14 December 2006

A Popular Idea That's Dead Wrong

Don't be fooled -- there isn't just one magic question that executives need to ask customers in order to grow

by John H. Fleming
Coauthor of Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter (Gallup Press, November 2007)
Bain & Company's Frederick Reichheld has argued that there's a single, magic question that business leaders should ask their customers in order to grow. His viewpoint has won many converts, but John H. Fleming, a Gallup principal, definitely isn't one of them. In this probing article, Fleming argues that executives should be very wary of using one-item indicators for any important business metric, regardless of how simple it might appear. He makes a case for a compelling, and more meaningful, alternative.
John H. Fleming, Ph.D., is Principal and Chief Scientist -- Customer Engagement and HumanSigma for Gallup. He is coauthor of Human Sigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter (Gallup Press, November 2007).
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