition (“... What is your account number ...?”).

In short, the world has changed dramatically, but many companies have not. Forget about innovation, they’re not even sure how to keep up. This is the challenge that your company needs to confront.

Companies that can’t pass basic tests of memory, flexibility, responsiveness, and innovation will die.

Among the many disruptive forces that are making it impossible for firms to survive with outdated strategies, four in particular are changing the basic ground rules for business competition and are the focus of this book: Social Influence; Pervasive Memory; Digital Sensors and The Physical Web.

Together, these forces will bring customers more choices, better information, and stunning new services. They are already providing individuals with tools more advanced in many cases than the most sophisticated commercial enterprises had just five years ago.

Put another way, they’ll continue to make your customers even smarter.

We’re just at the tip of this revolution.

For reasons that will become crystal clear as you read this book, established firms will need to reinvent themselves and disrupt their own industries to stay alive. With thousands upon thousands of very bright developers and entrepreneurs working around the globe to provide your customers with ever better, ever more disruptive tools, it’s a certainty that innovation will be coming to your industry if it hasn’t already.

Those companies who react slowly or tentatively will be increasingly marginalized, until finally, they’ll wither away. It may take five, ten, or even fifteen years, but eventually, these companies will be smothered by the competition and the growing demands of their ever-smarter customers.

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

We are not talking about trivial change

ONE: SMART CUSTOMERS

Digital innovation is leaving companies behind

Customers start gaining superhero powers

Companies can’t be competitive if they can’t
stay ahead of their customers

Smart customers expect smart customer experiences

Key Takeaways

TWO: INTELLIGENCE IS EVERYWHERE

Beyond 1to1 to 1toEverything

Identify anything, anywhere, anytime

A framework for infinite opportunity and innovation

Innovators look through the eyes of their customers

What your customers could do with a pair of smart glasses

Technology is magic your customers need to trust

Key Takeaways

THREE: A PERFECT STORM OF
DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION

The four disruptive forces

Disruptive force number one: Social Influence

Disruptive force number two: Pervasive Memory

Disruptive force number three: Digital Sensors

Disruptive force number four: the Physical Web

Disruption favors the smart customer

Key Takeaways

FOUR: STUPID COMPANIES

Does your company behave stupidly?

What happens when smart customers meet
a stupid company?

Why CRM hasn't helped

Does this mean the end of loyalty?

Many managers don't care – and aren't paid to

Guess what? Your customers don’t care either

Dumb touchpoints anchor your performance to the past

Key Takeaways

FIVE: GET SMART

A five-step system for acting smart and growing faster

Getting smart: a simple system you can use

Segment your customers by needs and value

Modularize your capabilities to increase your flexibility
and responsiveness

Anticipate your customers' needs

Reward your employees for win/win behaviors

Transform touchpoints (and make them smart)

In summary: It really pays to get – and act – smart

Key Takeaways

SIX: CRITICAL STEPS

“If anyone disrupts this industry, it's going to be us.”

Welcome to simultaneous change

Be smart enough to learn what your customers really need

Start making your company smarter, now

Key Takeaways

AUTHORS

Acknowledgements

Michael Hinshaw

Bruce Kasanoff

INDEX

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