In 1981, Jan Carlzon became CEO of the problem-ridden Scandinavian Airlines. Well before he left the company in 1994, Carlzon turned the airline around by focusing on what he later called "moments of truth," the various points at which people with the airline came in contact with airline customers. In this edition of Inside Scoop, CRMGuru founder Bob Thompson talks with Carlzon about what those "moments of truth" have in common with the hot topic of Customer Experience Management and what business leaders can take away from Carlzon's experience.

This interview, which was recorded Jan. 11, 2006, was edited for clarity.

Bob Thompson
I'd like to welcome to our Inside Scoop program Mr. Jan Carlzon. He is best known for writing a famous book called Moments of Truth: New Strategies for Today's Customer-Driven Economy [Ballinger Pub Co.]. That book was published back in 1987, nearly 20 years ago. I think it's still quite good...