Introduction 12
CHAPTER 1 – A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH 22
A shining diamond in the construction sector 24
How Disney messed up a marriage proposal 26
The slide in everyone’s presentation 27
A diamond in the rough 28
Creation of rough diamonds in the 1980s 29
Technology is not a short cut to enhanced customer experience 31
What if technology reaches the 99% standard? 33
Customer culture is the basis for shining diamonds 35
From a diamond in the rough to a polished diamond 38
PART 1: THE BRIGHT DIAMOND 42
CHAPTER 2 – THE TOP GUN EFFECT 46
People long for blue, sunny skies 48
The Top Gun Effect 49
The Top Gun Effect in practice 50
The Top Gun Effect on Social Media: GAS 51
The science behind the Top Gun Effect 52
The risk of negative bias 54
Are those three days of Tomorrowland really that crazy? 55
Do you aim to sell products or to aim for a positive change? 57
MrBeast: positivity with impact 60
EveryTable: working from the heart 62
Customers do not want perfection – they want positive intention 64
Concrete customer experience tips from this chapter 67
CHAPTER 3 – THE CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE 68
Angel City FC 70
There is no more Switzerland 72
Your circle of influence 75
Filou & Friends wants every child to play in sustainable clothing 76
‘The earth is our only shareholder!’ 79
When digital products become geopolitical weapons, does influence
go too far? 80
Sewa: Sometimes it is in the culture! 82
Toms Shoes is hard on itself 84
Every challenge is a potential opportunity 85
What if you get caught with your hand in the biscuit jar? 87
Attracting talent requires commitment and transparency 88
Circles of influence and the bottom line 89
How to begin? 89
Concrete customer experience tips from this chapter 91
CHAPTER 4 – BELIEVE! 92
WeCrashed! 94
Who believes these people anymore? 96
Yes, yes, do, but remember.... 97
Are you a customer-centric leader? 99
Make them believe 108
It is not about measuring your success;
it is about building a culture 110
‘Make your bed!’ 112
You need ACTION! 114
The rough diamond versus the bright diamond 115
Concrete customer experience tips from this chapter 117
PART 2: THE POLISHED DIAMOND 120
CHAPTER 5 – THE CUSTOMER LOYALTY FLYWHEEL 124
What if friends become customers? 126
Show up with passion! 126
My most unique dinner ever! 128
Loyalty to the brand or to a loyalty programme 130
Wild Alaskan Company proves its loyalty 131
The customer loyalty flywheel 134
From loyalty programme to a community 142
The customer flywheel in action: B&M Optics! 148
Polished diamonds give but expect nothing in return 153
Will I still make a profit if I pamper the customer like this? 153
Concrete customer experience tips from this chapter 157
CHAPTER 6 – EFFECTIVE EMPATHY 158
A bad system will beat a good person every time 160
Panic on 31-12-21 161
The customer experience ritual at Atlantis, The Palm Dubai 163
Effective empathy 165
Hertz puts customers in jail 167
The perfume of petrol versus the California Sushi Roll 168
Make decisions in packed football stadiums 171
Are you good at saying ‘no’ in a friendly way? 173
The ‘open door button’ hero! 176
Partner in life! 177
A partner in the successful launch of a career 179
Effective empathy seems like quite a step for my business,
Steven. Where do we start? 181
Concrete customer experience tips from this chapter 183
CHAPTER 7 – WHEN DIGITAL BECOMES HUMAN 184
The Chinese algorithms 186
It’s hard without AI: ChatGPT can make your customer
experience more efficient 188
The new gatekeeper 189
The added value for customers of technology 191
SparkX 194
‘We are not a technology company!’ 196
Intelligence Augmented 197
The new skillset 200
When Digital becomes Human 202
Dare to be truly human 203
Each department has two responsibilities: the operational and the cultural 205
Concrete customer experience tips from this chapter 207
A diamond in the rough versus the polished diamond 208
PART 3: CUSTOMER FOCUS IN ‘THE NEVER NORMAL’ 210
CHAPTER 8 – THE NEVER NORMAL (BY PETER HINSSEN) 214
Magic to Normal 216
New Normals and The Great Acceleration 218
The S-curve as a mechanism 219
Seismic shocks 221
Technological shocks 221
The Cognitive era 222
Biological shocks 223
Ecological shocks 224
Social shocks 225
Geopolitical shocks 226
Never Normal 227
Gradually, then suddenly 229
Four characteristics 231
The cuckoo clock 236
Thriving in the Never Normal 238
Mindset 238
Skills 239
Beyond digital 239
Great expectations 241
Conclusion 243
CHAPTER 9 – THE NEVER NORMAL CUSTOMER 244
One black swan after another 246
The Never Normal Customer 247
How to address the needs of the Never Normal customer? 257
EPILOGUE: THE 100+ CONCRETE TIPS! 259
Thank you! 268
Notes 271
About Steven 276
