Welcome to episode number 4 of “Pushing Beyond the Obvious”. In this episode, we have with us Bob Thompson, CEO & editor of www.customerThink.com, the biggest online community about customers and customer centricity.

Bob has recently released his book #HookedOnCustomers. We shall talk to him today about what does customer centricity mean and everything that goes along with it.

We talk about

• The fact that most customer centric organizations are such, because their operational fabric is such that they do listen to their customers and act upon it and this is not part of a special program or a project.
• CRM, Customer Experience Management, social businesses & big data have become buzz words and without the right culture behind the efforts, they do more harm to the business. 
• The role of Chief Customer Officers & how it is critical to have the CEO assume that role.
• Some of the mistakes that firms do in their journey towards becoming customer centric and how they can avoid them.
• What role can the sales, marketing and customer service teams play in the journey
• When is it not a good idea to listen to your customers (with a good example).
• The steps that he outlines in his book, Hooked on Customer (which by the way is a great book & you should pick it up): Listen, Think, Empower, Create & Delight.

This chat provides some very good insights if you want to or already are on your journey to becoming customer centric.

Hope you enjoy the chat.

You can connect with Bob on www.hookedoncustomers.com or www.customerthink.com.

In this episode, we host Meron Bareket, the host of  “Inspiring Innovation Podcast” and the person behind the Inspiring Innovation Podcast Incubator, where he walks through all the steps that one needs to go through to set-up and start a podcast of their own. I am bringing this podcast to you by following his instructions as well.

We had a very interesting conversation about entrepreneurship, his journey from making software to how he got a job at the local Israeli radio, his iPad only magazine –“Inspiring Innovation” and his current role as the host of "Inspiring Innovation" podcast.

He also talks about the pivots that he has had to make from being an editor for the online magazine to being a podcaster.

We also talk about entrepreneurship, the challenges of being an online entrepreneur and how he addresses them. We also talk about Mastermind groups and their significance in the life of an online entrepreneur.

He also shares his secret of getting interesting guests for the podcasts.

You can find more about Meron and connect with him @ http://www.meronbareket.com/.

The inspiring innovation podcast is at https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/inspiring-innovation-podcast/id638774259.

The inspiring innovation podcast incubator to learn podcasting @ http://inspiring-innovation.com/

Other Podcasts that were mentioned in the podcast:

• The James Altucher Show
• Unmistakable Creative by Srini Rao
• Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income: 
• John Lee Dumas's Entrepreneurs on Fire: 

Hope you enjoy the show. Please do share your love by giving us a rating or leave us a review on iTunes.