Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: On Purpose
WORK NOTES: with Andy Milligan
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY:
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http://customerthink.com/author/shaun_smith/ * http://www.onpurposethebook.com/ * https://www.marketingsociety.com/the-library/purpose-delivering-branded-customer-experience-people-love#kpmIUYRRCmIP6r87.97 * https://ijgolding.com/2015/09/21/book-review-on-purpose-delivering-a-branded-customer-experience-people-love/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL EDUCATION:
Attended St. John’s, Cambridge.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Entrepreneur and consultant. British Airways, worked in customer service, marketing, and sales training, 1980-87; Cathay Performa Consulting, managing director, 1987-91; Inchcape Pacific, group advisor, 1991-95; Forum Asia, vice president, 1995-97; Forum Corporation, senior vice president, 1997-2002; Shaun Smith & Co., London, England, director, 2002-13; Smith+Co Consultancy, London, England, founder and partner, 2002—.
AWARDS:Business eBook of the Year, Chartered Management Institute, 2012, for Bold.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Shaun Smith is an international business consultant who works with companies to help them provide an exceptional customer experience. He is the founder and partner of the consulting company Smith+Co, which helps companies craft the type of customer experience that keeps customers coming back. Smith and his company are dedicated to creating consistent customer experiences that stand out in a competitive marketplace, that inspire loyalty, and that turn customers into advocates.
In Uncommon Practice: People Who Deliver a Great Brand Experience, Smith serves as editor with frequent collaborator and coauthor Andy Milligan. The editors gather interviews with top executives and decision makers in companies that have often defied the conventional wisdom of business and, by doing so, have created an exceptional experience for customers and a remarkable corporate environment for employees. The book focuses on the creation of a brand experience and its application—the overall collection of expectations and outcomes that customers expect from a particular brand. This can include visual experiences from the design of the brand’s packaging and corporate logos, taste and texture of a food product, and even emotional sensations related to good feelings that stem from outstanding customer service or a sense of loyalty to a product or brand. Smith and Milligan present interviews with personnel at companies such as Amazon, Harley Davidson, KrispyKreme, Tesco, Virgin, and PizzaExpress. Reviewer Neil Fox, writing in the journal Marketing, stated that Uncommon Practice “is a fascinating book. For anyone lunatic enough to start a company, it’s compulsory reading.”
Smith is also the author of See, Feel, Think, Do: The Power of Experience Marketing, written with Milligan. The book addresses the role that instinct, intuition, and “gut feelings” can play in a business environment.
Bold
Bold: How to Be Brave in Business and Win, written in collaboration with Milligan, offers profiles of fourteen companies that have distinguished themselves by being willing to take risks, vigorously promote themselves, commit themselves wholeheartedly to customer satisfaction, and otherwise take bold actions that differentiate themselves from their competitors. These companies and their standout brands serve as models for others who want to see how successful companies move beyond the traditional norms of business to succeed in building communities, attracting and keeping customer loyalty, and succeeding in competitive markets and where other companies struggle. The companies profiled by Smith and Milligan are certainly interested in making a profit, but they don’t put profits first. Instead, they follow the maxim that success will naturally follow from providing customers with a memorable brand experience that meets customer needs, wants, and goals. In the interviews, key executives of each company explain the story behind each brand and how the company works to meet and exceed customer expectations. The authors profile businesses that include Zappos, VirginGalactic, Umpqua Bank, Geek Squad, and TNT Express.
The interviews and profiles will “inspire and stimulate those in the business field,” commented a Reference & Research Book News writer. Sara Holder, writing in Xpress Reviews, concluded: “Bold will appeal to those in MBA and commerce programs as well as fans of titles on corporate leadership.”
On Purpose
On Purpose: Delivering a Branded Customer Experience People Love, also written with Milligan, “wonderfully, informatively and encouragingly brings to life the importance of a brand recognizing the importance of having ‘an authentic and credible sense of purpose.’ It explores why this matters to consumers and employees alike—we all need to have an emotional connection with the purpose of a brand,” commented Ian Golding, writing on the I.J. Golding website. The authors provide readers with practical examples and suggestions on how they can define and maintain a purpose for their company. Once the company knows its purpose with certainty, the suggestions provided by Smith and Milligan can help businesses maintain that purpose and express it across the ever-changing communications platforms that modern customers use every day. Equally important, the authors stress that companies must create strong internal cultures that allow employees to provide an extraordinary level of customer service. “The book is filled with stories and perfect examples of customer experience in practice,” noted a contributor to the website Work Place.
Those who read this book may emerge with an “embarrassment of ideas of how to make your business radically better at the whole customer-focus shebang. Or, possibly, realize that where you think you’re being a bold leader, you’ve really not even scratched the surface,” commented reviewer Liz Tinlin on the Marketing Society website. Golding stated: “This cracking book has something for everyone interested in wanting to answer this fundamentally critical question: What purpose does my business serve?”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Marketing, March 13, 2003, “Marketing Mix,” review of Uncommon Practice: People Who Deliver a Great Brand Experience, p. 48.
Proto View, February, 2016, review of On Purpose: Delivering a Branded Customer Experience People Love.
Reference & Research Book News, June, 2011, review of Bold: How to Be Brave in Business and Win.
Xpress Reviews, July 15, 2011, Sara Holder, review of Bold.
ONLINE
CustomerThink, http://www.customerthink.com/ (September 4, 2017), biography of Shaun Smith.
I.J. Golding Website, https://www.ijgolding.com (August 10, 2017), Ian Golding, review of On Purpose.
Marketing Society Website, https://www.marketingsociety.com (August 10, 2017), Liz Tinlin, review of On Purpose.
On Purpose Website, http://www.onpurposethebook.com (September 4, 2017).
Work Place, http://www.work-place.co.uk (April 12, 2017), review of On Purpose.*
Shaun Smith
smith+co
Shaun Smith speaks and consults internationally on the subject of the customer experience. Shaun's last book 'BOLD- how to be brave in business and win' co-authored with Andy Milligan was awarded 'Business e-book of the year' for 2012 by CMI. Shaun's next book 'On Purpose- delivering a branded customer experience people love' co-written with Andy Milligan is published in November 2015
Shaun Smith is founder and partner of the customer experience consultancy Smith+Co which works with leading brands around the world. A thought leader on the subject of customer experience strategy, he speaks internationally on the subject.
He is the co-author of Bold: How to be Brave in Business and Win, Uncommon Practice and Managing the Customer Experience.
MARKETING MIX: Book of the week
(Mar. 13, 2003): p48.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2003 Haymarket Media Group
http://www.haymarket.com/home.aspx
Uncommon Practice edited by Andy Milligan and Shaun Smith (Financial Times Prentice Hall, pounds 25).
What a laugh this is. Those guys from Interbrand get a load of top nobs to talk about themselves and their brands and how successful they are. Well, that was hard, I must say.
Putting such cynicism to one side, however, Uncommon Practice is a collection of interviews with the movers and shakers in brands that most of us buy - and if we don't, then we wish we did. I'm talking about Virgin, Harley-Davidson, First Direct and Fairmont Hotels, to name just a few.
The idea is to get the inside track on how these brands started out and evolved. And in particular, how their philosophy has instructed their working practices - in terms of both staff motivation and customer experience.
It is a fascinating book. For anyone lunatic enough to start a company, it's compulsory reading. For everyone else, it provides insights into some of the most challenging brands of the late-20th century and gives an instant guide to some of their most innovative ideas.
The conclusions it draws are not earth-shattering: keep the customer top of the pile, be passionate about your business and so on. The shame of it is, these are exceptional practices rather than the norm. If this book changes this position even one degree, then I, for one, will be delighted.
Neil Fox is planning director and founding partner of TDA.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"MARKETING MIX: Book of the week." Marketing, 13 Mar. 2003, p. 48. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA98698375&it=r&asid=f3314cd08c6cc3545b604689e8e7f9ba. Accessed 10 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A98698375
Bold; how to be brave in business and win
26.3 (June 2011):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2011 Ringgold, Inc.
http://www.ringgold.com/
9780749463441
Bold; how to be brave in business and win.
Smith, Shaun & Andy Milligan.
Kogan Page
2011
317 pages
$26.95
Paperback
HF5386
To inspire and stimulate those in the business field, Smith, who specializes in working with brands to design customer experiences, and Milligan, an international consultant on brand and business culture, explore 14 "bold" businesses such as Virgin Galactic, O2, Chilli Beans, Six Senses, Burberry, BBH, The Geek Squad, TNT Express, JCB, WWF, Zappos.com, and Umpqua, which have brand positioning that differentiates them from other companies, deliver unique customer experiences, have a base of customers and employees who have a deep affinity for the brand, are successful and growing, and have earned a reputation for changing or challenging the rules. Each chapter introduces the company, then presents interviews with leaders. No index is provided.
([c]2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Bold; how to be brave in business and win." Reference & Research Book News, June 2011. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA257996542&it=r&asid=b0b3a3146b1d2eb9f381e3a87bdb1d43. Accessed 10 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A257996542
Smith, Shaun & Andy Milligan. Bold: How To Be Brave in Business and Win
Sara Holder
(July 15, 2011):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2011 Library Journals, LLC
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews-first_look_at_new.html.csp
Smith, Shaun & Andy Milligan. Bold: How To Be Brave in Business and Win. Kogan Page, dist. by Ingram. 2011. 336p. illus. ISBN 9780749463441. pap. $26.95. BUS
Brand consultants Smith and Milligan (Uncommon Practice: People Who Deliver a Great Brand Experience; See, Feel, Think, Do: The Power of Instinct in Business) write that for companies to succeed, they must "engage, entertain and educate their audiences." With their book's eye-catching cover design and full-color interior, they seem to be following their own advice. They profile 14 companies chosen for meeting criteria such as having a customer "fandom," delivering a "genuinely remarkable" experience, and "significantly differentiating" themselves with brand positioning. Each profile begins with a company overview and an explanation of how it fits the authors' concept of boldness. The chapters include interviews with CEOs and other employees the authors consider influential in creating and maintaining their companies' brand individuality. Each profile ends with a section called "bold lessons," in which the authors highlight practices mentioned in the interviews that have led to the firms' success. The book also includes a survey for use in assessing how one's own organization measures up on the boldness scale.
Verdict Designed to be read online, Bold will appeal to those in MBA and commerce programs as well as fans of titles on corporate leadership.--Sara Holder, McGill Univ. Lib., Montreal
Holder, Sara
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Holder, Sara. "Smith, Shaun & Andy Milligan. Bold: How To Be Brave in Business and Win." Xpress Reviews, 15 July 2011. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA262692077&it=r&asid=39f224fa09135bfa1eb7aaa69c589916. Accessed 10 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A262692077
On Purpose: Delivering a branded customer experience people love
On Purpose: Delivering a branded customer experience people love
Library Catagory:
Book club
image: https://www.marketingsociety.com/sites/default/files/styles/reception-landing-large/public/thelibrary/purpo.jpg?itok=y4iF0sMX
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Greenbabel's Liz Tinlin reviews Shaun Smith's and Andy Milligan's new book
If you’re a fan of there being a big idea at its heart of a brand’s customer experience, and love quoting inspiring examples, this book’s for you. Festooned with fresh up to date case studies on idea-centric brands as diverse as Giffgaff and citizenM, it paints itself in inspiration.
But in terms of using that paint to create a whole coherent picture, you’ll have to do a little of that yourself. It gets a bit messy in places, but there’s some good learnings to be had.
The core thought, that ‘purposeful brands’ ‘stand up, stand out, and stand firm’, makes sense: Have an idea, deliver it through innovation in customer experience, and commit to it within the business culture.
The word purpose is the red herring. If you replace ‘purpose’ with ‘brand idea’, the book makes total sense. If you’re looking for a guide on how higher-order purposes get created, what a good one looks like, and what it means for the business, then look elsewhere. This book is more focused on how a sense of purpose should drive a far better customer experience and therefore business success.
The book depends heavily on verbatim case studies told by individuals at the companies concerned – including Premier Inn, London 2012, Timpsons and the fascinating small British flooring company Altro. Inspiring, though the downside of using only the verbatims is that it therefore loses clarity on what the strategy actually is for each brand, and lacks clear signposting of conclusions right until the last couple of chapters.
Saying that, several conclusions still leapt out throughout the book, not least these 3:
Firstly, that your customer’s experience of your business creates your brand, at all touchpoints not just through your communications. Brand = business. Always worth repeating as we all know business leaders who still don’t get it.
Secondly, that this ‘customer experience’ should be rooted in one big belief-driven brand idea, to drive every aspect internally and externally. Ideas have direction and energy – allowing you to be tight on the vision, and loose on how the team makes it happen.
Thirdly, that it’s vital to have leaders who totally commit to that big idea, to make everything happen. What really comes through is the commitment and passion of those interviewed. No ‘caretaker’ managers here, no over-reliance on backward facing analytics and assumed norms. Genuine bold fresh thinking to inspire us all.
So if you choose this book for a long haul flight, you might at least arrive with an embarrassment of ideas of how to make your business radically better at the whole customer-focus shebang. Or, possibly, realise that where you think you’re being a bold leader, you’ve really not even scratched the surface…
Reviewed by Liz Tinlin of GreenBabel, specialising in purpose, positioning and positive action. Follow her @greenbabel
Join our Book Club. If you're a member of The Marketing Society we'd love you to write a 300-word review for our Clubhouse. Or if you're an author get in touch. We've got lots of members keen to review your book. Contact Michael Piggott to find out more.
Read more at https://www.marketingsociety.com/the-library/purpose-delivering-branded-customer-experience-people-love#gr7gfDpEQxGWomHF.99
Book Review – On Purpose – Delivering a branded customer experience people love
I have been saying for a long time now that the reason organisations exist is to ‘fulfill a purpose’. Sadly, many consciously and some unconsciously, believe that the reason their organisation exists is ‘to make money’. I wholeheartedly disagree. The mantra that I impart on to anyone who will listen is as follows:
No commercial organisation exists to ‘make money’. All commercial organisations exist to ‘fulfill a purpose’. The better able they are at fulfilling their purpose, the more money they will make!
Most seem to agree – however, it is easier said than done!! That is why I also advise people that I am a Customer Experience ‘Specialist’ – not an ‘expert’ – as I believe that anyone who champions a profession should be continually developing their specialism. Continuous professional development never ends!!
It is therefore of great value to me and all other Customer Experience Professionals that we are able to continually learn from each other – those who have been plying their trade for many years, as well as those who have only been in the thick of it more recently. As recently as June 2015, I wrote a review of the new offering from Chief Customer Officer ‘guru, Jeanne Bliss – (Chief Customer Officer 2.0) her continuing ability to provide meaningful learning to others is invaluable.
I am now delighted to write a review of another brand new book that should proudly adorn the shelf of anyone with an interest in Customer Experience. ‘On Purpose’ is the latest publication from the pen and minds of Shaun Smith and Andy Milligan – two men who have been involved in the world of Customer Experience since the mid 1990’s. They have co-authored a number of other brilliant reads including the following:
Bold – Ho to be Brave in Business and Win
See, Feel, Think, Do – The Power of Instinct in Business
‘On Purpose’ wonderfully, informatively and encouragingly, brings to life the importance of a brand recognising the importance of having ‘an authentic and credible sense of purpose’. It explores why this matters to consumers and employees alike – we all need to have an emotional connection with the purpose of a brand.
The book has been designed to specifically do the following:
‘Inspire’ – through the sharing of stories and their underlying customer centric philosophy
‘Illustrate’ – using the example of a brand to highlight the three main parts of the book
‘Implement’ through the sharing of a process to apply the thinking using case studies from Liberty Global and Premier Inn
‘Share’ – with the provision of links to a comprehensive online portal containing all of the tools they use and describe to help with implementation
Whether you are looking for validation of existing knowledge; new ideas to take your approach to Customer Experience forward; or just inspiration from two of the most experienced ‘specialists’ around, this cracking book has something for everyone interested in wanting to answer this fundamentally critical question:
What purpose does my business serve?
The book is aimed at leaders who want to deliver exceptional results for their business through exceptional experiences for their customers. They want ideas, insights and practical approaches to define and deliver their brand purpose in a world which is disruptive and digitalised, where customers are increasingly demanding consistency across multiple channels and where consumers are favouring brands they admire for what they stand for, not just what they sell.
When writing a book review, it is important not to give too much away – I do not want to spoil the pleasure you will get from reading it. I can safely reveal the following though. Shaun and Andy divide their thoughts on ‘purpose’ into three parts:
Stand Up – which explores ‘purpose led by insight’; and ‘purposeful leadership’
Stand Out – which explores ‘infectious communication’; ‘distinctive customer experience’; and ‘continuous innovation’
Stand Firm – which explores ‘culture’; ‘distinctive employee experience’; ‘experience measurement’; ‘why you can never stand still’; and ‘how to implement’
The book features references to some of the following organisations:
Premier Inn
Barclays
GiffGaff
South West Airlines
Citizen M
British Airways
Innocent
Lush
Best Western
Amazon
Lego
Hointer
Zappos
Timpson
‘On Purpose’ is a book that will not disappoint – if you don’t believe me, here is what others are already saying about it:
“To define a purpose that will galvanise the entire organisation is a leap of faith and requires strong leadership, but it also requires the clear and compelling process outlined in this book if you are to embark on this incredible journey”
Patrick Dempsey OBE. MD Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants.
“Shaun and Andy have created another great book “On Purpose”, describing simply how great businesses use purpose and focus to fill customer needs and create value.
Well done”.
Vernon W. Hill II Founder/Chairman Metro Bank
“Every now and then a truly cutting edge book comes along that changes everything we know about the secrets of organizational greatness. On Purpose is a profound yet practical book no leader should miss reading. Laced with powerful examples, pragmatic practices, and written with a poignant style, Smith and Milligan reveal the mysteries of long-term enterprise success.”
Chip R. Bell, author of The 9½ Principles of Innovative Service.
So add to your reading list now – ‘On Purpose’ is quite simply a ‘must read!!
You can pre order ‘On Purpose’ in the UK now by clicking here! It will be officially released on the 3rd October 2015.
You can pre order ‘On Purpose’ in the US now by clicking here! It will be officially launched on he 28th October 2015.
12th April 2017
Book Review: On Purpose
I have been evangelical for years about Seth Godin’s book Purple Cow but it seems I have a new favourite. On Purpose by Shaun Smith and Andy Milligan is easy to read, interesting and thought provoking… what more can you ask of a business book?
Throughout reading, I was constantly scribbling great snippets I wanted to remember into my journal (if you get the digital version you can go straight through to useful references). Shaun and Andy do a great job of making the complex simple, which isn’t always easy when reading business books written by academics.
The book is filled with stories and perfect examples of customer experience in practice, told by CEOs from a wide range of sectors. I particularly loved the Citizen M story having just stayed one of their hotels and also stories of brands we respect even though we don’t interact with real people, such as Amazon. It’s refreshing to read about companies that have really thought things through and worked out how to deliver an outstanding and unique customer experience – often started by trying to be a disrupter in their marketplace, fixing the things that they know their customers don’t like about their competitors.
I not only found On Purpose to be quick and easy to read, but very practical – it gave me plenty of ideas for things I can do. The last two chapters about putting On Purpose into practice are really helpful. As they say themselves, if you have looked at Simon Sinek’s ‘Start with Why’, this book helps you get “from Why to How”. I’d recommend this book for a wide range of people – business leaders, marketing people and line managers. I’d also grab a copy if I worked in an HR role – there are so many terrific ideas and examples that show what a properly joined up HR strategy can look like.