The Secret Lives of Customers

Customers can be a mystery. Despite the availability of more data than ever before, everyone, from the CEO to salespeople in the field, still finds it challenging to understand who their customers really are and what they really want. Seismic shifts in how people live and work brought on by COVID makes understanding their changing priorities and circumstances and finding new ways to serve them more important than ever.

To solve this challenge, learn to think like a market detective.

David Duncan shows you how in this instructive and entertaining story of Tazza, a fictional chain of cafes trying to go big time. The only problem: sales are declining, and its leaders can’t figure out why. In response, they launch an investigation led by a cast of characters including Cate Forrest, Tazza’s CEO, Alex Baker, a self-described “Market Detective,” and Jordan Sims, a young computer whiz at Tazza.  Together, they discover why even their most loyal customers walked out the door – and how they can get them back.

The key lesson 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 these jobs and “fire” them when unhappy. The Secret Lives of Customers provides an innovative path and practical tools for solving whatever market mysteries you face.

 

Thinkers50 2021 Distinguished Achievement Awards

David Duncan, author of “The Secret Lives of Customers,” has been shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Strategy Award. The award celebrates those who have contributed “the very best of strategic thinking.”