Introducing the Customer Value Squad: A Human Solution to Organizational Structure

Companies are organized by departments, each with its own specific function, which work together until they do not. To address this, marketing strategist Kathleen Schaub is offering a human solution: the customer value squad. This small group of people, drawn from different specialties, is empowered to make decisions and held accountable for the results. It runs against the grain of the traditional hierarchical structure, as data is shared and decisions are made in real time. This contrasts with the siloed structure of the industrial age, which can be resistant to change. The team should comprise around six to ten people, and should be focused on an area of value such as geographic, account-based, revenue operations, product service, or design support.

Schaub found her inspiration for the customer value squad in the hospital operating room, where a collection of specialists have one mission: the care of the patient. This kind of organization is also seen in sports teams and the military, where a vertical hierarchy will not allow for fast-paced decisions. Implementing a customer value squad can be done in one of two ways: the ideal situation, where top managers see the need for such a squad and retool the corporate culture, or the more likely scenario of taking one piece of the business and undertaking a small, incremental change.

This team will have three basic components: the “people piece” of network organization, the method piece of agile operations, and the brain piece of intelligence/analysis. There will be a measure of small failures in the learning process, but the results will outweigh the costs. Ultimately, customer value squads will provide a human solution to the organizational structure, resulting in faster decision-making and increased efficiency.

Originally reported by Martech: https://martech.org/how-to-build-a-customer-value-squad-and-why/
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