Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business

"Why read Outside In? Because a focus on customer experience and an outside-in perspective are the cornerstones of business success. The strongest client relationships are built on trust, mutual respect, and really listening to each other. Those are the kinds of relationships that can last a lifetime."
— Vanguard Chairman and CEO Bill McNabb "This eye-opener gives you a comprehensive, need-to-know look at how smart companies achieve sustainable success in dealing with customers.  Hint:  It involves the entire organization, not just those on the 'front lines.' The GPS-like guidance provided here is invaluable."
— Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes
 
"Enjoyable, Easy, Meets Needs. This is Manning and Bodine’s Customer experience pyramid, listed in order of importance for the customer. Yes, it’s hard to make the changes needed to deliver on these promises. But there is a simple first step: read this book.
— Don Norman, Nielsen Norman Group, author of Living with Complexity "Manning and Bodine understand that a good customer experience is actually less expensive to provide than a poor one and customers will pay more for a good one than for a bad one. Nothing drives profitability like an excellent customer experience does."
— Dan Hesse, CEO, Sprint "I define customer centricity as simply ‘the one who pays you money placed at the center of everything you do.’ If you buy that definition, then buy this book, for Manning and Bodine provide a blueprint for doing just that. Following its prescriptions will yield enjoyable experiences for your customers by understanding them — from the outside in."
—  B. Joseph Pine II, co-author, The Experience Economy and Infinite Possibility: Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier
 
"Looking forward, healthcare organizations need to make patient experience part of their strategic plans. It’s as important as quality and safety. Manning and Bodine show why creating a great experience is important for any organization, and how to drive the change needed to make it a reality."
— Delos “Toby” Cosgrove, MD, CEO, Cleveland Clinic "Here at Virgin, our brand is all about a great customer experience. Outside In provides the discipline to turn that thinking into successful business practices."
— Paul Sands, Head of Customer Experience Management, Virgin Atlantic Airways

“Here’s a simple recommendation: if you have customers, you should read this book.” —800-CEO-READ “CIOs who want to travel down that path [of success] but need a bit of guidance should look at Outside In…By looking closely at the problems customers experienced that led them to call customer service, some of these companies either slashed costs by billions of dollars or generated billions in new revenue.” —The Wall Street Journal —

Harley Manning founded Forrester's customer experience research practice when he joined the firm in 1998. Today he leads a team of analysts that cover enterprise-level customer experience topics ranging from strategy to metrics and business models.