What You Must Deliver to Win Customers Today
HBR IdeaCast
Feb 13
What You Must Deliver to Win Customers Today
What You Must Deliver to Win Customers Today

HBR IdeaCast
Feb 13
This episode explores a profound evolution in how businesses create value—not by selling things or even experiences, but by guiding customers through meaningful, lasting personal change.
The podcast introduces the transformation economy as the next frontier beyond products, services, and experiences—centered on helping customers achieve deep, aspirational outcomes like improved well-being, financial prosperity, wisdom, and purpose. It emphasizes that successful transformation requires diagnosing root aspirations (e.g., via the 'five whys'), co-creating personalized journeys, and sustaining change through emotional engagement and follow-through. AI enables scalable, adaptive coaching—but must be deployed thoughtfully to avoid bias and over-reliance. Business models are shifting toward outcome-based pricing: companies now tie compensation to verified results, as seen with Texas State Technical University’s student-outcome funding model and healthcare and financial firms redesigning offerings around life goals. This approach reframes risk as an innovation catalyst, builds trust, and demands that organizations see themselves not as vendors but as committed guides—where value is measured not in transactions, but in transformed lives.
00:10
00:10
Companies get paid only upon customer success in the transformation economy
09:32
09:32
Outcomes matter more than inputs in the transformation economy
15:36
15:36
The third phase of transformation, follow-through, is crucial for ensuring the change is sustained
21:25
21:25
Texas State Technical University risked 100% of its funding based on student outcomes
27:05
27:05
A financial startup, Simplity, designed a system for advisors to align financial goals with life goals, leading to transformational conversations with customers