Greg Kihlström

Customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies that aren’t, with customer experience being one of the leading factors in differentiating competing industries today. Additionally, 87% of leaders agree that prioritizing employee happiness provides a competitive advantage. But between the need to provide customers with a more personalized shopping experience and the seemingly contradictory concerns about data privacy, brands are faced with a dilemma: how to satisfy buyers, engage employees, and be economically sustainable.

While many enterprises undertake digital transformations in order to modernize and anticipate future changes, their efforts often face roadblocks, and many fail to deliver the promised results. Although 75% of consumer-facing brands claim to have good or excellent personalized customer experiences, a 2022 report by Twilio that surveyed 3,450 consumers around the world found that less than half (48%) agree. Everyone from the leaders at the top to front-line employees need to focus decisions on doing what is in the best interests of the customer if they want to grow a profitable business into the future.

In House of the Customer, Greg Kihlström furnishes a blueprint for building a customer-first, employee-driven enterprise based on seven key elements to create a “house” that aligns people, processes, and platforms in a customer-centric manner. He explores everything from strategic objectives; methods used to understand, listen to, and serve customers; measurable business outcomes; business culture; and the customer relationships we need to achieve sustainable growth.