Welcome back to 52 Weeks of Marketing Wisdom, where we review and recommend a new book weekly across five themes: Foresight, Customer, Strategy, Creativity & Innovation, plus two extras to complete the 52.

Our program is for busy marketing professionals seeking inspiration and growth through reading.

Rather than a simple review, we've evolved our blog posts to bring a point of view to the work and focus on how it informs what we do at Selbey Labs.

We are continuing our focus on the theme of Customer and this week, we're looking at the concept of customer-centricity, and in particular, the idea of "Outside-In" thinking for brands via the pioneering book Outside-In, The Power of Putting Customers At The Centre Of Your Business by Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine.

It's easy to say you're customer-centric. Quite another thing to actually live it. 

Hope you enjoy it.

Stop Thinking Inside Out: Why Customer-Centric Brands Win

In business, people love to talk about being “customer-focused.”

It sounds nice, right? But most of the time, it’s just that—talk.

They’ll say they’re focused on the customer, but what they’re really doing is focusing on themselves.

That’s what Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine call “inside-out” thinking.

It’s when companies make decisions based on what’s easiest or best for them, not for the customer.

Manning and Bodine argue that real customer-centric companies don’t think that way.
Instead, they take an “outside-in” approach", putting themselves in the customer’s shoes and making decisions from the customer’s perspective.

Sounds simple, but most companies don’t do it.

They’re too wrapped up in their own operations, their own goals, their own processes.

They focus on what works for them, not what works for the people they’re supposed to be serving.

And that’s a big mistake.

Because the companies that succeed today are the ones that genuinely care about what the customer wants.

They go out of their way to understand it, to improve it, and to make every single interaction a positive one.

Take Zappos, for example.

Everyone knows Zappos for their customer service, but it’s not just because they have a few friendly people answering phones.

It’s because customer experience is baked into their culture.

Zappos doesn’t just train employees to solve customer problems—they empower them to go above and beyond.

There are no scripts, no “average call time” targets.

Zappos reps have the freedom to spend hours on the phone if that’s what it takes to make a customer happy.

They don’t see customer service as a cost to be minimized. They see it as an opportunity to create loyalty, one person at a time.

And guess what?

That approach works.

It’s the reason Zappos has one of the highest customer satisfaction rates in the business.

They’re not doing it because it’s efficient. They’re doing it because it matters to the customer.

And that’s outside-in thinking.

Now let’s talk about Southwest Airlines.

You might think, “What does an airline know about customer experience?”

But here’s the thing—Southwest isn’t just an airline. It’s a company that understands the importance of employee happiness in delivering a great customer experience.

Southwest’s philosophy is simple: happy employees create happy customers.

They don’t micromanage their flight attendants or gate agents.

They let them be themselves, to use their humour, their personality, and their intuition to make passengers feel comfortable.

In other words, they empower their employees to create positive experiences without a rigid script.

That’s why Southwest flights feel friendlier, more human, and, yes, more enjoyable than most other airlines.

When you focus on the people serving your customers, you don’t just improve morale—you improve the customer experience.

That’s another example of outside-in thinking.

But not every company needs to deliver warmth and friendliness to win over customers.

Sometimes it’s just about delivering what you promised, every time.

Amazon are unrivalled when it comes to ease of purchase and trusted delivery.

The brand embodies consistency and reliability.

It's just easier and safer to buy from Amazon.

They invest heavily in logistics, infrastructure, and tracking systems—not because it’s cheap, but because it guarantees the customer gets what they expect.

It’s an investment in trust.

They’re thinking about what matters to the customer: their packages arriving on time.

That’s the kind of outside-in thinking that makes a company indispensable.

Let’s switch gears to financial services.

It’s a sector where people’s money—and their peace of mind—are on the line.

So, Fidelity Investments decided to look at their customers’ entire journey, from start to finish.

They mapped out every interaction, every pain point, every moment of confusion.

They identified all the things that were getting in the way of a good customer experience.

And then they fixed them.

Fidelity realized that opening an account was complicated, so they simplified it.

They realized that checking balances and managing accounts was confusing, so they made it easier.

They took the time to understand what their customers were experiencing and improved the journey for them.

That’s outside-in thinking.

It’s not just about knowing what the customer wants. It’s about seeing things from their perspective, finding every problem along the way, and solving it.

What Outside-In Thinking Really Means

All of these companies—Zappos, Southwest, Amazon, Fidelity, have one thing in common.

They aren’t focused on what’s easy for them.

They’re focused on what’s right for the customer.

They’ve flipped the telescope.

They look at things from the outside in, seeing the world as their customers see it.

Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine put it best: “Customer experience isn’t just a department. It’s a philosophy.”

It’s not about training a few people in customer service. It’s about embedding the customer’s perspective in everything you do.

It’s about asking, “How does this benefit the customer?” at every level, in every department.

The companies that get this right understand that customer experience is not a cost.

It’s an investment.

It builds trust, loyalty, and long-term value.

Because when you focus on what matters to the customer, you’re building relationships that last.

And that’s what separates the companies that thrive from the ones that fade away.

If you want to bring some Outside-In thinking to your organisation, please visit Selbey Labs. It's what we do.

Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers At The Centre Of Your Business Harley Manning & Kerry Bodine