Doing it Backwards

This post really dovetails nicely into my last blogpost. From a great mind and succinct, so I'll just say, What's wrong with this entrepreneurs' plan for Year 1 (besides the misspelling)?
"Goals:

                  1 month- Finalize the concept and find a team

                  6 months: Develop a beta version

                  6 motnhs-1 year: Find companies to run tests with, improve program"

Read http://johnprendergast.posterous.com/letter-to-a-young-entrepreneur. Like I've said, you can't develop anything groundbreaking, or even good, without getting the people who will use it involved.

Why Developing Software without Customers is Like Masturbation

I've been reading lately about LEAN Start-ups and the "rules" that this entails. And I'm a big fan. Not necessarily of the rules per se, but of the concept in general.

I was introduced to the concept of LEAN when I was at Orion Health, and the CEO, a passionate serial innovator, was looking at the Toyota way and seeing how it could apply to software development. While not that long ago, this was something that hadn't yet been done, or even discussed much. We employed some of the world's leading LEAN consultants, and they hadn't really done much with software companies. As usual, we were early adopters, and reaped the rewards and suffered the pains that one associates with being.

What appealed to me most about LEAN methodology was the constant innovation, the collaboration of the team, the ability for one team member, ANY team member, to explore an improvement and make that improvement if it improved the life of the team and/or the final product. I REALLY loved the customer centricity and the need to constantly innovate to improve both process and customer experience that LEAN spoke of.

Customer centric marketing has been a popular term for many years now, and many companies invest heavily in CRM and analytics technologies in an effort to better use customer data to sell to prospects and customers. The most successful few have learned how to better use customer data to BUILD better software to solve problems for customers and prospects. The BEST companies, hardware, software, services and consumer goods, constantly scrutinize and innovate to better use customer data to improve and solve problems for customers and prospects.

Whether you employ the exact rules of the LEAN start up or not, perhaps the most important of these is the constant customer centric approach. There's no way I can get all of this into one blog post, and customer centricity, CRM approaches and learnings is a theme for my professional life, happily.
It may not have started with, but certainly gained clarity with Patricia Seybold's "customers.com" in 1998, and it's been a theme ever since.

Why then am I discussing this now? Well, I've been with successful companies, and unsuccessful ones. And their lack of success wasn't just whether I did my job well or not, but often a more deep problem.

Companies can be successful to a point if they address a business problem, but that success stalls at a certain point if they do not continue to innovate and address customer's ongoing needs. And it needs to be a dialogue, not a monologue.

Sitting in a room and trying to solve your customers' problems, or analyzing why a competitor won a deal or deals, or why a customer did not renew, can help you improve BUT IT CAN'T HELP YOU WIN. Small anecdotal pieces of information, what the customer said to let you down easy, data gathered online: none of this will suffice. This is why it is important to maintain an ongoing dialogue with your customer- so that when the chips are down, they will be honest about what really needs improving. They won't always, or even usually, be able to help you fix it, but ONLY THEY can articulate their problem.

And if they can't articulate it to you? They'll find someone who is a better listener.

So, why is developing software without customers like masturbation? Because, while it can be somewhat satisfying, it just isn't as fulfilling as with a real partner (*ahem* in this case, your customer).

note: this post isn't really a tease, just the beginning of the conversation. flirting.

Epiphany: Train to Get Better

Yesterday I stumbled upon an article from the Harvard Business Review by Heidi Grant Halvorson titled, "Nine Things Successful People Do Differently."

I left it open on my desktop last night and re-read it this morning. I'm a fast reader, and am often multi-tasking, so I am very glad I did. Because when I read it last night, I simply looked at it with a personal lens. When I re-read it this morning, post-run, I looked at it through the lens of my own fitness and training goals, and I had some more clarity. And as I was working on some notes for a project I am working on, I had even more clarity.

It's short. It's concise. It's to the point. Read it.

The nine guidelines for being successful apply to any area you want to improve upon. And it occurred to me, it's how I work. These are, for the most part, the best practice methodologies I apply when I am creating a marketing plan, lead generation campaign, or making PR recommendations. Can I do them more consistently? Will this demonstrate real improvements?

I know it will.

Why? Well, it's an easy correlation for me. In the article, she mentions that the difference between successful and non-successful people is the belief that they can get to where they need/want to be. Two years ago, I felt like an average person fitness wise. I liked yoga, pilates and walking. I couldn't run a mile, or bike more than 3.

I began with small goals that seemed hefty but attainable with hard work. I quickly eclipsed those. Today, I have completed sprint, olympic and half ironman distance triathlons, century bike rides,and half marathons. There's more I want to do, and I know I can do anything if I train for it. I am constantly surprised and amazed by what I can do if I train for it. I don't see myself as successful- until I look at where I was.

Why does this relate to marketing? Well, sometimes we get lost in trying to obtain the HUGE goal. I see companies trying to finish the marathon before they've even tried a 10K. It's good to have lofty goals- but it's better to take it in steps, make improvements, train, and be prepared.

 Run the 10K. Get your message right. Have the answers. Know your customers' bleeding points. Get it right, because it's easy to do more when you know what you can do and that you know how to do it.

We live now in an age where we expect instant gratification. I have found that it is the hard work, the waiting for the pay-offs, the small victories, the learning from mistakes and the constant willingness to keep pushing to be better has made me successful in sports, and in my work. Or maybe it just makes it more rewarding.

Mistress' Marketing Mantra 
(loosely based on the HBR suggestions)

• Set specific achievable goals. 
• Take specific action. 
• Measure that action, make corrections.
• Have faith in your ideas.
• Make things better.always.
• Don't be such a perfectionist you don't take action.
• Be tenacious. 
• Do the hard work. 
• Be focused.
• Make improvements, not excuses.