BOSTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- October 16, 2006 -- The faster and better a company innovates, the
more likely it is to remain the leader and set new rules for others. But
the innovation game is changing dramatically. Companies no longer win by
hiring the smartest engineers and scientists -- they win by engaging the
smartest customers. The companies that create from the outside in do a
better job of attracting potential customers than companies that don't,
according to author Patricia Seybold.
By building a business from the outside in, customers are able to co-design
products, services, and overall customer experience. Customers all over
the world are already changing how companies innovate. From millions of
consumers who collaborate to develop and evolve next-generation
multi-player games -- games that would normally cost $100 million to
develop -- to competing research scientists who work together to invent
breakthrough medical treatments and heartier crops.
Seybold argues in "OUTSIDE INNOVATION: How Your Customers Will Co-Design
Your Company's Future" (Collins; October 2006) that innovation is top of
mind for most business executives and that the only way organizations can
break out of the pack is to open up their entire business to passionate
customers and welcome them into every aspect of product, service and
customer experience design. Companies that bring customers into the
innovation process -- that innovate from the outside in -- will create
solutions that better meet the needs of prospective customers, will
revolutionize business models and practices, and will attract fanatically
loyal customers.
"There are lots of books about innovation lining the shelves, but 'OUTSIDE
INNOVATION' is the only one that chronicles and synthesizes the current
best practices in customer-led innovation, with stories from more than two
dozen businesses, in a variety of industries, along with practical and
actionable take-aways from each example," says Seybold.
Drawing from dozens of fascinating stories of outside innovation pioneers
such as the BBC, Communispace, LEGO, Staples, Karmaloop, National
Instruments, Hallmark, Koko Fitness, GE Plastics, SEI Wealth, Kraft,
Flickr, Mozilla, Zopa and others, Seybold outlines how to win by:
-- Finding lead users in an industry and commercializing their
inventions.
-- Engaging with the most visionary customers to co-design new products
and new processes.
-- Enabling customers to trouble-shoot each others' problems, hack
solutions, and modify and extend a company's products to meet their needs.
-- Providing innovation toolkits to customers to design very specific
solutions for themselves -- customized solutions that leverage a company's
deep domain expertise.
-- Encouraging customers to "strut their stuff" by contributing insights,
nurturing online customer communities, and allowing them to redesign a
company's business strategy.
PATRICIA B. SEYBOLD is the author of the international bestsellers
"Customers.com" and "The Customer Revolution" and is co-author of
"Brandchild." There are more than 500,000 copies of Seybold's books in
print (and translated into more than 15 languages). Seybold is the founder
and CEO of The Patricia Seybold Group, a consulting firm that excels in
customer-led innovation and customer experience transformation, and is a
highly acclaimed keynote speaker at business conferences and industry
symposia worldwide. She has 30 years of experience consulting to
customer-centric executives in technology-aggressive businesses across many
industries. For more information, visit
www.psgroup.com and her blog
http://outsideinnovation.blogs.com/
About the book:
TITLE: OUTSIDE INNOVATION
SUBTITLE: How Your Customers Will Co-Design Your Company's Future
AUTHOR: Patricia Seybold
ISBN #: 0061135909
PRICE: $26.95
PUBLISHER: Harper Collins
PUBLICATION DATE: October 2006
Contact Information: Contacts:
Stephen Wands
Patricia Seybold Group
(617) 912-3125
swands@psgroup.com
Liza Colburn
Emerge PR
(617) 729-3177
lcolburn@emergepr.com