CCO Forum
Silverstone and Oxford
October 2008
The 6th Chief Customer Officer Forum (CCO Forum) took place on 8th & 9th October at the Old Bank Hotel in Oxford. There was an optional extra which many members took up: to visit and learn about the brand new Porsche Driving Experience at Silverstone.
Here’s some of the feedback from this event:
“This was the best one yet. Thanks!”
“Guests Phil and Alan were great to inspire and stimulate thought/discussion”
“Fantastic content”
“Great use of time”
“Was fantastic, I have some great take aways as a result”
“A really useful forum with an incredibly inclusive style, Useful time out for me in my role”
“Close group, great sense of sharing”
The October Forum’s main themes were:
- The CEO slot from the Post Office’s managing director Alan Cook
- Co-creation of experiences and products with customers, led by a case study from Lego
- Getting the right people
The Post Office’s CEO, Alan Cook, compared and contrasted his experience of both the private and public sector. He also outlined the type of challenges faced when heading up a complex public sector organisation. Alan shared some great insights and provided sound advice on how to build successful relationships with business partners and colleagues.
The lively morning session discussed how to bring customers and partners more closely inside your business model - through active collaboration and co-development of products and experiences. We were given some great insights on how suppliers can interact with their online user communities and, by encouraging rather than controlling what’s said online, open 
up new ways of developing their trusted brand. In this way, leading companies are able to bring products to market which customer love because they have helped to create them! It’s all about advocacy.
The afternoon plenary and break out sessions addressed challenges and recommendations in four scenarios related to hiring / motivating the right people to do the right things. Discussions focused on dealing with changes in leadership style, managing perceptions, gaining employee engagement, and building stunning recruitment processes - all essentials for meeting a company’s financial targets.
Phil Dourado of The Leadership Hub - our guest speaker at the Forum Dinner - shared some powerful and thought-provoking stories around his theme of Behaviourial Economics - how to think outside stereotypes; nurture emotional intelligence and deal with the leadership challenge of ‘getting the extraordinary out of ordinary people’. “They serve as you lead” struck a rich chord, as did the idea of having directors pass the recruitment test of their frontline staff.
The next Forum will be taking place on February 10th/11th in the North West. Take a look at what being a member means or get in touch if you’d like to discuss what it means to be a Chief Customer Officer.
