From Products to Customer Needs: How the Organization Changes

Product verticals gave T-Bank’s business lines more autonomy. The next model started with a customer’s goal, which can cut across products and technical systems. Deposits and investments, for example, give customers ways to use the same savings and can compete for that money within the bank.

A car purchase shows what needs to happen at the boundaries. Savings, financing, and insurance need to share the context of the purchase. Product teams need to make each step available to the wider journey, and the technology platform needs to provide a consistent interface and way of confirming actions.

Segments add the question of who the offer is for. A buyer who needs a car urgently might need a different loan and monthly payment from someone who can wait and save a larger down payment. An illustrative LTV calculation shows how to account for several products in the economics of the customer relationship.

The episode uses a tesseract to bring together needs, segments, product platforms, and technology platforms. Alexander observed managers spending more time negotiating responsibilities after the reshuffle. He suggests tracing one customer journey to see which decisions are now made differently.