The ability for customers to rate their experiences with a company should be referred to as the review economy.  

Milton Friedman once wrote that the only social responsibility a business has is to make a profit. His argument was based on the view that shareholders are the economic engine of an organisation, and therefore the only group the firm should be focused on. But as we enter the age of the customer, how much does this argument hold up?

In a previous article, I suggested that disruption depends on the perspective are you looking at it from and is driven by our desire for speed to value – when taking the customers perspective I would also include value for money. If a customer perceives they are not getting either there are plenty of avenues for them to take it out. Companies who receive poor ratings will inevitably lose customers. 

The ability for customers to rate their experiences with a company should be referred to as the review economy. Good reviews strengthen the ability to attract and retain a customer base. Bad reviews will not only cause customers to abandon ship, but will also make it harder to attract new customers. This will have a negative effect on the bottom line and, ultimately, the shareholders.

We have entered a period where the customer has a choice in the company they want to do business with, not the other way around. To survive, companies need to focus on what their customer is asking for.

Friedman argued that a company’s only responsibility is to the shareholder. I would argue that the company which ignores its customer will fail their shareholders.

The review economy is here, pay attention and you will survive. 

This post was first published on my LinkedIn Profile. Feel free to follow me there to see more like this

25

Enterprise Architecture For SME’s Part 2: The Methodology

In my last blog I put forward the argument that, deployed correctly, Enterprise Architecture (EA) has the potential to provide huge benefits…

Learn More / >

26

Enterprise Architecture for SMEs

How does Enterprise Architecture drive growth for SMEs ?

Learn More / >

27

Talking customer experience amidst COVID-19

Crisis, pandemic, black swan event - whatever you call it, COVID-19 is disruptive. Disruptive to the way we interact with our customers, our…

Learn More / >

Testimonials

"One of Ant's strengths is relating to owners in a visionary sense and talking to people who are on the ground...[Ant has a] wide understanding of different systems, processes and applications and can articulate where we're going and what the possibilities are...working with Ant has changed the way we make decisions about IT structures and support systems."

Felicity Hopkins, Director - Research Review

We hired Ant to support us with an important project after he was highly recommended by colleagues. Ant was responsive, speedy, super-helpful and helped us to make key decisions. We appreciated his broad experience, and his ability to hold a high level strategic view alongside expert advice on details. We will definitely be consulting with Ant again and are happy to recommend him.

Gaynor Parkin, CEO at Umbrella Wellbeing

"We don’t need a full-time CTO [chief technology officer]. Ant knows enough about our business he can deliver it virtually. He can translate things for us. During project management, Ant came into his own... Ant gets his head round your business and [took his time] understanding our context. He was really clear about pausing on investment into the app...Ant's inquisitive, curious and approachable - he's very easy to work with."

Gus McIntosh, Chief Executive - Winsborough