Don‎'‎t ask your customers‎,‎ "How is OUR service doing‎?‎" Ask them‎,‎ "How are YOU doing‎?‎" Advance praise for Service Innovation‎:‎ "To the CEOs of all service companies I deal with‎:‎ READ THIS BOOK‎!‎" ‎-‎- Dave Wascha‎,‎ senior director‎,‎ Bing Product Management‎,‎ Microsoft Corporation "Lance Bettencourt deftly blends his academic and consulting experience to provide an example‎-rich‎,‎ readable‎,‎ practical‎,‎ and innovative discussion of service innovation‎.‎" ‎-‎- Leonard Berry‎,‎ coauthor of Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic "Provides the robust framework to design services that unlock growth opportunities for every business‎.‎" ‎-‎- Lance Reschke‎,‎ vice president‎,‎ Ceridian Corporation "The tools and guidance in this book will inspire companies‎,‎ small and large‎,‎ to create effective and innovative services that are desperately needed‎.‎" ‎-‎- Mary Jo Bitner‎,‎ Ph‎.‎D‎.‎‎,‎ W‎.‎ P‎.‎ Carey School of Business‎,‎ Arizona State University‎,‎ and coauthor of Services Marketing‎:‎ Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm "Cracks the code from the fuzzy front end through the complete life cycle of Service Innovation‎.‎" ‎-‎- Angelo Rago‎,‎ division vice president‎,‎ Global Customer Services‎,‎ Abbott Medical Optics "Filled with rich examples of how firms can innovate service through helping customers get jobs done‎.‎" ‎-‎- Stephen W‎.‎ Brown‎,‎ Ph‎.‎D‎.‎‎,‎ W‎.‎ P‎.‎ Carey School of Business‎,‎ Arizona State University "Any leader intent on providing distinctive value to customers must read Service Innovation‎.‎" ‎-‎- Michael Reynolds‎,‎ staff vice president‎,‎ Commercial Marketing‎,‎ WellPoint‎,‎ Inc‎.‎ If there‎'‎s one truism about the service sector‎,‎ it‎'‎sthat businesses don‎'‎t succeed by inventing a better mousetrap‎;‎ they succeed by finding the best‎,‎ most cost‎-effective way to get rid of their customers‎'‎ mice‎.‎ In industries ranging from heavy machinery to health care to financial services to consumer goods‎,‎ service innovation is helping businesses find new revenue streams‎-‎-and enhance existing ones‎-‎-by satisfying their customer‎'‎s need to get things done‎.‎ Few understand this better than Lance Bettencourt‎,‎a strategy adviser at Strategyn and a leading educatorin management innovation consulting‎.‎ And in Service Innovation‎,‎ Bettencourt gives a master‎'‎s class on the art and science of creating breakthrough service products‎.‎ True service innovation demands that you shift the focus away from the solution and back to the customer‎.‎ To achieve this shift in your business‎-‎-one that takes you from making educated guesses to building a clear model to guide service innovation‎-‎-Bettencourt instructs on the finer points of how to rethink your approach to the customer‎'‎s needs‎:‎ how the customer defines value in a product or service‎.‎ Bettencourt mines nearly 20 years‎'‎ experience in teaching and advising clients with service‎- and product‎-dominant businesses to demonstrate proven ways you can build‎,‎ streamline‎,‎ and focus your company‎'‎s service product innovation processes‎.‎ Among the numerous key ideas and practices are‎:‎ Insight on understanding the different types of clients you serve‎-and how your products deliver value to them Ways to design specific frameworks for discoveringservice innovation opportunities for new‎,‎ improved‎,‎ and supplementary service products Practical guidance on staying focused on the "fuzzy front end" of service innovation The fundamental elements of a winning service strategy Finding new ways to help people solve problems and get things done is why there are goods and services in the first place‎.‎ And in Service Innovation‎,‎ Lance Bettencourt fills a vital need by delivering the essential guide that can put your business on the latest frontier of value creation‎.‎ Lance A‎.‎ Bettencourt ‎(‎Bloomington‎,‎ IN‎)‎ is a strategy adviser with Strategyn‎,‎ Inc‎.‎‎,‎ the pioneer of outcomedriven innovation‎.‎ Prior to joining Strategyn‎,‎ he served on the marketing faculties at Arizona State University and Indiana University‎.‎