Smart Customers, Stupid Companies

Friends around town are starting to hear that my new book is out, and ask what it is called.

"Smart Customers, Stupid Companies."

Heads nod. Many smile. Pretty much everyone understands the frustration of dealing with companies that haven't kept up with smartphone and wireless technology. You may have a smartphone, but they can still keep you on hold for twenty minutes.

This isn't my first book. I wrote one in 2001. It took three months to write. The new one has one-third the words, but took us eighteen months. Half of that is because I wrote it with another person, customer experience expert Michael Hinshaw. The other half is because it really is much harder to use fewer words.

We wanted to get across that a perfect storm of change has arrived, in which four disruptive forces combine to make business as usual impossible:

1.) Social Influence is what happens when social media inserts lots of other people between a company and its customers. It means companies are losing control of their brands and credibility.

2.) Pervasive Memory is all the data that accumulates every time we use digital devices. It creates the opportunity for companies to deliver highly customized services, and to leave in the dark competitors that fail to do so.

3.) Digital Sensors are the devices that will make everything smart, by allowing your washing machine to text you when it is done, your rose bush to shout out when it is dry, and your car to swerve and avoid a collision.

4.) The Physical Web is the end result of these and other forces, which is what happens when the real world is linked, surfed and bookmarked like we do the virtual Web. That day is all but here, and it will change the rules for every business from real estate and financial services to tire repair and travel.

These are terrifying days for many, especially college students who can't find jobs. But once people realize that the big companies are no longer the ticket to security, they will see unprecendented opportunities.

It's very hard to find an entry level job that pays $40,000 a year, but it's never been easier to start a company and be your own boss.

Our book title isn't designed to shock or offend, but rather to give people words to express what they already know to be true. Companies that treat customers poorly, well, they are committing business suicide. Fortunately, a new breed of innovators will be delighted to take their place.