Marco Bertini

Customers Love Us… Now What?

The purpose of any business is to add some value, in some way, to someone or something outside of itself. However, businesses ultimately exist to satisfy customers and earn a living from them. The problem is that many business leaders fail to appreciate that turning products and services into dollars and cents is as much an exercise in understanding customers as it is satisfying their needs and wants in the first place.

Customer centricity doesn’t end with the creation of value. Strategy certainly doesn’t end with happy customers. Knowing this, how should any company think about “making money” from its customers?

In this presentation, Marco lays out a simple framework and set of actions that address this fundamental question.

Can Friction Improve Your Customers’ Experiences?

Many companies are on a mission to design purchase journeys that are as free of frustration and inconvenience as possible. “Friction kills the customer experience!” has become the conventional wisdom, yet, surprisingly, slowing down the purchase process can boost buyer satisfaction and loyalty.

If your goal is to help customers better understand your product and its value to them so that they are more committed at the point of purchase, create an engaging experience that makes the learning process enjoyable and encourages positive feelings about the brand. This presentation shows you how.

Why Competing on Customer Outcomes Is a Win for Everyone

Businesses across sectors are under unprecedented pressure to aid society and our environment, all the while battling economic hardship and relentless commoditization. One solution to this puzzle is to rethink how your company earns from customers, shifting from selling “stuff” to delivering—and profiting from—desired outcomes.

In this talk, based on Marco’s book with Oded Koenigsberg The Ends Game: How Smart Companies Stop Selling Products and Start Delivering Value, Marco uses examples from sectors as diverse as healthcare, automotive, education, insurance, and agriculture to map the gradual but relentless evolution of markets to a point where money flows to proof rather than promises. Marco explains this opportunity and, importantly, its potential to attract and retain customers, differentiate from competitors, motivate employees, and improve your social and environmental footprint.

Listen Closely! Your Algorithms Are Talking to Your Customers

In June 2017, London police cars responded to reports of a terrorist attack. Pedestrians and pub-goers in the area sensed danger and attempted to order Uber cars to head home to safety. Uber’s dynamic pricing algorithm caused rates in that part of the city to jump more than 200%. While an economist might applaud Uber’s pricing engine, I argue that constant changes in price points can negatively impact brand perception, so they need to be carefully managed.

In this presentation, based on Marco’s Harvard Business Review article The Pitfalls of Pricing Algorithms, he shows why brands need to consider more than simple math when employing algorithmic systems. Marco further help leaders across industries—including advertising, e-commerce, entertainment, insurance, sports, travel and utilities—minimize risk and maximize revenue while also making customers feel as if they have paid the appropriate amount for a product or service.

Can We Afford Sustainable Business?

Businesses are struggling with the economics of making sustainable products both affordable and profitable, but that’s because they aren’t asking the right questions. Leaders looking to move beyond “how are we going to pay for this?” need to stop thinking about price simply as a bar that they can prod up or down to get customers to buy less or more.

Every price decision is comprised of additional, more strategic choices that can rally market actors around responsible behaviors and, therefore, mitigate the negative externalities of commerce before companies are forced to price them in.

In this presentation, based on Marco’s recent MIT Sloan Management Review article, he explains how leaders in every sector can achieve this by creatively rethinking the “what,” “who,” “when” and “how” embedded in every price decision. Ultimately, he argues, organizations should be caretakers of markets rather than simple producers.

By using the incentives and information embedded in the price mechanism, they can allocate the responsibility for broader and fairer access, for conscientious and effective consumption, and for handling waste more efficiently.

Making It Stick! Five Steps to Successful Price Changes

With the cost of materials rising at an unprecedented pace across the goods and services landscape, brands must increase prices to survive. But how can that be done the right way, to face inflation and keep customers happy and loyal?

To Marco, price change—not only increases, but also decreases—are not necessary evils, but opportunities to strengthen one’s position in the eyes of customers.

In this presentation, Marco encourage organizations to think beyond the obvious How much? question. My framework empowers organizations to tackle factors such as timing, when and how to use levers other than price itself to achieve the desired goal, and how to communicate the change effectively with customers.

When it comes to price changes, whether they be temporary or permanent, Marco shows leaders how important it is to be proactive, connect to your strategy, control the narrative in the face of competition, and offer explanations to maintain customer trust. Leaders will leave this presentation with an understanding of how following my template for approaching today’s volatile markets can, when done thoughtfully, strengthen the relationship between a brand and its customers.

Learning the ABC: How to Sell Value to Stubborn Customers

The success of a revenue strategy often depends on your ability to communicate value to customers in a convincing manner. Indeed, Marco would argue that price is seldom a problem when the value of an offering is clearly understood by sellers and buyers alike.

In this presentation, Marco discusses the complications that often arise when an organization attempts to sell value in a market plagued by customers that, for strategic reasons or otherwise, push back. To remedy the situation, Marco recommends taking five clear steps.

Implementing this roadmap provides a sense of calibration and confidence that helps fight off the pressure from skeptical, stubborn clients and prospects. In his mind, organizations that “stay calm and sell value” are better equipped to capitalize on their efforts to stand out in the market, particularly when innovation and creativity are fast-paced and expensive.