Winning with Customers: A Playbook for B2B

Foreword

Karel Czanderna, Group President, Building Materials, Owens Corning

Jerry, Keith, and the team have created one of the first systems I have found that truly allows us to learn what our customer values and use that information in the daily operation of the business, from investments to sales planning, and execution. The logic of what they have done is flawless and brilliant. What is even more powerful is that it is all based on an approach that creates tools and capability that will generate benefits for our customers and our company for years to come.

We have come a long way in our almost three years with Valkre, and we still have a long way to go. Maybe the single biggest compliment one could make about the power and potential of this approach is that we are still excited after three years, and the momentum continues to build. That is quite a testimony, considering the challenging building markets over the past couple years. We are focused on initiatives that are adding value to our customer and our shareholders ... and this is guiding both.

I started my career in research, product development, and manufacturing, and I did not meet a customer for 10 years until I led a team servicing office copiers in the field. When I finally did, it changed my career. It was then that I recognized the challenge of people and just how hard it is to move an organization of thousands of employees to pursue and deliver what matters to the customer. It is no easy task because it permeates every ...