The Value Profit Chain

In their groundbreaking book, The Service Profit Chain (1997), Heskett, Sasser, and Schlesinger asked the question of why a few service enterprises seem to be consistently better at what they do than their competitors. Their answer, based on years of research, revealed the use of a set of quantifiable relationships, directly linking profit and growth to customer loyalty and satisfaction and to employee loyalty, satisfaction, and productivity. These relationships form the foundation for a powerful strategic service model that stands as an effective framework for erecting more focused operations and marketing capabilities.

In this sequel, the authors provide authoritative new evidence that focusing on the employee-customer relationships will enable any organization to deliver results and process quality and still be a low-cost provider. It is their premise that "today’s employee satisfaction, loyalty, and commitment strongly influence tomorrow’s customer satisfaction, loyalty, and commitment and ultimately the organization’s profit and growth." Heskett, Sasser, and Schlesinger call this quantifiable set of relationships The Value Profit Chain and show that, when it is used as a simple organizing principle, it becomes an effective, fundamental driver of change in any organization.