COOPERATION: Customer-centric companies, such as Cisco Systems, develop metrics for customer satisfaction and incentives that reward customer-focused cooperation. JLL has experimented with both approaches. Sometimes this involves replacing traditional silos with customer-focused ones, but more often it entails transcending existing boundaries. They did so by engaging in four sets of activities: COORDINATION: To deliver customer-focused solutions, three things must occur easily across boundaries: information sharing, division of labor, and decision making. Some companies-like GE Healthcare, Best Buy, and commercial real estate provider Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL)-have restructured themselves around customer needs to deliver true solutions. Knowledge and expertise often reside in silos, and many companies have trouble harnessing their resources across those boundaries in a way that customers value and are willing to pay for. Companies, however, aren't always structured to make that shift. For many senior executives, shifting from selling products to selling solutions-packages of products and services-is a priority in today's increasingly commoditized markets.
