Member-only story
What comes after customer-centricity?
Read this and get ready for it.
For many years now, I’ve been fascinated by the timeline shown below and pondering what lies beyond the Age of the Customer. These days, I’ve got a pretty good idea about what’s next.
First, let’s unpack this timeline and understand how we got to where we are today.
How we got here
This is a story about people with power. Specifically, the capital kind. Here is a very brief history of where that power has been located and how it’s shifted over time.
Many thanks to Clint Fontanella for their blog post explaining this timeline, which has informed my summary here.
In the Age of Manufacturing, the quality sellers rule the local markets
At the end of the Industrial Revolution, businesses with large manufacturing operations dominated. Products were purchased in stores or ordered from catalogs. You learned about reputable companies through word of mouth or local news sources. Products and the information about them were completely controlled by the seller…
