From the presentation delivered by Conny Kalcher from LEGO Company, there were a number of points made from which you could choose a key takeaway such as...working for LEGO is so cool! to the importance of understanding your customer affinity groups and how to segment them.

However, for me there was one comment that stood out from all the others Conny made: "Listening to the customer is a commitment to taking action."

I'd be surprised if there are more than a few people out there unaware of LEGO as a company. Some fantastic facts about them include:

• There are 52 LEGO bricks in existence per person on the planet
• LEGO is the largest manufacturer of tyres in the world - albeit very small ones
• There are over 71,000 LEGO films on YouTube
• If you search for LEGO on Google you'll get over 53 million hits
• The 4,400 customers in their top customer segment have a Net Promoter score of 90%
• The average promoter spends around 50% more than the average detractor

With a brand like LEGO, with the passion that generates from both children and adults for their products, are we surprised that their results are so good? Isn't this a case of playing with a stacked deck?

No, that would be a somewhat unfair assessment. LEGO have had their fair share of problems, especially over the last 6-7 years; but their focus on the customer has helped them to keep their heads above water and get back on track once again. A revealing communication from a key UK customer -- a member of AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO) -- helped to highlight the fact that LEGO were not spending the time listening to customers. That communication went straight to CEO level and the net result was LEGO started to listen actively and translated that customer insight into action.

Led by the CED team (Community, Education and Direct), LEGO have re-evaluated their customer affinity groups, changed their action focus accordingly and really reached out to the customers in terms of developing their community of enthusiasts. Tracking key drivers alongside the Net Promoter Score (NPS) has enabled the team to understand the impacts of process or packaging changes, for example, on customer satisfaction. Where action is then taken on that insight, the impact is visible in improvements to their NPS.

Conny admits that there are areas where they could still do better. For example, the closing of the communication loop with customers could be more robust. Recent customer feedback from the 9V protest group, however, would indicate that this is improving.

We all need to take action from our customers' feedback. LEGO are, and look at their results!

Click here to download the presentation.

Satmetrix CEO Richard Owen discussed how companies respond in tough economic times. As we face a potential recession, how much money should companies spend on improving the customer experience?

Public company accounting standards make it difficult to optimize for growth as they reward profits. Short term profits may not be good for long term success. To illustrate this point he describes two examples from the financial services area, the subprime mortgage crisis and credit card introductory rate offers. In both cases, the customer is happy during the initial period when the "special offer" is in effect. However, when the introductory rate expires, customers become disappointed and promoters become detractors impacting the long term sustainable value of acquiring that customer.

Next he discusses what we can learn about how companies react in a recessionary economy. Due to the rules of the public financial markets, large companies tend to turn to cost cutting measures to manage through recession. This is a natural tendency as the market rewards profits. However, small companies that are not tied to the public market tend to increase their focus on the customer instead of cost cutting, often investing in customer acquisition and retention.

Years of research revealed that in a recession economy companies that react by investing in areas such as R&D, Marketing and customer strategies grow and capture market share better than their cost cutting competitors. These winners use profits as a cushion vs. cost as a cushion.

Now let's take a look at three companies that have achieved significant success, but recently experienced declining market value; Dell, Starbucks and Charles Schwab. All have recently seen significant decrease in their stock value and constrained growth. In times of growth, these organizations brought in professional business leaders. As part of their turn around strategy they have brought back the original founders and put the customer back in the driver's seat, returning to the small company mentality. Charles Schwab has a strong focus on Net Promoter. Dell and Starbucks are engaging large groups of customers to provide input on new products and experiences by listening to customers through idea sharing.

Richard goes on to suggest that companies would be wise to take advantage of the wisdom of crowds. While most companies create panels and focus groups to collect feedback and extrapolate the learnings to the larger customer population, he suggested this is like putting customers in the zoo. Zoos were created to allow us to observe animals in their natural setting since we can't all make it to the safari. Similarly, it's difficult to build relationships with focus groups and panels in ways that drives growth. In today's connected world, companies would be wise to engage the wisdom of the crowd and build relationships with a large portion of your market, not just a small sample size. Why visit the zoo when you have the option to go on safari.

The key takeaway points:

• Richard laid out a compelling case that investing in the customer during a recession presents significant opportunity, moving focus from short term profits to long term value.
• He discussed how short term programs to lure customers have significant negative long term impact as illustrated by the recent subprime crisis and credit card "introductory rate" offers.
• He illustrated the differences between big company tendency to cut costs, driven by the public markets, vs. small company focus on long term customer value through the discussion of the founder return to companies such as Dell, Starbucks and Charles Schwab.
• Take advantage of the wisdom of crowds and build relationships with your customers that allow them to guide your strategies in ways that improve loyalty and drive growth.

One final note, Richard stated that economists have predicted 9 out of the last 5 recessions. So much for their crystal ball!  In any case, it's clear listening to many of the speakers this morning that focus on customers pays off, regardless of the larger economic picture.  Read on to learn more about results at LEGO, Orange, Logitech and others.

Click here to download the presentation.

Couldn't make it to the European Net Promoter Conference taking place in London, April 30 - May 1, 2008? Then check out this Conference blog. Postings were made live from the conference.

For more Net Promoter learnings, check out the Miami Conference 2008 blog, European Conference 2007 blog, and New York 2007 Conference blog.

Read on for blogger bios,

Dr. Laura Brooks, Vice President, Business Consulting and Methodology, Satmetrix

Dr. Laura Brooks is the co-creator the Net Promoter metric with Fred Reichheld and Bain & Company. Years of research and collection of "Recommend" scores and follow-on purchase behavior across multiple industries led Dr. Brooks and Mr. Reichheld to discover and quantify the power of Net Promoter. Since the publication of the seminal article on Net Promoter in Harvard Business Review in 2003, Dr. Brooks has worked extensively with leading companies in creating an effective Net Promoter Discipline that delivers results.

She and her methodology team continue to pursue leading edge research into Net Promoter, including published studies on credit unions and cultural differences in customer loyalty surveys and Net Promoter Scores. Dr. Brooks holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Rice University and a BS degree in Psychology from Duke University.

Alison Davidge, Senior Account Manager, Satmetrix

Since joining Satmetrix 3 years ago, Alison Davidge has worked with major clients across several industries to develop global customer experience strategies and implement operational customer feedback systems and processes. Ms. Davidge's 12 years of experience in customer management prior to joining Satmetrix included work on both the client and agency side, working with global companies in a wide range of markets including telecoms, financial, automotive, entertainment, FMCG, and not-for-profit.

Her roles have covered account management, marketing, and operational implementation for marketing, communications, and contact centre focused initiatives and programmes. She has a BA (Hons) degree from Goldsmiths College, University of London and also holds the IDM Diploma of Direct Marketing.

Deborah Eastman, Chief Marketing Officer, Satmetrix

Deborah Eastman leads the global marketing efforts of Satmetrix, the co-developer of Net Promoter and the leading global provider of applications and consulting services to measurably improve customer loyalty. She brings extensive experience in marketing, sales, and strategic business development. She has spent her career working with customers to deliver solutions that leverage new technology to drive improved business performance.

Prior to joining Satmetrix, Ms. Eastman was the Managing Principal of Windward Solutions, providing advisory services to business-to-business marketing professionals. Previously, she was Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer for Biz360, an information services company that provides Market Intelligence to marketing executives. Before joining Biz360, Deborah served as a Vice President and Managing Director at BearingPoint (formerly KPMG Consulting), where she held a number of global leadership positions including marketing, global accounts and strategic partnership development

Melanie Jugdev, Senior Account Manager, Satmetrix

Melanie Jugdev has spent the past 10 years in the customer loyalty space, both on client and supplier side. She has extensive experience helping large multi-nationals execute customer and employee loyalty programmes that deliver strategic insight to top management as well as tactical feedback to the front line. Ms. Jugdev's experience spans industries such as hospitality, finance, travel and tourism, and manufacturing.

She is a classically trained researcher who has recently "converted" to the Net Promoter philosophy, and is a firm believer that the discipline can help businesses improve their operational performance and deepen customer relationships. She has a post graduate diploma in Social Statistics from Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia

Tom Kehler, Vice President General Manager Community Solutions, Satmetrix

Prior to the merger with Satmetrix, Dr. Tom Kehler was Chairman and Founder of Informative. Previously, he was Chairman and CEO of Recipio, a company that developed and marketed the technology platform for Adaptive Conversations® and relationship marketing platform acquired by Informative. Before Recipio, he was CEO of Connect, Inc. (CNKT), which pioneered application software for Internet-based e-commerce. Connect led the charge of building large-scale e-commerce applications for major brands. He also was Chairman and CEO of IntelliCorp (INAI), the leading provider of application development software that incorporated expert systems, artificial intelligence, and object oriented programming. Dr. Kehler has served on the Information Technology Advisory Board of the National Research Council. He received a Ph.D. in applied physics from Drexel University.

Kip Knight, Vice President of Marketing,eBay

Kip Knight has worked at eBay, the world's largest online shopping site with over 200 million users and sites in 33 countries, since 2002, holding various marketing and general management roles on both the U.S. and international businesses, including regional Vice President and the Head of International Marketing and Category Management.

Over the past 25 years, Mr. Knight has worked in over 80 countries around the world. He spent 10 years in Brand Management at Procter and Gamble in charge of brands such as Ivory Soap as well as working on the development and launch of new food and beverage brands such as Olestra. He also worked in PepsiCo's international restaurant division where he served as General Manager of North Latin America, head of marketing for KFC International, and Chief Marketing Officer for Taco Bell. He earned his B.S. degree from LSU in marketing and his MBA from the University of Cincinnati

Crispin Manners, Director of Service Innovation, Kaizo

Crispin Manners is a recognised authority in harnessing the power of Word-of-Mouth as part of an integrated communications strategy. He has over 25 years experience in delivering PR solutions for brands as diverse as 3Com, Simple, and Unilever, and is the creator of the award-winning communications planning and management regime " ValueFlow" that won Kaizo the accolade of the UK's Innovative Company of the Year in 2003. Mr. Manners has used NPS as a foundation research technique for consumer "listening" and consumer engagement methodologies with Kaizo clients.

Crispin is the immediate past Chairman of the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), a Freeman of the Guild of PR Practitioners, and Chairman elect of the European region of the Worldcom PR Group.

Lenna Mariana, Principal Business Consultant, Satmetrix

Lenna Mariana is responsible for helping Satmetrix clients design, develop, and execute successful global Net Promoter programme strategies and is an advisor to some of the most influential businesses in Europe. Prior to Satmetrix, she has over 10 years experience leading and delivering strategic consulting engagements focused on customer insight analytics and performance management.

Ms. Marianna is an innovative problem solver, with a passion for helping clients make distinctive, lasting, and substantial performance improvements. She is a certified Prince 2 Consultant and holds an MBA in Strategy from the University of Bath, UK.

Dr. Paul Marsden, Director, Clickadvisor.com

Dr. Paul Marsden heads up Clickadvisor, the digital insight division of the London-based innovation consultancy Brand Genetics. A specialist in Net Promoter Score and the role of brand advocacy in successful innovation, Dr. Marsden led the London School of Economics team that validated the link between the Net Promoter Score and business performance in the UK. With an online research career spanning 10 years, he co-founded the successful web research agency Brainjuicer.com, and has conducted innovation research for wide range of leading brands including Astra-Zeneca, American Express, GSK, Coty, Nokia, Siemens, and Unilever. He is author of the business book, Connected Marketing and has a PhD (psychology) in word of mouth influence.

Richard Moss, Executive Vice President - European Brand Programmes, Weber Shandwick

Richard Moss is responsible for the development and delivery of Weber Shandwick's brand building capabilities across Europe, with a focus on brand advocacy and engagement. He started his career in FMCG marketing, spending 14 years looking after major brands including Robinsons Soft Drinks, Carlsberg, and Andrex Tissues. Mr. Moss then moved to RHM where he was responsible for the marketing of their owned cake brands

Since moving into PR in 1999, Richard has consulted on brand strategies across many sectors. He developed the "Sharksuit" campaign for Speedo International, identified by the UK's Marketing Magazine as one of the top ten Olympic brand campaigns of all time. For Procter & Gamble he oversaw the stabilisation of the Sunny Delight brand following widespread issues soon after launch. And for Invista he has played a key role advising on the development of their LYCRA® brand. Mr. Moss is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors.

Alan Woollam, Director, Xperience Associates

Alan Woollam founded Xperience Associates in 2006 to provide customer experience consulting services to leading companies. He has advised the senior management of organisations including Shell International, Nokia, and Hewlett Packard. Prior to forming Xperience Associates, he held a number of global positions championing customer loyalty in The Americas, Asia, and Europe. At Digital Equipment he led several customer loyalty programmes, and at Compaq he served as Customer Advocacy Manager for Europe, Middle East, and Africa following the merger with Hewlett Packard. He has extensive experience leading in-house market research to provide actionable insight and developing customer & channel partner loyalty programmes to deliver business benefits. He holds a Masters degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from Cranfield University.