Secret Lives of Customers: A Detective Story about Solving the Mystery of Customer Behavior

"Mogul William Goldman's zinger about the movie business - "nobody knows nothing" - can easily be said today about companies and their customers. Despite big data and a mind-boggling array of analytical tools, companies still grasp at straws when trying to understand who their customers are; why they buy their products and services - or don't; why they lose them; and how to regain them. In an entertaining detective story, David Scott Duncan tells the tale of Tazza, a fictional regional chain of Boston-based cafes trying to go big time. The only problem: sales are declining at several key stores and they can't figure out why. The cast of characters include Cate Forrest, Tazza's CEO, Alex Baker, a "market detective," Jordan Sims, a young computer whiz at Tazza, and Ed Amato, the "Mayor" of Tazza-their most loyal customer-who has stopped visiting their stores. Eventually, Jordan discovers why the "Mayor" has fired Tazza, a revelation that leads to the "a-ha moment" that enables the company to get its ship in order. Through this parable, Duncan shows that until a company understands why customers "hire" and "fire" them, they literally know nothing. Ending with practical tools to help anyone learn craft of understanding customers, The Secret Life of Customerswill help anyone get in tune with what customers want, today and in the future"--
A "detective story" that delivers key insights for any businessperson asking the questions: who really are our customers, why do we lose them, how do we regain them?Customers can be a mystery. Despite the availability of more data than ever before, everyone, from the CEO to salespeople in the field, struggles to understand who their customers really are, what they want, why they lose them, and how to regain them.To crack the case, start thinking like a market detective.David Scott Duncan shows how in his entertaining story of Tazza, a fictional chain of cafes with declining sales and leaders urgently seeking to understand why. The vivid characters of Tazza&;s market detective force come to their aha moment when they finally understand why their most loyal customers walked out the door&;and how they can get them back.The core of the Tazza story is a simple, powerful idea that upends how most businesses view their customers. Customers have &;jobs to be done.&; They &;hire&; companies to solve a problem or fulfill a need and &;fire&; them when unhappy. Duncan&;s fresh way of thinking about how to understand your customers&; secret lives provides an innovative path for solving whatever market mysteries you face.