Delivering Happiness! Zappo's

Zappo's is one of the hottest and most innovative companies around. This is an inspirational presentations by Tony Hsieh, their CEO. There are important lessons in this for any business professional.

Zappos - Startup2Startup - 03-26-09

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Ever Wonder About Change?

There have been a few versions of this around. I think this is one of the latest updates. Enjoy!

Dramatically Increase Sales!

Seth Godin seems to come up with the simplest and thought provoking ideas. I can't improve on it, so I will only repeat it. But I encourage you to go to his site, and read this and the 100's of others he has.

Seth's idea for the "Easiest Cheap Way To Dramatically Increase Sales:"

Call or write your customers, saying:

"I know that times might be tough for you. Is there anything I can do to pitch in and help?"

Thank you, Seth!

Stop Assuming You Know Your Customers, Start Listening To Them!

Thanks to one of Fred Wilson's recent posts, I discovered Whitney Hess, a user experience designer in New York. She was quoted: "In order to survive, companies have to stop assuming they know their customers and start listening to them." Simple and profound.

I spend a lot of my time with business, marketing, and sales executives. Many espouse being customer focused. Many are making good strides, but in my experience we have a long way to go.

Whitney's comment got me thinking. Why is it so difficult to listen to our customers? Why is it so difficult to engage our customers in a different conversation?

These are not new concepts, but why is it so difficult to execute?

I'm not sure I have a lot of insight into these issues, but I have some ideas --- by the way, I'd welcome yours.

1. We have met the enemy and it is us! Most of the organizations I work with are filled with brilliant, creative people. People who have accomplished a lot and produces results. Sometimes, however, this creates an arrogance that we know more and better than anyone else. We stop listening and start telling. The challenge comes when they --- the customer --- stop listening to what we are telling them, Usually they stop listening because we really don't understand them and are not producing value.

2. We've stopped seeing the forest because we are focusing on the tree! (Not the trees, but THE tree.) People develop a selective listening. We've succeeded in becoming focused and goal directed, but that may leave us blind to what is really being said. We focus on The tree, Our tree, and ignore the neighboring trees and forest. Except those may be more important to the customer or create new opportunities for us.

I'll linger on this point a little. One of my clients has very good product managers. They come from the industry---many are former customers. They engage customers in deep conversations about technologies and their needs. The problem is, they are engaging in talking to a specific group of customers---specialized technicians. These technicians important in providing infrastructure to support the business but they aren't driving the business. They only respond to the needs of the business users. My client would do well to expand their view to include the business users, understanding their needs and drivers, along with those of the technical users. They will discover new opportunities---new trees.

3. Our mother's taught us not to talk to strangers! Good advice when we were kids, but now it is too limiting. If we only talk to our friends, if we only do assessments of our own industry, if we only track and respond to competitors, we narrow, blind and inbred. We don't get to see and experience new things. Our strategies become incremental, not game changers. We continue to exchange places with our competitors for superiority, yet each evolve slowly and are probably not seeing and creating breakthrough opportunities for our customers and ourselves.

I spend much of my time working with top executives in high technology B2B organizations. At the same time, I also do work in certain niches of the fashion/lifestyle industries. I am always struck by the innovation, creativity, and some of the business models I see in the fashion/lifestyle sector --- mostly because some of them have so much potential when applied to high tech B2B! I don't have to be smart, insightful or innovative, I just have to learn how to adapt these creative ideas to a different set of circumstances and industry.

4. We've lost the art of having conversations. We focus on the pitch ---- What's your elevator pitch? Let's go pitch the customer! Even in this day of Zen Presentations, we focus on the pitch, on presenting, on talking, on winning a one sided argument.

Where do we talk about listening? How do we develop the ability to have a good "elevator listen?"

Actually, it goes beyond listening --- it's establishing a conversation or a dialog. It's about engaging the people we are with. It's about learning something new, realizing we might have to change our position. It's about challenging our own and other's ideas and positions. It's about having a healthy debate and maybe some conflict --- all oriented around creating better solution -- for our customers, for our businesses.

I could go on, but will stop here. I owe a big thanks to Whitney for her insightful comment: "In order to survive, companies have to stop assuming they know their customers and start listening to them."

I'd love to get your ideas --- perhaps we can start a conversation!

More Tuned In

I received a thoughtful reply to my review of Tuned In from Craig Stull. It takes courage to reply to an negative review. Below are Craig's comments and my response.

"Hi Dave,

I just read your review of our book and I would like to thank your for carefully reading the book and taking the time to review it. Although you seemed a little apologetic about some of your comments, we understand where you are coming from. We intentionally wrote the book to address senior levels of management so we focused on “what” needed to be done as opposed to “how.” We have been teaching the “how” for 15 years and realize that, just for the technology industry, it takes over five days of lecture and workshops to drill down into that level.

We considered a deeper level of detail but felt that the book would join the legions of other academic books. We wanted a book that was approachable, practical, and, of course, pragmatic! We wanted to create a book that was a quick read but could convey the concepts of what we evangelize. Details on how to execute the six steps will have to come later through various forms of deliverables.

Again, thanks for taking the time to review Tuned In.

All the best,

Craig Stull
Founder/CEO
Pragmatic Marketing, Inc."

My response:

"Craig: Thank you for your note! I appreciate you taking the time and having the courage to respond. I will update my review to reflect your comments.

Just my view----I work with the top executives of global 500 companies on a daily basis. Most of the executives I work with have been very successful, are bright, and intellectually grasp the issues. The core issues you raise in Tuned In have been in the literature for years. Few executives I work with are not already aware of the what (though some reminders help.) They struggle with the how. They struggle with inspiring their people in executing the how. I believe there is a space somewhere between your coverage, an academic tome, and 5 days of lecture that can provide greater value to these execs.

I have seen some evidence, even through short papers, on focused topics (e.g. “going beyond the interview to discover customer needs before they are aware of the need”) to have an impact and resonate with executives.

Knowing your work, I had hoped you would address that space.

Thanks for taking the time to write. My best wishes to you and your colleagues for the success of your book. I hope you write a sequel on the how---that’s one I can get behind. Regards, Dave"

Tuned In --- Almost Tuned Out

I have mixed feelings writing about "Tuned In" by Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and David Scott. I had extremely high expectations of the book---I have such respect for the work they have done. I read their blog, listened to webinars, and waited eagerly for my copy. They recently sent be a proof version, which I read the first evening I received it.

Unfortunately, the book is very disappointing. They have an outstanding, though not original, set of premises, but their coverage is superficial. As one review stated, they seem to focus more on "sound bites" than on substantive exploration of the points they make.

They start by talking about "Tuned In" companies and leaders, seeking to understand their customer's problems, creating products/services that "resonate." Not a novel concept -- they use the term resonate, another famous consultant uses "Wow," and there are countless other terms used in the literature. But that's acceptable, everyone has their own terminology they want to leverage.

They further go on to discuss the concepts being easy to understand, but the challenge comes in the execution--this is where organizations fail to be "Tuned In." I am expecting the rest of the book to focus in some level of detail about how to execute the principles. This is where the book falls far short of my expectations.

The authors never dive deeply into the issues, giving insight on how they or Tuned In organizations have addressed the issues. For example, they state you have to understand your customers' problems--both stated and unstated--suggesting interviews to discover this. Correctly, they state it is difficult in an interview to understand unstated problems, but fail to go in depth into how you might discover these.

As another example, they state that greatest opportunities are not likely to lie with your current customers, but with potential customers. A chart in the book shows roughly 70% of the opportunity lies with these potential customers (how they came up with that chart is not supported). To cap it all off, their discussion of the importance of potential customers is 8 sentences long -- through the rest of the book they remind you to talk to these, but never assess in depth. Where is the substantive discussion of this premise? Where are the results of the 1000's of people they claimed to have interviewed?

I could go on with countless examples of lost opportunities to provide real substance, useful to all business leaders. My intent, however, is not to bash the book.

I feel terrible about this review--perhaps my expectations were too high---but a lot of the PR around this book set expectations very high. I have tried to find some redeeming value to the book, wanting to help in some way, but am honestly struggling. Some possibilities:

• The concepts are interesting, though not novel. However, I find it interesting to see different people's take on the issues. I always learn something.


• The examples are interesting--very superficial, but it is interesting to hear how companies apply some of these principles.


• Because the treatment is superficial, it is a very fast read--so you don't have to invest a whole lot of time. The most useful thing is the summary at the end of each chapter.


• You can get the key points of the book by reading the stuff available at the web site and in related materials. You may want to consider that alternative.


• It's only $18.45 at Amazon. If you aren't in a hurry, wait a few months, I'm sure a lot of used copies will come available.

If the authors happen to see this, my apologies. My expectations, based on my respect for your work may have been too high. I know you labored hard on the book. I know there is a lot more substance you could have presented---substance that could be very meaningful to all readers--I wish you had taken the time to present it.

Why Don't Managers Think Deeply

Today, the Harvard Business Review Working Knowledge Newsletter and Art Petty On Management had complementary articles on Why Don't Managers Think Deeply? It's a fascinating topic that should concern all leaders. Both are worth reading, and, dare I say, thinking about.

I'd like to add some of my own opinions about why manager's don't think deeply:

• People confuse form with substance: Brilliant presentations, PowerPoint's, or "hot programs" may be attractive and create a lot of interest, but many have no depth beyond the bullet point on the chart. People haven't really thought about what the strategy and the most effective means of execution. People don't get into deep discussions about the issues or alternatives.
• Activity trumps results and effectiveness: We. particularly American business professionals, have a bias to activity. We see nothing wrong with Ready, Fire, Aim. The activity is often unfocused, aimless, and ineffective. We are often to busy with our activities to take the time to think.
• Activity can be mistaken for accountability: "Busy people must be doing important things and producing good results." In reality, busy people may be busy people, but "busyness" does not necessarily mean a lot is being accomplished. The greatest sin made in the name of "busyness" is multitasking--we simultaneously sit in a meeting, process our emails, text message on our phones, and think about what we want to do on the weekend. This keeps us from focusing on what we must do.
• Thinking---at least results focused thinking-- forces us to make choices. It forces us to commit to a course of action and to execute it. Many people are afraid to commit to a course of action. It is better to react or do nothing than it is to commit to something and to be held accountable.
• Thinking deeply is messy hard work. It is difficult to reduce it to a bullet point. It is demanding and takes time---but time spent thinking doesn't look like activity. The results aren't pretty and can sometimes be complicated to present and get others to support.
• Thinking deeply requires the ability to integrate and synthesize. Some people just aren't good at this--but it is critical for leaders.
• Thinking deeply isn't rewarded in a lot of organizations. It's hard to measure, consequently hard to reward. Thinking takes away from "busyness." it's easier to measure and reward activities.
• Thinking deeply may be threatening to senior executives. Senior executives who don't take the time or have difficulty thinking deeply about issues will, justifiably, feel threatened by subordinates that take the time to think before acting.

And I could go on, but enough for now. I would be remiss though, if I didn't look at some of the downsides of thinking deeply. I have encountered people in business who are deep thinkers, yet who cannot translate the results of their thinking into meaningful action.

Deep thinking must be accompanied my meaningful---thoughtful action. Without this it is never tested and the results are never produced.

Top 11 Thing I Learned......

In doing some research on a project, I have run across a great blog, Product Management Tips By Gopal Shenoy.

One of his posts from close to a year ago was entitled: "Top 11 things I learnt at Solidworks in the last 11 years!" It is a good post, I have included the major bullet items below, but read his blog, you will get a fuller appreciation for the 11 important points.

• Hiring is the most important thing you will do at work and always hire people smarter than you.
• A manager’s success is all about making his/her reports successful in what they do.
• You cannot move up in the company unless you train your replacement.
• It is all about “relationships” and not “products."
• Only viewpoint that matters is that of the customer.
• There is a big difference between products that customers will “buy” vs. products customers “like.”
• Be “market driven” and not be “marketing driven.”
• Have technical and business arguments with colleagues as long as none of it turns personal.
• Have meetings before the meeting.
• Trying and failing is a lot better than failing to try.
• Execution is the key to being successful.

Advice With Scars On It....

....needs to be listened to!

This is a very nice post on Michael Wade's Execupundit.com.

1. If something doesn't feel right, don't pretend that it is right.
2. Be wary of wit at the expense of others. It has a habit of turning sour.
3. There are times when one of the smartest things you can do is to lose an argument.
4. One of the most dangerous moments in a meeting is when everyone agrees.
5. There are no little slights.
6. Don't set higher standards for your secretary than you do for your chief executive officer.
7. There are people who are wrong at the top of their voice.
8. Predators may be beautiful but they are still predators.
9. It can be easier to take a group from the bottom to the top than to keep a group at the top.
10. If you have no competition you'd be wise to invent some.
11. Whenever you are being given too much detail, rest assured that it is being used as a cloak.
12. Look, and keep looking, for new ways of looking.

Renaissance Teams

"You can't make a renaissance person anymore because of the range of what you would need to do is just impossible. But you could actually assemble a renaissance team." Bruce Dau

Interesting quote from Roger Martin's Opposable Mind. Worth thinking about in building teams, encouraging collaboration, innovation and creativity.

The "New" Art Of Selling????

I'm somewhat distressed the article that appeared in the January 28, 2008 issue of the Wall Street Journal. It was the column on Theory and Practice, entitled: Next In Line For Reinvention: The Art Of Selling. Both the author of the article, Phred Dvorak, and the author of the Book, Ram Charan seem to have discovered the secret to selling: finding a customer with a problem that you can solve and helping him solve it. What a tremendous insight!

I'm sorry, I don't like to trash others, particularly Dr. Charan. I have liked some of his past books. But have he or Mr. Dvorak bothered to study professional selling literature of the past 20 years? The notion of solution, customer focused, or consultative selling has been the subject of numerous books, articles, and consultant speeches. The words: value proposition, solution focus, customer oriented roll glibly off the tongues of any sales person.

Unfortunately, none of the ideas in the article are new or innovative. They have long been at the core of professional selling. Given Dr. Charan's past books, it would have been more interesting not to re-hash of these ideas, but to focus on examining why companies struggle in the execution of these ideas.

We have worked on these issues for the past fifteen years. The "theory and practice" of solution and consultative selling is not at question in any organization that we have worked with. The struggle of implementing these ideas, sustaining performance, growing and improving are the issues that sales executives and CEO's struggle with. It's time to have a meaningful discussion about execution.

Perhaps even more disappointing than the article is that the article was one of the most emailed articles in the WSJ. Do these people emailing the article think they have stumbled on a new insight? The science and practice of professional selling is in trouble if they do.

Fashion In High Technology

I just returned from CES. Not many big stories, though it seems the computer and related technology industries have had an epiphany--fashion in product design is important!!! There was a lot of news about the colors, design, and other factors to increasingly appeal to the sense of fashion.

This is not new news! Apple has had tremendous fashion forward design for years (and I'm a PC guy). There have been moments of inspiration in past years.

One of the things I think the press has missed, however, is that the while the final form and function are critical deliverables in fashion related businesses, the business management process that enables companies to make money from "fashion" provides important lessons for technology related businesses. The ability of these businesses to get close to their customers, to understand and quickly respond to trend in the market--to drive them where possible, and to make money in with fickle customers are all important lessons that can be applied to fashionable and unfashionable technology products.

Rather than writing more on this, if you are interested in understanding this more, I will provide a link to a paper I wrote on this topic in 2004. The paper; Technology Companies Must Follow The Fashion Leaders, can be found by following the links.

Prisoners Of Our Own Experience

There was a great article in the New York Times on December 30, Innovative Minds Don't Think Alike. It suggests "as our knowledge and expertise increase, our creativity and ability to innovate tend to taper off."

While the article focuses on innovation and creativity, we encounter the same issue in our work with clients every day. We all become prisoners of our own experience. By that, the solutions that people look for tend to be the same old solutions that have been used over and over.

Organizations and people tend to define their strategies, processes, and approaches to business, based on their collection of past experiences. Some benchmark their competition, either copying practices or reacting to competition. Most executives are knowledgeable of their own organizations and what is happening within their industry.

However, many of these efforts do not create new and innovative practice for the organization. They represent small increments in improvement but not the dramatic change. The same thoughts and approaches, maybe polished up, are cycled and recycled within the organization and the industry.

To escape this prison and drive dramatic change in business, people and organizations need to look outside their companies and industries. In the New York Times article, it is suggested that outsiders and consultants can help organizations get a fresh look at things. This is a great approach. However, it is important that executives make a consistent practice of looking at other industries and companies. A B2B executive can learn a lot by looking at consumer products companies, and vice-versa. Old ideas and approaches from other industries can become very innovative and fresh when applied within your own company.

We encourage our clients to constantly learn by wandering around. We encourage exec's to look at very different industries, companies with different business models. Don't just look for ideas within your company, competition, or industry. Look outside to get a fresh view.