ENTORING

 

MENTORING PHILOSOPHY

Businesses desperately want loyal customers. They spend millions on “loyalty” and incentive programs but continue to complain that today’s customers are not loyal. What’s up?

The context of business and the context of the customer have shifted. In the new context, a business can only look forward to sustainable profits and growth if their end-game is compatible with the customer’s end-game. In most cases today, they are not only incompatible - they are adversial or contentious - a win-lose situation where it is increasingly difficult for businesses to win.

The Whetstone Edge Mentoring Programs are designed to provide business leaders with the insights, strategies and tactics to not only adapt to the new context but to thrive in it.

We do not have expertise in your industry. That’s what you bring to the table. We are experts in helping companies build Customer Equity - the wealth creating potential that lies in a company’s relationship with its customers.

In our view, to gain sustainable profits and growth a business must seek to build customer equity - that must be the business's end-game. However, they cannot pursue customer equity directly. It must ensue from delivering what today’s customers value - an emotionally and psychologically fulfilling customer experience. Increasingly, this is the customer's end-game. When they have a gratifying experience, customers will scrimp elsewhere to enable them to splurge on that company’s offering.

Our mentoring programs focus on three critical and interrelated areas:

The Psychology of the customer, what they value, what creates desire and how to deliver customer experiences that lead to high life time value.

Engaging Employees so they are not just physically present but are psychologically fully engaged in their jobs, and, as a consequence, contribute to a great customer experience and become a long-term company asset.

Optimizing Organizational Dynamics so they contribute to fulfilling customer experiences and encourage employee engagement, rather than focusing on internal company processes and efficiency. That is, they are aligned with building customer equity.

In our view, building customer equity is an ongoing process, not an event or campaign. Our mentoring programs are intended to get you started on the journey and to be an ongoing resource and source of support as you manage the journey.

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Our Mentoring Programs include:

A BRAIN TRUST FOR ACTION

In this new online program, we will share perspectives on the changing business context and emerging business opportunities. We will provide strategies and examples of building customer equity. Think of it as a members only, online Brain Trust, one that constantly adds new information and insights.

The content for this program comes from years of working in this field as analysts and consultants. Over the past year, we have been pulling together the principles, strategies and methodologies required for companies to deliver fulfilling customer experience and thereby gain customer equity. This material will soon be published in two complementary books. One, Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Hooked on Your Company, and, Employees on Fire: How Engaged Employees Build Customer Equity and Supercharge Profits.

While A Brain Trust For Action will introduce members to the concepts in the books, it is specifically designed to help members put the concepts into action.

Projected Launch of A BRAIN TRUST FOR ACTION - January 31, 2006

Annual Membership - $395.00 (USD)

to receive a FREE SIX MONTH TRIAL MEMBERSHIP

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WORKSHOPS

Our Workshops are designed to help a company’s team embrace new ideas about customer equity, gain insight into how they apply to their company, and begin formulating a plan of action.

Workshop participants are highly involved throughout the sessions. Workshops are organized around a comprehensive workbook. Participants systematically progress from understanding each new concept, to evaluating and exploring how to exploit the underlying principles. They also participate in a brainstorming session to ensure they flush out the full potential of the concept and finally engage in a process of applying the concept to their industry and company.

At all stages, participants are encouraged to document “yeah but”, the perceived obstacles or barriers to successful implementation. Devising strategies to deal with all apparent obstacles is an integral part of each workshop. Participants will leave with a comprehensive understanding of the strategies and methodologies required to build customer equity. Most importantly, they leave with the foundations of an action plan.

Two-Day Workshops are designed to focus primarily on one of three interrelated challenges of building customer equity: (i) The Psychology of the Customer Experience; (ii) Engaging Employees; or (iii) Optimizing Organizational Dynamics.

Five-Day Workshops are designed to cover all three interrelated challenges and to lead to a more comprehensive action plan.

All workshops are customized to the industry and needs of the participants.

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COACHING PROGRAM

Coaching programs provide clients with ongoing guidance and advice as they engage in the journey of building customer equity. Each mentoring program is designed to meet the needs of that particular client. Typically, this involves a combination of face-to-face consultation, telephone discussion, program reviews and targeted research over a period of time. The retainer fee is determined by the scope of the program.

Call 925.372.0251 to inquire about Workshops or Mentoring
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New Publications!



More..

BLOGS
       On Customers
       Engaged Employee
       CustomerThink
       The Perfect Customer
       Experience

BOOKS AND RESOURCES
       Books / Papers
       Recommended Reading

SPEAKING
       Speaker's Kit
       Presentations
       Topics
       Speaker Bios

MENTORING
       Mentoring Philosophy
       Brain Trust for Action
       Workshops
       Coaching Programs

 


The Whetstone Edge, LLC, is a customer experience consulting and training firm that applies scholarly research on human behavior to buyer-seller dynamics including customer loyalty, trust, retention, customer service, CRM—customer relationship management, and marketing strategy. Customer care, acquisition, and client relationships are profoundly affected by the underlying psychological principles of CEM—customer experience management—that lead to customer satisfaction, trust, loyalty, and long term, lifetime value for businesses.