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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Book Review: "Know Your Customer" by Woodruff and Gardial

5 Stars (Out of 5)

The following is a book review of "Know Your Customer: New Approaches to Understanding Customer Value and Satisfaction" by Robert B. Woodruff and Sarah F. Gardial. The book was published in 1996 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

"Know Your Customer" is for the intellectually curious marketing manager who wants to gain a foundational understanding of the differences between customer satisfaction and customer value (how customers value products). Although this book might be a bit much for the general manager who is interested in the results of satisfaction and value studies only, the general manager will benefit from an enriched view of how customer value insights can lead to innovation and the limitations of customer satisfaction metrics.

The authors lay down a framework for satisfaction and value and explain why analyzing both is key to business intelligence. The book is clearly written, uses a formal voice, has a good bibliography for the time that it was published, uses examples from industry to help illustrate important concepts and accomplishes what it sets out to do--explain the relationship and differences between customer satisfaction and value.

The book serves well as a foundational piece, but may fall short for those interested in the latest analytical techniques that include quantifying and forecasting value in terms of a willingness-to-pay metric in dollars (called product value). Product value is particularly helpful when making tradeoff decisions that influence product cost and when it is necessary to dedicate precious resources to a list of possible product innovations.

In summary, this book is perfect for managers interested in a foundational understanding of customer satisfaction and value. This book is not for those interested in the latest analytical concepts and tools.

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