The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

519: Bain & Company's Partner Rob Markey on Customer Strategy, Customer Loyalty and Retention (Strategy Skills classics)

Jan 20, 2025

Rob Markey, a Partner at Bain & Company and founder of their Global Customer Strategy practice, joins to discuss customer loyalty and retention. He reveals a staggering disconnect between executive perceptions and customer experiences, with only 8% of customers feeling valued. Markey emphasizes the importance of measuring customer lifetime value and adopting customer-centric strategies. He also highlights the role of leadership in implementing these changes and the necessity of recovering customer trust to enhance loyalty.

01:07:20

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Episode guests

Rob Markey

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Quick takeaways

There is a significant disconnect between executives' perceptions of customer experiences and actual customer sentiments, highlighting a need for better alignment.

Effective measurement and management of customer lifetime value is crucial, requiring companies to utilize key metrics and effective data management.

A cultural shift towards customer-centric strategies is necessary, requiring leadership to model collaborative practices across the organization.

Deep dives

Customer Value Misalignment

Many executives believe they prioritize customers, yet there is a significant gap between perception and reality. Research indicates that while 80% of executives think they provide differentiated experiences, only 8% of customers agree with that sentiment. This disconnect is partially due to outdated business models that focus on financial metrics rather than customer value. A lack of visibility into customer relationships can lead to decisions that prioritize short-term profits over long-term loyalty.

Intro

2min

Understanding Customer Loyalty in Modern Business

31min

Building Customer Loyalty Through Organizational Innovation

5min

Rethinking Customer Engagement and Product Development

2min

Fostering Customer-Centric Strategies

23min

Rebuilding Trust: The Art of Customer Recovery

4min

In this episode with Rob Markey, we will discuss valuing and measuring customer loyalty. Rob highlights the gap between executives' intentions to prioritize customers and their actual practices, noting that only 8% of customers believe they receive exceptional experiences, despite 80% of executives thinking so. Rob discusses the need for companies to measure and manage customer lifetime value, using tools like Net Promoter Scores and customer segmentation. He also discusses the challenges of implementing customer-centric strategies, the importance of relationship recovery, and the role of leadership in driving these changes.

Rob Markey is a partner and director at Bain & Company and the founder of the firm’s Global Customer Strategy and Marketing practice. He is a co-author of The Ultimate Question 2.0 and is the host of the Net Promoter System podcast. He is based in New York.

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