Free, Perfect, and Now; Connecting to the Three Insatiable Customer Demands: A CEO's True Story

by Robert Rodin; Curtis Hartman

• ISBN13: 9780684850221
• ISBN10: 0684850222
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-03-03
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary

In a world where knowledge is king, the Web never sleeps, and competitive challenge increases exponentially, Robert Rodin shows you how to prepare for the three insatiable demands of today's customers: they want their product or service Free, they want it Perfect, and they want it Now. No matter what business you're in, you have to find a way to respond -- or risk losing your customers to competitors who are discovering new ways to sell your product or service cheaper, better, and faster than you've ever imagined.

Author Biography

Robert Rodin is Chief Executive Officer and President of Marshall Industries, in El Monte, California. A graduate of the University of Connecticut, he currently holds positions as a member of the Board of Directors for Commercenet and Rosettanet, as President of the Education Foundation of the National Electronic Distributor Association (NEDA), and as Trustee of the W. Edwards Deming Institute. He has been a guest lecturer at General Motors, IBM, the U.S. Navy, Columbia University, and the University of Southern California; he has also been a regular speaker at Deming's Quality Seminar. Rodin lives in Pasadena, California. Curtis Hartman, an editor and writer, has reported on business and finance from five continents for more than twenty-five years. Previously he has served as Executive Editor at Worth, Senior Editor at Inc., and Contributing Editor for Fast Company. A Williams College graduate, he lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Introduction	5	(4)
The Customer Connection: Addressing the Problem	9	(12)
You Don't Know What You Don't Know: Learning Where to Look	21	(22)
Frustration by Design: Why Bad Things Happen in Good Organizations	43	(24)
Management on Trial: Launching Radical Change	67	(22)
The $15,000 Pallet Rack: Building a Common Mission	89	(15)
Money Matters Most: Designing the Right Incentives	104	(23)
No One Asks for a Salesman: Customers Want Solutions	127	(29)
The Uses of Tools: Technology Without Tears	156	(29)
Captain Internet and the Tower of Babel: Get Wired	185	(31)
The Upside of Perfect: Creating an Innovative Culture	216	(27)
Millennium Rules: What's Next?	243	(10)
Acknowledgments	253