For the longest time, businesses have embraced a “product selling” playbook. Typically, this means having a supplier with a product to sell and a customer to persuade to purchase that product based on the price and perceived value.

However, in an increasingly challenging business environment where disruption is the norm, such a transactional approach is no longer fit for purpose. In this INSEAD Knowledge podcast, Christoph Senn, Adjunct Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, and Mehak Gandhi, Head of Research at Valuecreator, discuss the benefits in adopting an alternative approach to working with your customers.

This is detailed in their new book, Triple Fit Strategy: How to Build Lasting Customer Relationships and Boost Growth. They discuss a new framework that actually places customers at the heart of three core “fit” areas: planning, execution and resources. The idea is to change mindsets within your organisation and embrace a 360 degree customer-centric approach, where suppliers and customers collaborate as if they were a single company to grow far more than they could on their own.

Citing multiple real-life examples of firms who have adopted this approach, they explain how companies who apply the Triple Fit Strategy can contribute up to 10 times more to their customers' success and can double account values in less than three years. Not only is this good for business in the short term, but the depth of these relationships can also prove beneficial when times are more challenging.  

You can access more tools about the framework and get further information about the book here.