Usted es me todos: Best of the January-February Issue: What Your Customers Really Want

December 21, 2016

From Amy Bernstein,
Editor, Harvard Business Review

Welcome to the reinvigorated “Best of the Issue,” our peek into the latest edition of HBR. This is a really exciting moment for us: We’re debuting a brand-new design in our print January-February issue. It’s bigger, fresher, more energetic—and I love the way it showcases our authors’ ideas. Every other month I’ll use this newsletter to share some of my favorite pieces from the magazine.

The Jan-Feb edition will change the way you think about your customers. For example: Have you always assumed that customer loyalty is the key to sustainable competitive advantage? Think again, say A.G. Lafley, former chief of P&G, and Roger Martin, of the Rotman School of Management. The human mind doesn’t want to make a conscious choice—it prefers to act automatically. Familiarity, not new features, is what customers want. That’s why brands like Tide and LEGO, which shoppers choose habitually, continue to prosper despite fierce competition.

Other consumer insights from this issue blew me away: Revealing that a product was crowdsourced will boost sales; people much prefer take-charge customer service reps to the solicitous ones that companies often recruit; and firms can use feedback surveys to improve customer satisfaction simply by asking what went right with a product or service, in addition to what went wrong.

I also love the dose of reality that Marco Iansiti and Karim Lakhani of Harvard Business School offer about blockchain, the technology at the heart of bitcoin that will (according to the hype) utterly transform business. Sure, this could happen, write the authors, but it’ll take many years. What leaders need to understand now is that blockchain-enabled technology will affect business in increasingly sophisticated ways, and in a predictable sequence.

Finally, I want to mention an article that’s particularly dear to me. It looks at the companies that have figured out how to prosper in Africa. Clayton Christensen, Efosa Ojomo, and Derek van Bever document how some businesses have succeeded in creating new markets where many global giants have failed. “If I was despondent about Africa’s future before,” Ojomo told me, “I no longer am.”

I hope you’ll take a look at the new issue. I’d like to hear what you think.

Amy Bernstein

In the Issue:

Customer Loyalty Is Overrated

by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin

Research suggests that consumers choose the leading product in a market primarily because doing so is easy. Each time they select it, the product’s advantage increases, creating what the authors call “cumulative advantage.”

The Magic of Crowdsourcing

by Martin Schreier, Hidehiko Nishikawa, Christoph Fuchs, and Susumu Ogawa

Companies have long known that customers can suggest valuable product ideas, but new research uncovers another benefit to tapping the wisdom of crowds: Simply identifying items as crowdsourced increases sales.

Kick-Ass Customer Service

by Matthew Dixon, Lara Ponomareff, Scott Turner, and Rick DeLisi

Talented customer service representatives matter more than ever. What sort of people are best equipped to handle today’s customers? And how can companies make sure they attract and engage the most-effective reps?

The Power of Positive Surveying

The customer feedback process can be a valuable tool for inspiring loyalty and increasing sales. But don’t just ask customers to report problems—nudge them to reflect on good experiences.

The Truth About Blockchain

by Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

Blockchain technology has been hailed as the ultimate transformer of businesses, but it might take decades to fulfill its potential. The problem isn’t technological barriers; those inevitably work themselves out. The real obstacles are regulatory and social.

Africa’s New Generation of Innovators

by Clayton M. Christensen, Efosa Ojomo, and Derek van Bever

For years, we’ve said that Africa is the next big opportunity, with projections of a growing middle class just waiting to spend its newfound wealth. Western multinationals—including Coca-Cola, SABMiller, and Cadbury—have foundered there, but Indonesian company Tolaram was able to create a billion-dollar brand by introducing noodles to Nigeria. Here’s the approach helping Tolaram and other companies thrive.