The Customer as King is Dead, Long Live the User

The reign of the customer is over, says Aaron Shapiro, the CEO of digital marketing agency Huge. Today it’s the user who sits in the catbird’s seat. If you’re not thinking about users, Shapiro says, you’ll soon be out of business. To succeed in the digital marketplace, you have to be a user-first company. Users are the customers, employees, job candidates, business prospects and partners, brand fans, members of the media and other influencers who interact with a company through digital media and technology. What unites them is that they all want the same thing: simplicity. In his new book, “Users, Not Customers: Who Really Determines the Success of Your Business” (Portfolio, 2011), Shapiro shows why usability is today’s most critical driver of business success. Keep users happy, he believes, and customers follow. Shapiro explained to BusinessNewsDaily how a user-first framework can help create a high-performing organization that’s in tune with how people want to do business. BND: Is the difference between a “user” and a “customer” as important for small businesses as it is for large enterprises? Shapiro: It’s important for all businesses. First of all, in this day and age, small businesses often compete directly with large enterprises…. Read full this story

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