Deepening customer focus
Background
I have been in the software industry for two decades and have engaged in lot of customer interactions over the years. In the last two years-since we became a private equity-the focus on customer value has taken a deeper meaning and a new dimension.
In this post I want to share the key insights and learning I have had in this journey. I will focus on things which are broadly applicable and useful to many people instead of organizational specifics.
Note: The reference to customers in this article is for enterprise software customers.
Shifting the mindset
Let's look at the mindset shift needed to get deeper into the customer world and delivering value which really matters to them.
1. Whose success?
When developing a product (software in this case) we tend to focus on what outcomes we want to achieve.
What demo can I show with my work?
Who can I show it to?
How to get recognized and appreciated for the good work done?
How to position it to the customer and have them adopt it?
...
There is nothing wrong with this but this is not real customer focus.
Real customer focus is when you start asking:
How can my customer show a demo with what I'm building?
Who do they need to show it to (their stakeholders)?
How can they look good and smart when they show it?
Will this help them get recognition and appreciation (and who knows a hike and progression)?
My success should be a 2nd order effect of my work. The 1st order success must be of the customer.
2. Who are you talking to?
Often the people using your product are not the ones who are decision makers for the purchase / renewal of the product.
The users of the product influence the buyers of the product and hence relationships must be managed accordingly. The right approach is to empower and enable the users so that they become ardent advocates of your product to the decision makers when the time comes.
They will do this only when they see your product as something fundamental to their success in their roles.
3. Costs matter.
No matter how great your product (software) is, someone in the customer organization needs to have budget for it and approve it. No one has infinite budget and each purchase needs to be justified against the value it brings.
The way to help the customer navigate this process well is by:
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4. Problem to be solved vs technology used.
The most common pitfall to be avoided is putting technology ahead of the problem statement.
There are so many examples in recent times when technologies were adopted based on narratives rather than actual fit for a real problem. Only to be repatriated later.
Customer focus entails that technology (however cool it may be) is seen as a means to an end rather than as an end in itself.
I have seen enough examples in the field where the problem to be solved didn't require the latest and greatest technology. It only needed some empathy, thinking and commitment. It was solved using the existing technology.
5. Doing more with less.
Customers want to make full use of their existing investments in a technology. Any new technology not only requires financial investment but also has a learning curve.
The first priority must be to solve problems using what already exists. (Nobody will be upset with you for making them do less work.)
Not paying attention to this is inviting adoption problems later.
6. Fundamentals over fancy stuff.
It's easy to get enticed by fancy stuff as it looks good and often it takes focus away from the fundamentals.
Customer focus requires that fundamentals are not compromised for the sake of fancy stuff. Icing and cherry on a cake matter if the cake is good. Get the cake right first and keep it that way always.
7. Be the first to feel it.
The best way to know and avoid the pain of a customer is by experiencing it before they do.
Using what you build, the way you want customers to use it, is the best way to know how it feels for them.
The learning you can get about the experience of a product by rolling it out internally in your org is phenomenal.
It's so much more easy to learn from your in-house customers than external ones and fix issues, make improvements early.
I have also observed that in-house customers help you understand what is a must have and what is good to have and why. This helps keep the focus on what's really important and not letting such issues slip by to external customers.
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I will conclude with a thought I heard from one of our senior product leaders [paraphrased]
"The customer will not forget what you do today. If you do good to them, they will remember. If you take them for a ride, they will remember and give it back when the time comes."
There is no getting away from karma.
~S~
#workstories #customerfocus