Acknowledgements

I would like to take the opportunity to thank those who have contributed to the writing of this book. This was a new venture for me as the novice author and quite a learning curve. I have been lucky enough to have Eloise to guide me through this from a publisher and editorial perspective – I could not have done this without you and your firm ‘nudges’ to keep me on track. My readers were a great way to stay in touch with reality, drawn from a wide variety of roles from journalist to chief financial officer to private equity, your inputs were a constant source of insight and contributed to content in a variety of ways. So thanks to Rod, Kate, Bradley, Jonny and Mac: you know who you are!

To my two collaborators: first, the incredible Martha Rogers Ph.D, who has helped me through her knowledge as a seasoned author as well as contributing to my thinking around trust and customer experience. Second, there is Jonathan Carter, who has added real technical insight into my focus on data – he is that rare hybrid that can connect the deep technology with the real needs of the user. Particular thanks to Valerie Peck and the team from SuiteCX who have kindly allowed me to use some screenshots from their leading-edge customer journey mapping and modelling tool.

Over my years of ‘experience’ in the world of customer experience I have been both inspired and learned a lot from many people. If you are looking for help in the future look up these people and you won’t go far wrong: David Hicks, my long-time business partner; Alvin Jackson, Sarah Hobday, Peter Hocknell and Doug Houston from my Mulberry days; and latterly Kerri Nelson, who is leading the charge to connect customer experience to data and predictive analytics.

Last but not least, my thanks go to the Pennington family who have had to deal with the novice writer’s frustrations and the sound of constant keyboard tapping over many months.