Wednesday Words
To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business.
We can believe that we know where the world should go. But unless we’re in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There’s no substitute for innovation, of course, but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either.
—Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft
Keep in touch with colleagues and with customers.
Care about your customers, and act on what they say to you.
Reality, real reality, is not to be found on a television screen, or behind your desk, and it’s certainly not to be found by guessing what your customer might be willing to buy or do.
You are not your customer. If your customer had your skills, your knowledge, and your ability to create your product or service, your customer would not need you. So if you want to know what your customer needs, don’t jump on a bandwagon with other providers, and don’t assume. Ask. Listen for the answers no one else is hearing.
What might a paying customer tell you about building your business? (Oh, no! Assuming already!)
Why not resolve to ask just one, today?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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21 January 2009, 7:04 am
P.S. This just in, from my kid—the consequences of refusing to be in touch:
Headless Town
Selling hats in Headless Town –
Special sale, so gather ’round.
Short brim, wide brim, white or brown,
Hats for sale — in Headless Town.
Selling hats in Headless Town –
Stetson, bonnet, cap, or crown,
Isn’t there one soul around
Who needs a hat in Headless Town?
Selling hats in Headless Town
Sure can get a fella down,
But there’s a way
If there’s a will
(I once sold shoes
In Footlessville.)
—Shel Silverstein
21 January 2009, 8:17 am
I’ll reword that question slightly:
Why not ask one client today what you can do to improve their customer experience?
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post…Do You Feed Your Muse Well?
21 January 2009, 8:41 am
Mmhm.
21 January 2009, 9:23 am
Argh.
I tell ya, Kelly, sometimes when read some of your posts, I just get depressed.
Because in the town where I live, it’s like the people take your advice, and do the 180 degree OPPOSITE.
Grrr. Friar’s grumpy today.
21 January 2009, 10:55 am
(Microsoft in touch with customers? Bwahahahahahahaha… Monkey Boy cracks me up.)
Sorry, couldn’t help myself – but seriously, this is good advice.
Which is sadly being ignored by The Factory in many cases. But we’re working on it.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
21 January 2009, 11:35 am
Reminds me of the Apprentice where the two teams were tasked to provide advertising for a private lear jet service. One went straight to the creative room to get cracking, and the other wasted time actually going to see the customer, what services they provided, etc. Wow, I was really amazed that the people who talked to the client won…
Good point too about if the customer had your skills, products, etc., the customer wouldn’t need you. Kind of puts a great little spin on things: you’re looking for the people who are looking for you, not the people who aren’t.
BTW, your daughter’s a great little poet.
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Where Web Designers (and Designees) Can Go For Inspiration
21 January 2009, 11:39 am
@Brett – Actually, I do think that Microsoft is in touch with its customers. I know you can’t tell by the “I’m a PC” ads and the leisurely stroll Bill takes with Jerry.
I think their problem lies more in execution. They know what’s needed, they just can’t seem to deliver on it. But in fairness, there is no real threat to their dominance right now, so why should they bother? Nothing motivates a company to keep its customers like another company with a faster, better, cheaper product.
One day, perhaps.
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Where Web Designers (and Designees) Can Go For Inspiration
21 January 2009, 12:02 pm
@Graham,
I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist poking fun. The truth is, you are right in what you say. The Vista betas were actually much better than the RTM, in terms of speed and stability. The technical people did their jobs well. Then someone else got hold of it and what shipped was a bit different.
Too many cooks perhaps.
The Windows 7 beta is really quite good (not sure if you’ve tried it, but it spanks Vista soundly) – Microsoft’s job #1 is to make sure that the release is as good as or better than the beta.
I think they learned this time around, so your last statement will hopefully come true for them.
Good products lead to strong competition and that’s good for all of us.
PS – I kind of liked the Bill & Jerry commercials. Bill is actually a pretty cool guy for a billionaire geek and if you watch those ads a few times, they are very clever.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
21 January 2009, 12:57 pm
@Brett — I really liked that one too, but I’m not sure how effective it was. The message was too subtle, in my opinion. And even if the message is true, nobody likes to “work in” a new operating system. You want it to just work (not incidentally, like a Mac or an iPod just works…).
The “I’m a PC” ad though was terrible. Trying to sell an operating system because some guy in a gym’s Mom uses it? I see three good reasons not to buy in right there.
Then there was the bait and switch (albeit in reverse — switch and bait?) of the Mojave commercials. You know there’s a problem when you have to trick people into using it.
I haven’t tried the Windows 7. I’ve barely tried Vista, and except for a meltdown when it tried to update, I’ve liked it so far. All I want in an operating system is stability, the option for full control, and the ability to turn off things in the background I don’t want running.
Bells and whistles are cool, but get those things right first.
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Where Web Designers (and Designees) Can Go For Inspiration
21 January 2009, 1:05 pm
@Graham,
Not too effective at all, because it was too much of a thinker maybe. Too long, and you had to pay attention.
I wondered about the “I’m a PC” thing – why didn’t they mail out 500 million of those stickers, or maybe have a thing where you could request one from MS? I’d love to have one and I know there were some for promos. Simple stuff they didn’t do.
Mojave was kind of dumb too.
Vista SP1 works pretty well. The RTM was a bit rough (for the first few months, 10 percent of the time my laptop wouldn’t wake from sleep and needed a hard shutdown – MS modified one of the Intel reference drivers and that screwed things up) but it got better.
If they can keep 7 the way it is now, you’d get what you want – they seem to be running fewer things by default, and the underpinnings are cleaner it seems – reminds me of Server 2008 with a pretty face.
(Actually, Server 2008 makes a good workstation.)
Here’s hoping…
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
21 January 2009, 1:49 pm
Poor Friar,
Did you give a suggestion and get smacked around for it, or are you wishing folks would ask and they won’t?
Don’t worry. One did a big ol’ conglomerate will move in and smoosh them all for you. Then you can hate that in a whole new way.
(Small business owners, take note. Be irreplaceable!)
Brett,
Do as he says, not as he does. It’s advice easier heeded by small business than it is by Big Boys, though some do manage it.
Graham,
Yes. Like you said. The problem for MS lies more in execution. Bigness can get in the way of the best of intentions.
And my 2¢—I *hated* the Bill and Jerry commercial. From an ROI standpoint, I can’t imagine what account planner stood up in a meeting and explained how the concept would make money, but goodness, I’d love to steal their schtick. Must have been the craziest line ever.
Jerry laughed all the way to the bank.
Until later,
Kelly
21 January 2009, 1:58 pm
@Kelly,
That’s right – and in his “little” corner of MS, he probably does what he says too – at the top, I’m sure that Ballmer understands the folks he deals with every day very well (e.g. Michael Dell and so forth).
I can see why you’d hate the Bill & Jerry commercial in that way. I’m sure the account planner said something like this:
1. Create commercial with BillG and Jerry Seinfeld
2. ???
3. Profit
I mean, they’d have been further ahead to steal underpants, because at least they could sell the underpants.
(I did think it was funny though. But Friar would have been funnier. Yeah. Bill Gates and Friar, selling Windows Vista.)
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking mondays? courage.
21 January 2009, 2:19 pm
Brett,
Oh, wouldn’t Friar and Bill Gates be a hoot? And for a fraction of the cost, hehe. You can afford to learn as you go if the budget’s a lot smaller. Even the same campaign with Friar instead of Jerry would be more interesting, but it still wouldn’t sell squat.
With a lower profile, they could have tweaked as they went. Just like small businesses can, since they typically don’t shoot the whole… budget… in one giant goof-up.
BTW, Collecting Underpants is one of your wisest posts, in its quiet way.
Later,
Kelly
21 January 2009, 3:08 pm
@Kelly
You should also watch the South Park Underpants episode that post originated from, to fully appreciate the context.
Friar’s last blog post…An Open Letter to Lucky Charms Cereal
21 January 2009, 9:18 pm
Dear Kelly,
I love your kid.
(P.S. Thanks for digging up the post I forgot I wrote.)
Amy’s last blog post…Hump Day Reading for the Restless Soul
21 January 2009, 9:56 pm
Dear Amy,
If I get my butt in gear, we’ll hear more from her this week.
If not…
there’s always next week.
In among so many of my favorite WFH posts, the train station was one of my favorites. I never forget words of simple genius.
Until later,
Kelly
22 January 2009, 8:27 am
I have on my newsletter subscriptions an automatic email that goes out a few weeks after they’ve subscribed asking each person specifically what Someday Challenge they are facing. I’m pleased at the number of people who have responded because it will help me develop great content that they will be able to use.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post…What’s the Big Picture? Don’t lose yourself in details
22 January 2009, 1:55 pm
Alex,
That’s awesome.
*note to self: steal Alex’s email idea*
Dear Readers,
Some of you may have heard but I was shocked the day after talking about the dude in reasonably glowing terms: MS announced today they’ll be cutting 5,000 or so jobs by the end of the year, with the big ones in R&D and sales, starting with 1,400 today.
So much for staying in touch and developing with an eye toward the customer. Ouch.
Until later,
Kelly
22 January 2009, 4:57 pm
Steal away, Kelly!
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post…What’s the Big Picture? Don’t lose yourself in details