The Customer Centricity Playbook: Implement a Winning Strategy Driven by Customer Lifetime Value

I found out about this book by listening to "several" podcasts which featured Peter Faber. In each podcast, he said that this was the practical playbook for people wanting to implement "Customer Lifetime Value" (CLTV). Unfortunately, there are no tactical plays to run. When I think of a playbook, I thought of the analogy of football playbook... This is not one of those. This book is like the coach saying: "Run the football." But there are no "plays" in the book on how to run the ball to defeat the competition.Like another comment I saw for this book, people want to know how to calculate CLTV. Getting a historical, "past" value of a customer is easy. But predicting "future" value of the customer is what is critical. There is NO information on how to do that in this book. That would have been really useful. I've seen some of Peter's scholarly articles on how to do that, and they are really hard to decipher. I was hoping this book would put things in "simple" language that busy business owners could understand and hand off to programmers to do the work. As soon as I got the book and flipped through the pages, I didn't see any formulas for predicting future value of a customer. What a let-down...The book is also devoid of specific examples on how to use CLTV once you calculate it. The only example was at the very end of the book where the authors describe what the LA Dodgers did to increase season ticket sales. They divided the current season ticket holders into two categories. Those that are hard-core fans, and those that are price sensitive. For the hard-core fans, they were offered perks like on-field batting practice and discounts at concession stands. For the price-sensitive folks, they were offered next-season's tickets at this season's price.What I was looking for was a lot of examples like that. But that one example was basically it.I was really let down, where on page 67, they describe the process: "define the critical success factors (CSFs) of the business and identify four or five key performance indicators (KPIs) for each CSF. ..." But there are NO examples of either CSFs or KPIs, nor how it relates to customer lifetime values. Strategy without the tactics... "Just run the football..."The other odd thing about this book is it is often written in "third person." For example, "Peter did this..." What? Why phrase things like that. Peter, did you write this book, or was Sarah Toms writing your autobiography?My perception is that this book is written as a marketing vehicle for Peter to book himself onto other podcasts. He can go to the other host and say, "I wrote the playbook on the subject," just so he can get the interview. Yes he's an expert. But he didn't need this book as a "business card" to prove that.To be honest, I learned more by listening to his podcast interviews than I gained from this book. I love and respect Peter, but this was all the same stuff he already said on the podcast interviews. There was nothing new that was gained by my putting down my money to buy the book. Just listen to the free podcasts and you'll be up to speed on what is in this book.I've heard people say to judge a book's quality as if it was the only piece of information you've ever heard about the subject. That is a terrible way to judge a book. Books aren't written in a vacuum of information. I want books to have something new in them that I'm not going to find out when I listen to a podcast or watch a YouTube video. I am not only investing money when I buy a book, but I'm investing something even more important - my time to read it. I'm not getting that time back, so I better learn something new that will help me with my business. This book isn't that.Peter, if you're listening, you need to up your game on your next book. Include examples of what marketing ideas and TACTICS other companies are using, not just their strategy. Strategy by itself is too generic. Business owners want tactics. I can modify a tactic to fit my industry. But the strategy is too nebulous to take to a marketing meeting with tangible things we can do this week.

Playbook may be a slight overstatement but I like Peter's take on the topic. I wish I could give it a 4.5 as I do not think it is a 5 (I am a hard grader) but it is better than a 4. Hmmm...I liked how the authors expanded CLV to beyond the financial metrics. I share an exercise where I help my clients find the “customer goodness” and it expands beyond profit. Two of the columns have “love” as part of their headings. It is often quite illuminating and instructive.I enjoyed the authors' take on how customer centricity is the celebration of variance. It reminds me of what Bob Moesta often says on the subject, “Context creates value and contrast creates meaning”I did get lost a bit in the back half with the CRM and Agile stuff but I am pretty that was me and my interest level on those chapters. When I read for work (I am a business coach), I skew toward applied theory but do not often get down to the tools and methods level. However, I am sure DIYers appreciate the prescriptive bent in those areas.The examples provided illustrate well the importance of getting to know your best customers and what they get from using your product and serve beyond demographics and personas. People don't really care what you do, they care about what you do, does for them. The authors' drive that home well in a short but impactful way.

I'm likely not the best judge of this book. I've been studying this topic for 20 years. I did not find much new material. However, I think this book does a very good job of introducing the subject and making the case for adopting a customer-centric strategy. If you are considering the approach and want a better understanding of why it's important and how to approach the transformation, this book is worth the read.

Sarah and Peter deliver on the book's title - this is a playbook, not just a set of theoretical frameworks. There's plenty of why in there, but the what and how are there to match in the form of specific case studies and success stories. We're far from implementing customer centricity in its fullest form, but I don't see our business the same way after reading this.

Big part of the book is discussing CLTV measure, the title is misleading with all due respect

I’m new to CLV as a traditional marketer so this was totally helpful and eye opening. Needs some data analytics understanding

The book did not provide the level of detail required to call this a playbook (the authors know it, but attempt to convince you otherwise in the book). Not a good signal for Zodiac or Theta Equity (consulting firms co-founded by Peter).

Good look at CLV and key levers.

Gostei desse livro. Quem trabalha no tema recomendo conhecer.

Really practical and applicable concepts about CLV and how organizations could scale up through this lens. Strongly recommended for Marketing & CRM executives!

Zahlreiche gute Anregungen. Starker Fokus auf Marketing.